August 22, 2023 • 61 mins
Brian chats with a rule breaker, record breaker, and bone breaker Lindsey Vonn. The Olympic medalist and skiing champion talks about her first hole in one, the topography of Minnesota, and breaking her body for her sport.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was like, I am old. Am I insane? You know?
Am I gonna totally ruin myself? But my ration is this.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I mean, yes, by the way, you are insane. That
is insane, But all the rest of it, no, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
My ration was, you know, I'm getting a knee replacement, right,
so if I crash, oh jee and I blow my
stuff out, who cares? You know, I'm just gonna get
a new great.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
That it's Lindsay. That is not That is not healthy.
That is not Oh I'm getting a new leg next
week anyway, So oh my god, that's.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
How my brain works.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
So Hi, I'm Lindsay Vaughn, Olympic champion, philanthropists and entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Welcome back everybody. Yeah that right. It is time for
another episode of Off the Beat. This is your host,
Brian Baumgartner. And guys, guys, we've peaked, truly, we have
reached the top of the mountain. It is all downhill
from here. Get it because my guest today is one
(01:20):
of the greatest skiers of all time, my friend and yours,
Lindsey Vaughn. She won a gold medal, she won two
world championships, and unbelievable eighty two World Cup races. She's
been on the slopes since before she could even walk,
(01:41):
so it only makes sense that she wanted to basically
dominate the entire sport by her mid twenties. Even since
she retired in twenty nineteen because she said her body
was broken, she is still breaking new records, like becoming
the first woman to ski the Strife earlier this year.
(02:04):
Lindsay is a trailblazer. I was so excited, blown away
in fact, to get to talk to her. I know
that you're going to be blown away too when you
hear about her amazing life and career and by the way,
all the awesome things that she's been doing lately. So
strap in everybody here. She is Lindsay Vaughn.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
Bubble and Squeak. I love it, Bubble and Squeakna Bubble
and Squeaker. Cook get every moon lift over from the
night before.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
What's up?
Speaker 1 (02:55):
What's up?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Ryan, Lindsay? How are you?
Speaker 1 (02:59):
How good? Hurt you?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I'm good? You know we've met before?
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Do you remember us meeting before we're at the Emmy?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Oh god, well, we've probably met multiple times. That's always embarrassing.
Don't remember I met you? It was at an event,
a golf event in Monterey.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Oh that's when I got my hole in one. That
was a long time.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Oh that's right. Ye, yeah, got that fact.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
I know. I retired after that. That was. It was
one and done.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
You know, thanks so much for remembering me. I mean,
I guess you had the whole on one. I guess
you had the hole in one. That was.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
That was an open bar after that, so I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Man, Well, yeah there was. How are you?
Speaker 1 (03:44):
I'm great? How are you?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I mean, I'm good. I'm I'm surviving the summer. I
understand you've been busy doing some programming. We're going to
talk about that. But it's so nice to talk to you.
Your career is well one amaze and too incomprehensible for me.
I was a casual skier for a long time, and
(04:09):
then I stopped. I felt like it was it was
best for me to stop. I was shooting this television
show for for a number of years. Now. I have
a daughter who is eight and kind of obsessed with it.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I mean, I it's I think it's a good kids sport.
I don't you know. I think it's probably good that
you didn't continue. While you were doing that, you know,
that show that may have been wildly popular, but it's
so it's such a great family sport. So I condone
that I really do.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I know. Well, now I'm just trying to I'm trying
to decide if I if I just leave it to
really fun, helpful ski instructors, or if I actually if
I actually get back involved. You know what, maybe I'll
send her to you and then you can teach her
to ski and.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
All right, well we'll try that. Maybe we'll do a
two for one both of you, you and your daughter.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Oh boy, yeah, I don't. I don't. Again, I need
to think about that a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Wells to be negotiated.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
TVD, TVD. As they say in the biz, you've been
skiing since basically when you could walk more is age
two or like born on skis or whatever. Do you
have a first memory or do you just is that
as it goes as far as you back, as far
as you remember.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Yeah, I mean I actually was in my dad was
coaching while going to law school at night, and he
actually had me in a backpack while he was coaching.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
So even before I was on skis, I was on
a person that was right, But I remember, you know,
I grew up in Minnesota, and man, it was so
freaking cold there.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
So I remember vivid memories of being really cold, my
dad bribing me with hot chocolate and donuts, and I
remember him like worming up my hands with you know,
blowing on my hand because they were so cold. But yeah,
I too, two and a half. That's when I kind
of when I started.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah, yeah, I spent a chunk of time in Minnesota.
I was doing theater. I was from the south. The
cold was something that I couldn't It was very difficult
for me, which I mean, that's like the opposite of you.
In fact, I telled a story that I had moved
into town and was doing a show in downtown Minneapolis
(06:36):
theater and I get done, maybe have a beer after
the show. I don't really remember. But by the time
I got to my car, this was early days of
like the automatic like to you know, like opening your car.
So I hit that and it doesn't unlock, and so
then I sticked you could still put the key in,
(06:57):
and I turned the lock and I get in the
car and my door won't it won't latch because now
I've moved the latch out of the way and it's
too cold to go back. But your car doesn't warm
up if it's not like moving. So I drive home.
I drive home to uptown Sorry Minne Police Department with
(07:19):
my door, holding my door with my elbow like cruxed
in as I'm driving because I'm so I'm so cold.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah. No, Minnesota is a was a tough place. That's
why I don't live there anymore. I love Minnesota, and
you know, I think I love the summers obviously more.
But we didn't have snow days at school. We had
day's row. It was too cold and we couldn't go
to school. But actually my uncle managed the Orpheum and
State theaters in Minneapolis as well, so you should have
gone there.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Great. Well, So now those were more touring theaters, so
you know, I wasn't in Bye Bye Birdie the big musical.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Yeah, the musicoger Field probably David Copperfield came through the Orpheum.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
I'm sure that's someone who did that.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah, he didn't disagree you on stage, so okay, that
makes sense.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, So as a young child myself, last personal ski story,
my father was well, eventually he was a doctor and
he did his residency in Salt Lake City, and my parents,
allegedly before I was born, were very big skiers, and
(08:29):
my mom, when she was pregnant with me, skied broke
her leg in several places. It's now an inch I
think over an inch shorter than the other leg. And
unlike you, they never skied again, literally never skied. Yeah,
when I was a kid, we were not allowed to go.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
I mean, that's definitely that's a story I've heard many
times in different variations. But you know, that's why I say,
if you don't enjoy being on the mountain, if you're
not confident in what you're doing, and then don't do it,
because you know, if you're scared of it, it's probably
best not to. But when you're a kid, you know,
you're like Gumby. You could crash and you know, become
(09:11):
a pretzel and you're totally fine. So I don't know.
If you start young and you get confidence, I'd say
go for it, but I don't. I'm not a big
proponent of pushing adults into I always feel responsible for
other people's injuries as well, So I'm sorry for your
mother and feel sorry.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, never went back, So I ended up you know,
when I became a teenager or whatever, started going going
with friends. Now, I know your mom didn't ski, is
that right? What was your what was your whole family's
relationship to skiing as you as you started out, it
was all different.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
You know, my mom had a stroke when she had me,
so she couldn't ski. She you know, her balance was
altered because of the stroke. She just couldn't do it.
And she tried several times, it just just didn't work.
And then my siblings, we're all really good, but they
just didn't want to be me. So there was that
kind of awkward like resentment. You know, like my my brother,
(10:10):
one of my brothers. There, it's me, my sister and
the triplets, and one of the triplets was kind of
the only other sibling that really love skiing. But I think,
you know, we just enjoyed being on the mountain together.
I think what brought us all together was really my
grandparents and you know, all of our cousins and you know,
my aunts and uncles. We would all get together and
go skiing, and you know, we would have like, you know,
(10:32):
a cabin and keystone and they would all drive down
from Wisconsin and we would drive from Minnesota and it
was just a really great family get together. But yeah,
now that everyone's older, not very many people still skiing.
My grandparents are no longer with us, so we just, yeah,
kind of fizzled out. But I'm still holding down the
(10:53):
fort for the for the skiing and the family.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
For you, when did it become an activity, something fun,
even something that you were good at, to like, this
is what I want to be. I want to be
the best in the world at this. When did that
come about?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Well? I started racing when I was seven, and then
I met Peekaboo Street, who you know at the time,
she won the Olympics in Nagano in ninety eight, and
she was the thing at the time. And I met
her at a ski shop in Minnesota, and I got
home and I said, Dad, I just want to be Peekaboo,
And so it kind of changed my mindset. You know.
(11:33):
It wasn't that I wasn't good before. I just had
never thought about skiing in that way. So she'd made
me think of it, as you know, I have a
goal to look forward to, which is to be an Olympian.
And then I got home and my dad and I
made a ten year plan and I made the Olympics
when I was seventeen in Salt Lake City, so it
(11:55):
was It's pretty crazy to think about, you know, just
meeting her and making the plan and actually getting there
is obviously a lot of steps in between. But yeah,
definitely when I met her, everything kind of changed.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Did she just happen to be there or did you
go to meet her?
Speaker 1 (12:12):
It was an autograph signing, I waited for like three
hours a line.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
And then you met her. Yep, that's incredible.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Yeah, she's just you know, she was kind of larger
than line. If she had this you know, amazing personality,
very charismatic, and I still have you know, I'm probably
too old for this, but I still have her poster
that she signed for me framed in my room.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
It does something to me. I don't know, like the
idea that you know now. I'm sure there's no shortage
of signings that you're doing. Do you ever think about
that when you're meeting either little girls or little boys
at events or signings, that the profound impact that you
could have on someone.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, I mean I've always had that image of myself
every time I meet a kid, I'm like, this could
have been me, you know, and I put myself in
their shoes and you know, actually, also when I got
her autograph, there was another person there, woman that was
signing autographs, and I ran into her the bathroom and
I asked her for her autograph in the bathroom and
she said no. And I was so young, you know,
(13:19):
and you don't realize it means a bathroom, Like, yeah,
I get it, don't want to take pictures in the bathroom,
but it was pretty traumatizing to me. So I always
have this image of how someone can really positively impact
you and vice versa, how it can negatively affect you.
And I always wanted to be like Peegloo was for me,
and that's why I started my foundation, because you know,
(13:41):
I want to inspire kids in whatever way I can
to follow their dreams. And sometimes it just takes, you know,
one person to open their eyes up to something different.
You know, I could be something more than what I
think I could be, and I hope I can give
that to them because she, you know, she changed my
life in a pretty impactful way.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Are you still friends?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Yeah? She lives like right down the road from me, ironically,
And it was so funny because I actually directed and
produced her documentary about two years ago. It's on Peacock
and I honestly I could barely do the interview because
I was so nervous. I felt like I was nine
years old again. It was a pretty cool moment. But
(14:24):
to be able to tell her story and to have
her trust in that way was really special. So it
was a very full circle moment. You never know what's
going to happen and where people will end up. You know,
it's just kind of crazy how life works out that way. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
No, I mean that is unbelievable that you meet her
at a signing and then a few years later you
end up producing her documentary. That's that's a.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Couple of years.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Just a couple of years. We're not going to count
you and your dad. You devise a ten year plan. Eventually,
I assume this is part of the plan. The whole
family moves to Vail, Colorado, Uh, for you to join
the ski club Vale? Is that right?
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Yeah? It was a it was a big move. You know,
my family and my siblings weren't really on board with
it. It was hard, but yeah, I mean there was a
reality that living in Minnesota could only get me so far,
and I had to move to the mountains. And at
first it was just me and my mom. We went
for a few months just us, but obviously, like my
grandparents and my dad, taking care of the other four
(15:26):
kids was too hard, so we just decided to stick
to stick, you know, together, and be a family and move.
And but that was a you know, that's where I
learned how to ski downhill? Wasn't bail.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yeah, I was kind of asked that, and then I
didn't because it felt like I was an idiot, and
I probably still am. But in Minnesota there's still mountains.
There's no ski mountains, right, No, No, they're not.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
No. I grew up at a place called Buck Hill
and it's about two hundred and sixty vertical feet they
actually have and I love it. It was an amazing
place grew up and had an amazing coach who actually
was my father's coach growing up. But they put landfill
on the top of it to make it higher. So
that should kind of give you an idea.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Yeah, that's not that doesn't sound correct.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
No, So I mean it's a move to mountains, you know, I.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Moved to actual mountain. Yeah, it was weird. I was
trying to navigate that. I was like, I don't remember
lots of lakes, but I don't remember a bunch of mountains.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
There lots of lots of lakes.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
So you go to Vail. Now your days are you?
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Like?
Speaker 2 (16:38):
You are you going to school?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Uh? Kind of? I mean, so what. I moved in
when I was twelve, and they had a ski academy there,
but I was too young. So for two years I
did homeschool and I was kind of like, I read
some books and you know, I took my dad's high
school German book and I was trying to teach myself German.
And then eventually it was obviously old enough to join
(17:01):
the academy, but then I got kicked out of that
because I didn't need the state requirements for attendance. So
I ended up having to do like an online school.
It was kind of a shit show, to be honest,
but I made it work, you know. I I I
was doing school work mostly in the summer because in
the winter I was racing, and I think, you know,
studying online was actually was nice because I had just
(17:22):
had a lot of flexibility. But again, I was basically
teaching myself, so I blame myself if I'm not smart enough.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Because you were teaching yourself. I don't know think that's
how that works. Yeah, that was one of the fun
facts I was given was that you speak fluent German. Yeah,
it does that. What does bomb gardner mean?
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Bomb gart It means like tree gardener.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
There you go. I trust you. Then, as far as
I'm concerned, that's what I've been told. Did that help
you later on, like as you're starting to do international competitions.
German has got to be a big language in this world, right.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah, it's the I mean it's the number one language
because everyone basically, you know, skiing is made up of Austria, Germany,
Switzerland and Italy and you know Sutrul, which is northern Italy.
They all speak. All those countries speak German. And so
also when I got to a point where I was
doing interviews, I could do interviews in German and it
helped a lot. You know, I felt like I connect
(18:20):
more with the history of the sport. I didn't want
to be, you know, that person that made other people
conform to me. I wanted to respect the history of
the sport. And it's not really applicable to anything else
in my life. Unfortunately, now that I'm retired, it's not like,
you know, I'm speaking German all the time, but trying
(18:40):
to learn Spanish and it is just really hard. It's very,
very different. So it's not helpful right now.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, yeah, I don't. I don't speak German.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Would you speak any other languages?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
French a little? I mean I took a lot of
years of French perfect.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
You know what that means?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Do you know what that means? Oh? Yeah. So I
worked with a French director for a number of years
and I traveled to Paris with him and I was like,
they're just not nice. And he goes, well, you know,
this is the phrase you need to say, jipaul from
say come in vach espanol par de moi and that
what is it? What is that? He goes, I speak
(19:27):
French like a Spanish cow. Excuse me, a Spanish cow.
And so that's what would happened. I would go into
a store restaurant in France and I would be trying.
Then I would say is and they would look at
me and then they would laugh and they'd be like, Okay,
what do you want? Yeah, they're total English speaking like
(19:50):
now they're there. I'm one of the gang.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
That's a good that's a good line.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
I should take that, you cause she should learn the
equivalent of that of Spanish. Yeah, I speak Spanish like.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
A American bull or something. I don't know. There's I'm
sure there's some something I could say something. I'll figure
that out. I'll get back to you.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Thank you. Please report back. Gravity Corps there at Ski
(20:32):
Club Veil. This is an intensive program for young skiers.
How did it help you in your car?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
I mean it gave me all of the downhill skills,
like visualization, and you know, we did a lot of
which isn't common now. We did a lot of terrain work.
So I was doing jumps and like you know, doing
super G and downhill when I was like really young.
And now everyone's very nervous about kids doing downhill and
flying through the air, so they make a wait until
(21:00):
they're sixteen or seventeen years old. And twelve thirteen, I'm
skiing super G so going like seventy miles an hour,
which I really enjoyed. And also, you know, I just
had a great group of people. I skied with girls
and boys that were quite a bit older than me.
So I was really good at shadowing people, just learning
(21:21):
and following behind. And because I wasn't cool, I was young,
and comparatively to them, I wasn't, you know, in their
league yet, so I just kind of hung back. I
learned from everyone, and eventually I beat them, and then
the rest history. I guess.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Do you think those limits should be put on?
Speaker 1 (21:43):
It's hard. I mean in all sports these days, there's
a lot of you know, individual coaching, and you hire
like personal trainers when kids are like ten and you know,
they're weightlifting and they're doing all these things, and like,
I don't know, you know, what the balance I think.
You know, obviously, you need to be prepared for your
sport so that you know you physically can handle what
(22:06):
you're doing. But at what point is that too much?
You know? I see a lot of kids between fourteen
and sixteen that have already blown out their knees, and
you know, is that because they're doing too much too young?
Or from a skiing perspective, is it because they're not
strong enough? Is it because you know, they're weightlifting too much?
I don't know the answer to that, But just the
(22:28):
way sports have evolved is pretty amazing because at this
day and age, you have to be so good, so
young to be competitive because everyone has just gotten everything's
so individualized. It's it's very hard to be competitive. You
really have to. Unfortunately, parents have to spend a lot
of money in any sport to really get their kids
to a competitive level, you know, to a very high
(22:48):
professional level.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Well, and I don't know if you're going to be
willing to admit to this or whatever, but I mean,
obviously it's it's true. So put humility aside for a second,
like you're doing it and by your own admission, at
this at this time, everybody else is older than you.
But you have a specific gift. You have a specific
skill that, for whatever reason is it enables you to
(23:14):
keep up and eventually excel and overtake these But to me,
the issue is, and this is what I'm curious about
your perspective about. This is what I battle with when
it comes to sports, is that we start making rules
that maybe are really sound and good rules for the
majority of kids, right like ninety nine percent of these
(23:36):
kids are not ready, but we make these rules that
potentially undermine people like you in your case. And so
I guess My question really is just from your perspective,
are these rules helpful, should they be enforced or do
we just have to take things more on a case
by case basis.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
I think rules are malleable. It kind of goes with
everything that I do. It's good to have guardrails, it's
good to have kind of parameters to kind of guide you.
But there's always exceptions to the rule. For example, with
my rehab, with all of my injuries from ninety nine
point nine percent of people, you say, okay, you tore
(24:20):
your ACL, it's going to be a nine month recovery, okay,
but not everyone recovers the same. I recover quickly, I
you know, dedicate my time to getting back, and it
may take me six months. So I think, you know,
there's just things shouldn't be set in stone. Nothing should
ever be set in stone, and there's always going to
(24:41):
be people that need to be at a certain level
at a certain time in life. For example, I you know,
when I was training in Veil at such a young
age with older kids, I was actually allowed into the
Junior Olympics when I was eleven and twelve with kids
that are thirteen and fourteen, and eventually fourteen and fifteen,
and I was beating them and I needed that competition.
(25:03):
If if they hadn't have been the rules so that
I could, you know, go to that next age group, right,
I don't know where I would be, you know, but
I don't think that should be obviously the standard. I
think it's like bowling. You just put some guardrails on
and sometimes you can. You know, people are good enough
to where you can drop them. But I don't know.
I they like speed limits, you know, It's.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Just it's malleable if you're a good enough driver. That's
what I told the cop last week when I got
pulled over. Now, sir, I promise you I'm way better
driving good than anybody else. Yeah, you skied your first
World Cup at age sixteen. Now you're you're sixteen years old.
(25:53):
You've had this dream now seven eight years. My math
is weak. Are you feeling like this is a big deal,
like I'm making history? Or is it like let me
just go win this thing? Like how are you feeling
As a young sixteen year old, I.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Felt a lot of pressure. Okay, you know I was
the youngest. Yeah, I mean there was one other girl
on the team and she was almost a year older
than me, but you know, we were by far the youngest,
and obviously the Salt Lake Olympics were the next year,
and so my first season, it wasn't just you know,
let's do the World Cups and see how you do.
(26:33):
It's I have to qualify for the Olympics next year.
I had to really establish myself on the team, and
I struggled. You know, it was it was hard. I had.
I had to get my legs underneath me and find
my confidence within that new peer group. And once I
got it, you know, I really figured everything out. When
I was kind of eighteen nineteen, I started getting on
(26:54):
the on the podium and I really felt like I belonged.
But in the beginning, you know, I struggled to find
my place and again, like being one of the youngest
people on the tours can be alienating, and again I
wasn't cool. I was like, homeschooling doesn't help much with
social skills, just FYI. But I figured it out eventually,
So it just took me maybe a little bit longer.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
You make that your first Olympics in two thousand and two,
What did that feel like? That's that's a different thing, right,
it was amazing.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
I mean, holy moly. Yeah, and ironically, like I'm on
the Olympic bid committee trying to get felt like back
to Olympics in twenty thirty four, which would be amazing.
But it was such a great gains. I mean it's hard.
I mean, honestly, it's all downhill from there. You know,
a home Olympics to start off is just incredible. And
it was also an interesting time. You know, after nine
(27:47):
to eleven, you know, everyone was on edge. The world
was watching us, and we really needed to do well
as a team for our country because you know, we
needed that that morale. And I had the best results
of the entire women's team, and because you know, all
of the veterans who were supposed to get medals didn't,
(28:09):
it was somehow a disappointment, and so my performance was
looked at as a disappointment, even though I had the
best result of the entire team, And so that was
hard for me and I kind of I thought, okay,
this is it. I'd established myself and I hadn't, you know,
in their minds, I had a long ways to go,
and and kind of wrapping my head around that was
(28:30):
hard because you focus on something like anything in life,
you have this one goal and you focus on it
so hard and you work towards it, and then you
get there and you realize, oh no, this is just
the start, This isn't the end point. This is just
the beginning. And so you know, I had to figure
that out and find my way forward.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
But I got there this stretch of dominance. I I mean, look,
I knew you were good. I didn't have your stats
like memorized or whatever. You don't, Brian, I mean, I
might now overall world champion in two thousand and eight,
(29:09):
two thousand and nine, two thy ten and then again
in twelve. Did you feel as though I can't lose?
Like did you have that feeling they talk about like
Michael Jordan right like in the zone or whatever. Is
that how you felt on the mountain?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (29:29):
I did.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
I mean there was it was basically me against myself,
and you know, I felt so confident and it was
so light, you know, there wasn't I didn't feel a pressure.
I felt such an ease and such a joy and
it was such an amazing time, especially from twenty ten
(29:50):
to twenty twelve was kind of really my prime. And
I lost the overall title by three points, which was
kind of there's some political bullshit that went along with it,
but that era was pretty incredible, and I, I don't
know I was when I watched Michael Jordan's documentary. I
think it really struck a chord because you know, eventually
(30:10):
you have to figure out ways to motivate yourself because
you know, you keep winning and then I so it
was like, you know, some one person didn't say hi
to me, or you know, there's like I would find
things to focus on so that it would drive me
and so that we were I don't know that that
kind of storyline with Michael really hit a chord with
me as well.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Yeah, so this you're talking about twenty eleven with the
three point it's so funny because I just talked about
you winning four out of five years, and your brain
immediately goes to the one year.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Yeah didn't. That's so fascinating. So I don't know if
you've noticed this, but I'm highly competitive.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Yeah. See here's the thing. I think I'm highly competitive
until I talk to someone like you, and then I'm like,
all right, well, I mean there's highly competitive, and this
the media portrayed this is like you had a bitter rivalry.
Do you feel like that was all overplayed or again,
were you looking for motivation during that time?
Speaker 1 (31:12):
Yeah, I mean it was it was hard. You know,
my best friend on the tour, who I spent every
Christmas with, we were one and two. I mean, between
the two of us, we run every single downhill for
like a three year span, and so to be best
friends with your number one competitor is a challenge, obviously,
And there was some fishy things that went on at
(31:32):
the end of the season where I lost by three
points to her. There was a couple of races that
were canceled that really shouldn't have been canceled, and and
you know, I think that part of it is one
of the reasons why we had a hard time afterwards.
You know, she really felt like she deserved it, and
I felt like these races shouldn't have been canceled, and
(31:53):
I didn't have a fair shake of getting the title.
But you know, at the same time that ski racing,
like I have to accept it and I don't hold
anything against her, obviously, that's again that's the sport. But
at the time I think it was hard kind of
a riff and you know, then she got married and
things separated a little bit more. But I don't know.
(32:14):
For women especially, it's just it's hard to be friends
with your number one competitor.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
In addition to winning all those World Cups, you win
the downhill gold and the super g bronze at the
twenty ten Vancouver Olympics. Talk to me about the moment
that you win gold. There's the podium, there's the song,
(32:41):
the national anthem. Like, is this as overwhelming in the
moment for you as it would appear to be to me?
Or are you? Is it like these are just all
the years that I expect this to happen now?
Speaker 1 (32:57):
No, I mean that I still get very emotional every
time I see that Olympic run. It was really the
culmination of all of the years of my hard work,
but also my families, you know, my family sacrifice moving
to Colorado, and I mean we were not well off.
(33:20):
We struggled a lot, and moving to Colorado was not,
you know, an easy move for us. So I just
felt so overwhelmed with emotion, happiness, but also a lot
of relief. You know, there's so much building up to
that point. My entire life had build up to that
one moment and maybe think about it. It's two minutes.
My Downhall run was two minutes long. You know. It's like,
(33:44):
how do you quantify your entire life's work in two minutes.
So I'm very thankful for that moment. I wish that
I could bottle it up and experience it, you know again,
because it happened so fast, and I was so overwhelmed
with emotion that I was trying the majority of that
day and I had to race the next day, so
I didn't even really get to enjoy it. I had
(34:07):
to try to focus again for the next day. But
it was such an incredible experience and I'm so thankful
for it. And you know, my mom passed away a
year ago, and when I watched the Olympic run, you
see me in the finish and then it pans immediately
to my mom and so that is just like for me,
it's so emotional and it's so amazing that I had
(34:28):
that experience with her and with my family.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
That's incredible. I'm glad you had that too. Thanks in
twenty fourteen, you tear your acl so you can't compete.
It's so chea. How tough is this for you to
swallow at the time.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Oh it's brutal. I mean, you know, watching all of
my friends win medals and I'm sitting at home with
you know, having just had surgery. You know, the Olympics
are once every four years, and I think for this
for the public, for spectators, it seems like it happens
very quickly because you have a Summer Olympics every two
years and then the Winter Olympics. But for us, it's
(35:06):
like there's so much that goes on in between, and
so much build up. And that was really, honestly, I'd
say even more my prime than when I went into
Vancouver because I had already won, I didn't have any pressure,
you know, I would have been in such a great position,
and yeah, it was a brutal experience. I wish I
had been there, but you know, such as life. So
(35:26):
I just hunger down and focused on the next Olympics,
which we were in South Korea, which is my last Olympics.
And by that point I had been pretty ravaged with injuries,
so it was not like I was in my prime,
but I was thankful to come away with another medal.
So you take what you can get.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Well, I mean, yeah, you miss out on those Olympics.
But the next few years, you match or your breaking
multiple records. Most Super G's won all time downhill victories,
World Cup. Are these are these wins and these records,
are they driving you to keep going and do more?
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Yeah? Definitely. I mean I'm I'm you know, I'm a competitor,
you know, and I was never afraid to say it.
You know, I I need that next goal, you know,
I want I wanted you know, I enjoy ski racing,
but I also need, you know, something to drive me.
And those records were something that drove me, especially when
(36:29):
I was injured, you know, I I wanted to go fast,
I wanted to win, I wanted to break records, and
especially at the end, you know, trying to break sin
Mark's record was something that really really helped push me
because I was so close, but you know, ultimately it
wasn't meant to be. But but yeah, I just I
(36:50):
feel like there's no shame in saying I was driven
by records.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Yeah. What's what's your proudest race of all the races.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Of all the wins, I don't know, I mean probably
the Olympics, you know, winning the goal. I think just
from an emotional perspective and looking at how much my
family sacrifice. But if I'm thinking about what was the
most difficult, I think it was coming back from two acls.
I was out for almost two years and I won
my second race back and I cried like a little baby.
(37:20):
You know, it was just it was a It was
a lot. It was a lot of hard work. You know,
I had to learn how to walk again. You know,
it was a it was from you know, bottom to
the top. I was at freaking the bottom, like minus
the bottom. I was in the basement. I was you know,
it was a pretty gnarly comeback. But yeah, I think
(37:42):
I was most proud outside of the Olympics with with
that comeback race.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
As an elite athlete, you have to deal with well
one being in like peak physical condition at all times,
dealing with injuries, and then you add in to all
of that skiing where a catastrophic accident can happen at
any moment. How do you deal psychologically with that cycle
(38:28):
of injury, healing, rehab, injury that's really unique to skiing.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Well, honestly, I talk about this a lot now when
I do public speaking. You know, I approach risk, you
know when I'm in the starting gate, I've already I
know what the risks are. You know, I know that
I could crash, I could be paralyzed. Many people were
when I was racing. But you can't think about that.
(38:56):
You have to focus on, you know, being present, being
in the moment, your the work that you've put in,
trusting that preparation, and really letting go of that of
that anxiety or fear, because if you think about what
could happen, it will happen. So I think about literally
only performing getting my best all the time, because if
(39:17):
I'm nervous, if I'm thinking about what if anything negative
that I'm thinking about, will most likely happen. So, you know,
I feel like, what's you know, what's the worst that
can happen. I'm just going to go for it and
we'll see, we'll see where it ends up. But if
you think about, you know, the negative, and you don't
ski your best, you're you've already lost before you've even started.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
I'm pretty sure this is the problem with my golf game.
I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
Thinking about hitting it into the bunker and you hit
into the bunker of.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Course, of course, yeah, I mean, it's not risking catastrophic
injury necessarily, But but.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
The bunker is pretty catastrophic yet pond over.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
There is really large and is pretty close to where
I want to hit it. You were known for putting
your body on the line skiing courageously aggressively, and how
did you deal with criticism that you got over the
(40:19):
years to the type of skiing that you wanted to
do and the fact that you were dealing with all
of these injuries because of how courageous you were. Like,
just talk to me a little bit about your relationship
with the press at that time and having to having
to deal with that in addition to everything else.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
Yeah, the press has been, uh an interesting part of
my career. You know, I've always been very open and forthcoming.
You know, I don't I don't really hold my cards
close to my chest, and you know, I'm an open
book and I do things kind of my way. You know.
I was just different. I or makeup. I didn't. I
don't follow trends. I just do what I think is best.
(41:03):
And I think it was hard for me because when
I started to get injured, Honestly, at that time, people
were so negative on me because I was always winning
and then I want and everyone's like, oh, we want
you to come back. You know. It's like that that
classic American story. We you know, we tear her down
to build her back up again, and then everyone you
know wanted me to see me and succeed, and then
and then again. Kind of at the end, it was like, oh,
(41:25):
now she's getting injured too much and she's risking too much,
that she's doing this to herself. And you know, I
was known as this very dramatic person, which is pretty
hilarious because I am the farthest thing from dramatic. I
am a simple, like straightforward person. You know, I do
what needs to be done. You know, if I've heard
I come back, I don't like I you know, I'm
(41:47):
I'm not dramatic. And so I struggled a lot with
the people's perception of me, and I still honestly do.
It's it's a really hard thing to to accept because
I just want to like scream at the Internet like
that's not who I am. But that's just the way
things are now with social media. Everyone has their opinion
and and you know, I, yeah, I crashed a lot,
(42:11):
but guess what downhill you're going eighty miles an hour
should happen. You know, you put everything on the line,
and sometimes, you know, you hit a bump and your
ski goes the opposite way and before you know what,
you're blown out your knee again. So you know, I
just I try not to focus on the external distractions.
I always try to focus on, Okay, who am I,
(42:32):
what am I doing? Why is this important to me?
Who is important to me? And the Internet is not
important to me? So but it's still, you know, even
though I say that, it's still a process. I mean
never easy. I would say, you.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
Know, in football, in basketball, in baseball, at least for
the men, you're given a ton of training about how
to deal with the press. And you are in this sport,
in golf, in you are in this sport that in
the United States becomes really really big once a year,
(43:12):
slash once every four years, and so you're dealing during
those times with like intense media press. But my guess
is you're not really given the training for it at
least here, maybe in maybe in German, you know, in Germany,
(43:34):
right like you can answer those questions, are you know,
because they're more used to it or whatever. So I
wonder one is that true, and two if you could
have an impact toward young athletes today in your sport
or potentially ones also that have a similar sort of
media cycle. Is there any advice that you would give?
(43:55):
Is there anything you wish you had done different?
Speaker 1 (43:57):
I mean, yeah, I guess looking back you can always
say I wish I would have done some things differently.
But advice I always give is to be authentic. Be
authentically yourself, don't listen to what anyone else says. I
think we're all different and that difference makes us special.
And you know, I didn't get media training. I didn't
(44:18):
really think to a degree necessarily that I needed it
because I was never hiding anything. I'm just explaining to
the media what happened, what my experience is, you know,
what I'm doing, how I'm feeling. I didn't feel like
that that was a problem. And you know, in Europe
and when I was doing interviews in German, it was
(44:38):
pretty simple because there was very little drama. You know,
they were talking more about how is your run, how
do you physically feel? Instead of who are you dating?
And that type of conversation was hard for me because
it was not about sports. Anymore. It was going into
a different realm that I pop called. Yeah, it's pop cult.
It's it's just and it's hard. It's hard to manage
(45:01):
that and every again, like everyone has their opinion, and
you know, keeping that at an arms distance is hard.
When everyone's constantly asking me about it. I can shut
off social media, but when you're giving interviews and it's
always the same question over and over again, it drives
you nuts. So I would say, you know, just be yourself.
(45:24):
Always be yourself, Always be authentic. And I always think,
if I am not sure about an answer, just wait
and I'll you know, think about the answer and I'll
say it maybe later or do my own thing with it.
But if you're unsure, never answered, because people always like
to rope you into things, and if you're unsure, you're
going to get yourself into trouble.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Yeah, you know, it's funny because even with all the
media training they get. I just had a conversation with
Andrew Whitworth from the LA Rams after losing the first
Super Bowl that he played with them. He gave a
quote and the Jenna Basically the quote was, you know,
(46:07):
how do you feel losing the Super Bowl? And the
answer that was given was we're all going to die someday.
And he said even as he was saying it, Now,
what he explained to me was and he said, I'm
sure he hasn't memorized like the twelve sentences that he
said around that quote that actually made that not about
(46:32):
losing the Super Bowl, right like not about But at
the time he said, you know, as he said it,
he knew, like.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
Well, that's that's going to be the head.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
That's that's what they're going to take.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean everything can be taken out
of context. I I tried to not give them sound
bites like that. You know, I think there's a way
of being authentic and being yourself while also limiting that
drama effect that people like to hone in on because
they're always waiting for you to slip up or say
one thing that they can use as a headline and
(47:07):
click bait. And honestly, nowadays they'll just do it anyway.
So it's at least if you don't say it, it may
be a little bit better. But honestly, yeah, it doesn't matter,
it cares, it doesn't matter. That is what it is.
Speaker 5 (47:20):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (47:20):
You retired in twenty nineteen after getting one final medal
at the World Championships. How does that feel? Is there
a relief? Is there sadness? Is there a regret? Is
there a celebration? How does that feel?
Speaker 1 (47:35):
Kind of all the above? I mean, I think physically
I was really relieved because I was in so much pain.
You know, I was wearing two knee braces I had,
was skiing with no lcl I a tibo plateau fracture.
I was like, you know, I felt like I was
being held together by duct tape at that point. So
physically I was like, this is this is what's right,
(47:56):
this is what needs to happen. But also emotionally, I know,
I love skiing. I love pushing myself. I love fighting
for a challenge. I love even the process, the gym,
you know, the work that goes into it, and then
obviously the racing and going fast. You know, all those
things are things that I love dearly and I've done
my whole life. So you know, going from something that's
(48:19):
been there is like my rock since I was you know,
two and a half years old, to waking up one
day being retired and that's just gone. It was the
process was more of mourning as if I something or
someone had died, had it kind of had to go
through all the phases. I definitely did some celebrating and
then I try to take some time off and that
(48:41):
lasted about two days and then I said, put me
back to work. I need to I need to do stuff.
This is too much time on my hands. And I've
always felt, you know, it's been a few years now,
but finding that new challenge that gets me excited and
gets that kind of passion within me going like ski racing,
that is really hard. That's why I'm always I'm so active.
(49:03):
I'm in the gym, I'm always trying new sports, and
I'm working hard. But I'm also finding that balance of
traveling and doing adventures because I need that. It's something
that I need for my soul. And people think that
i'm you know, I'm seeking the spotlight, and you know,
I'm doing all these things to get attention, and which
is just such bullshit. You know, I'm just I'm here
(49:24):
living my life. I'm trying to do what feeds my
soul and what makes me happy, and that's it. My
only goal is to you know, lead a healthy life
that I'm happy with. That I can have a positive
impact on others and just feed my dogs. You know,
I got to work hard to feed those guys. There's
a lot of them there. You go.
Speaker 2 (49:42):
You you just alluded to it, but you use the
phrase when you retired that your body quote broken beyond repair.
After all of those years and all of those injuries.
Let me ask you this, it's been almost four years
or four years ish, how as your body resis, do
you feel better now or do you feel like there
(50:04):
are things that will never chante? No, you don't.
Speaker 1 (50:07):
I've had three surgery since I retired. One was three
weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (50:11):
Jesus.
Speaker 1 (50:12):
It's I'm paying the price for pushing myself the way
I did. But it's a price worth paying.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
You know.
Speaker 1 (50:19):
I don't have any regrets. I ski with my heart
on my sleeve, and that's what I enjoy doing, so
I don't I don't have any regrets. I'm really hoping
that I have one more surgery left. I'm not sure
when i'll do it. Maybe in the next six months
or so. I hope that will be the last one
that I'll need for a while. But it's mainly my
(50:41):
right knee. That's just it's a constant struggle daily. But
every athlete and every honestly every person you know, these
you sacrifice something to succeed to get to where you
want to go, to follow your dreams. You know, you
can't have your cake and eat it too. So I
don't regret anything. I just I do hope that the
(51:01):
magic of medicine will fix me a little bit more
than where I currently am.
Speaker 2 (51:07):
Well, look, you're understanding it a little bit. Most people
to achieve their dreams don't have to sacrifice their entire
body multiple surgeries. Well, let me ask you this, would
would you ever be satisfied? Just like going and skiing
a blue ski a blue have a cocktail at the
(51:27):
fire pit.
Speaker 1 (51:28):
And yeah, that's what's I do really love doing that.
I like I have kind of like a ski in
the blue. Yeah, you know, I don't ski moguls because
that's just nonsense. That makes my knees hurt just looking
at it. But I like just a nice groomer, just
an easy groomer. I'm cruising, you know, we ski over
to the chalet, I have you know, some hot Toddies
(51:48):
or whatever, Lobos tequila, and then I'll you know, get
back on the slopes and I'll ski with some friends
and I'll go back to my car and I'll go home.
And it's great. I love doing that. It's just it's simple,
it's fun. It's you know. I started skiing with my family,
you know, as family ski trips Keystone with my grandparents,
and that's what it's all about, you know, just being
(52:09):
out there with your family, enjoying nature. You no cell phones,
you know, you're just out there enjoying the moment. And
that's what I do now.
Speaker 2 (52:18):
I love that. I'm so glad for you about that.
And that's the first time I've actually thought about it
like that.
Speaker 1 (52:24):
For you.
Speaker 2 (52:25):
It could be like just going out, being able to
hang out, enjoy being out. Truthfully, I'm really glad.
Speaker 1 (52:33):
Thanks. I mean, it's that's that's what it's all about,
you know. I mean, life is short. We have to
enjoy it. If you know we're not enjoying it, then
do something else that we enjoy.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
I do have to bring this up. You become the
first woman to ski the street is the strife, and
you did it at night, so you're not what this is.
This is antithetical to what I thought you were. Well,
I know, but I'm saying, like, I thought you were
(53:06):
gonna tell me like f off about the blue, Like no,
I've got to go, like I'm going to do Mount
Baldy or something, or half Dome in Yosemite. They're gonna
put They're gonna put snow on it for me, and
I'm gonna ski down the face of a clip. Why
why'd you do it? What made you do it? What
made you want to do it? And why'd you do it?
Speaker 1 (53:27):
I mean, I've always wanted to race against the men.
It's something that I'm you know, I just it's kind
of like Michelle Wee, you know, it's like the next level.
I just want to get to the next level. How
do I make my ski faster? So Red Bull's always
known this, They've I've been They've been my sponsor for
like twenty years. They call me up after Thanksgiving and
(53:48):
they said, hey, do you want to ski to Strike
And I'm like, yeah, absolutely, let's do it. And they're
like at night and I'm like, I mean, I don't
know how you're gonna do that, but sure, let's let's
do it. And they're like, really, honestly, we thought you
were going to say no, we didn't really have a
tough plan.
Speaker 2 (54:06):
A plan.
Speaker 1 (54:06):
So yeah, they figured out a plan and it was
I mean, I creb skiing in Minnesota, which actually I
skied at night usually after school. We always ski at night,
so I love skiing at night. But I mean I've
never skeed a downhill at night, you know, to light
up a whole downhill course, which they had to do
it in sections because it was just impossible to do.
But I mean it was pretty amazing. Again, I love
(54:28):
pushing the limits. So but I hadn't skied. I hadn't
skied one run of downhill since my very last downhill
race in twenty nineteen. So I literally jumped in borrows
from Ryan Cochran Siegel, who won the silver medal at
the last Olympics. I borrowed a pair of his skis.
I did a couple of practice runs, and then I
(54:49):
did it, and I was, honestly, I was probably the
most nervous I've ever been in my life. I don't
really get nervous, but I was like, I am old,
Am I insane? You know? Am I gonna totally ruin myself?
Speaker 2 (55:00):
But my ration is this, I mean, yes, by the way,
you are insane. That is insane, but all the rest
of it, no, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (55:08):
My ration was, you know I'm getting a knee replacement, right,
so if I crash, oh jeez, and I my stuff out,
who cares? You know, I'm just gonna get a new
great is.
Speaker 2 (55:22):
That is not that is not healthy.
Speaker 1 (55:25):
That is not.
Speaker 2 (55:27):
Oh I'm getting a new leg next week anyway, So
oh my god.
Speaker 1 (55:34):
That's how my brain works.
Speaker 2 (55:36):
So that well, it works. It works for you. It
worked out, and now your name is there. You can't
take that away from you, uh, fearless. In the business
world here, how that's what we call a professional transition.
Speaker 1 (55:52):
You must have done this.
Speaker 2 (55:53):
Advising VC firms. You're working with company, you're making goggles,
you're making ski clothing with head. Did you notice how
I didn't try to say that, say it unique? Unique? Yeah,
you're crushing it. What's the next thing? Business? What are
you going?
Speaker 1 (56:13):
We were we have some really amazing products coming up
with my production company called Opera Productions. And obviously the
strike I get.
Speaker 2 (56:21):
It, opright, I get it.
Speaker 1 (56:24):
Not very many people I got it, get it. And
then I'm like, I thought this was like, what's apress?
I'm like, no, that's not it.
Speaker 2 (56:36):
It comes back to fra Boom.
Speaker 1 (56:39):
Yeah, I saw. We have a lot of amazing products
coming up with that. But obviously, you know, the strikes
have slowed everything down. But this winter's coming up, so
my my next ski line is launching. I'm actually launching
Mend's this year, which I'm really excited about. I have
my foundation, which we have our annual gala in a
(56:59):
couple I'm really excited about that. What else I mean,
I'm on the Olympic bid committee for the Solid Games
that I said good luck and thank you. I'm on
the Olympic Broadcast Systems Board. I'm doing some things. I'm
out here hustling.
Speaker 2 (57:15):
You're doing a lot of things. If you need a
skier for any of your projects for a prey.
Speaker 1 (57:20):
Hey I will.
Speaker 2 (57:22):
I actually probably don't.
Speaker 1 (57:25):
Don't give a call. I think it could be good.
You could be in the bar on the mountain seeing You.
Speaker 2 (57:33):
Absolutely know that, friends, I got you.
Speaker 1 (57:35):
You'd crush it.
Speaker 2 (57:36):
You absolutely know that I could do that. Uh yeah.
I do want to mention the Lenzy Vaughn Foundation providing
camps and scholarships for girls to pursue all sorts of
things athletics, academics, the arts, and you had some camps
this summer I mentioned earlier Strong Girls Camps. Yep, was
that successful.
Speaker 1 (57:56):
Yeah, it was awesome. I mean, honestly, you know, again
it kind of was back to Peekaboo. But we have curriculums,
so I try to give them skills to be able
to be confident and have positive body image and all
of these things that you know are just so difficult
for kids these days, and try to inspire them so
they can go out in the world and be strong,
you know, empowered young women. But yeah, we actually just
(58:19):
started using our own curriculum this year and I'm really
excited about it, and we have a couple more camps
coming up, so I'm just going to try to keep scaling,
keep impacting as many kids as possible. And I think that's, honestly,
such a big part of being an athlete is that
responsibility of past paying it forward. And I've all, you know,
(58:40):
because of Peekaboo and my parents obviously, I just have
taken that responsibility to heart. So definitely something that's driven
me the most since I've retired.
Speaker 2 (58:50):
That is admirable. Congratulations to you. You know, I'm a
big fan of yours. I wish you all continued great
success with your production company, with the Lindsay Bond Foundation,
and with all of your beasts, your VC making shark
mogulan skills in the business world. Lendsy, I wish you
(59:14):
nothing but the best. Thank you so much for coming
and talking to me.
Speaker 1 (59:17):
Thanks Brandon, I appreciate it. Let's go golfing. I got
a hole in one last time we were together, so
maybe we'll make it.
Speaker 2 (59:23):
I mean, I must be good luck, I think, so
let's get it. Let's get it done, all right.
Speaker 1 (59:29):
Thank you, Lendsy.
Speaker 2 (59:42):
I'm so stoked you came on. Thank you so much.
It was great to see you again, even if you
don't remember meeting me the first time. But I get it.
You made a hole in one and that I'm sure
caused you. No shortage of celebration between that, your hole
in one, your foundation, your businesses, you being a damn delight.
You simply cannot be stopped, it seems, so. My best
(01:00:07):
of luck in everything that you have in the future. Unfortunately,
this podcast does have to be stopped right now because
we're done. But don't worry, only until next week when
we're going to be back with another guest who I
am sure will captivate and delight you. So until then,
Now long everyone, and have a really good week. Off
(01:00:37):
the Beat is hosted and executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner,
alongside our executive producer Linglee. Our senior producer is Diego Tapia.
Our producers are Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and Emily Carr.
Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary, and our intern
is Thomas Olsen. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed
(01:01:00):
by the one and only Creed Braden
I was like, I am old. Am I insane? You know?
Am I gonna totally ruin myself? But my ration is this.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I mean, yes, by the way, you are insane. That
is insane, But all the rest of it, no, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
My ration was, you know, I'm getting a knee replacement, right,
so if I crash, oh jee and I blow my
stuff out, who cares? You know, I'm just gonna get
a new great.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
That it's Lindsay. That is not That is not healthy.
That is not Oh I'm getting a new leg next
week anyway, So oh my god, that's.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
How my brain works.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
So Hi, I'm Lindsay Vaughn, Olympic champion, philanthropists and entrepreneur.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Welcome back everybody. Yeah that right. It is time for
another episode of Off the Beat. This is your host,
Brian Baumgartner. And guys, guys, we've peaked, truly, we have
reached the top of the mountain. It is all downhill
from here. Get it because my guest today is one
(01:20):
of the greatest skiers of all time, my friend and yours,
Lindsey Vaughn. She won a gold medal, she won two
world championships, and unbelievable eighty two World Cup races. She's
been on the slopes since before she could even walk,
(01:41):
so it only makes sense that she wanted to basically
dominate the entire sport by her mid twenties. Even since
she retired in twenty nineteen because she said her body
was broken, she is still breaking new records, like becoming
the first woman to ski the Strife earlier this year.
(02:04):
Lindsay is a trailblazer. I was so excited, blown away
in fact, to get to talk to her. I know
that you're going to be blown away too when you
hear about her amazing life and career and by the way,
all the awesome things that she's been doing lately. So
strap in everybody here. She is Lindsay Vaughn.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
Bubble and Squeak. I love it, Bubble and Squeakna Bubble
and Squeaker. Cook get every moon lift over from the
night before.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
What's up?
Speaker 1 (02:55):
What's up?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Ryan, Lindsay? How are you?
Speaker 1 (02:59):
How good? Hurt you?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I'm good? You know we've met before?
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Do you remember us meeting before we're at the Emmy?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Oh god, well, we've probably met multiple times. That's always embarrassing.
Don't remember I met you? It was at an event,
a golf event in Monterey.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Oh that's when I got my hole in one. That
was a long time.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Oh that's right. Ye, yeah, got that fact.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
I know. I retired after that. That was. It was
one and done.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
You know, thanks so much for remembering me. I mean,
I guess you had the whole on one. I guess
you had the hole in one. That was.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
That was an open bar after that, so I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Man, Well, yeah there was. How are you?
Speaker 1 (03:44):
I'm great? How are you?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I mean, I'm good. I'm I'm surviving the summer. I
understand you've been busy doing some programming. We're going to
talk about that. But it's so nice to talk to you.
Your career is well one amaze and too incomprehensible for me.
I was a casual skier for a long time, and
(04:09):
then I stopped. I felt like it was it was
best for me to stop. I was shooting this television
show for for a number of years. Now. I have
a daughter who is eight and kind of obsessed with it.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I mean, I it's I think it's a good kids sport.
I don't you know. I think it's probably good that
you didn't continue. While you were doing that, you know,
that show that may have been wildly popular, but it's
so it's such a great family sport. So I condone
that I really do.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I know. Well, now I'm just trying to I'm trying
to decide if I if I just leave it to
really fun, helpful ski instructors, or if I actually if
I actually get back involved. You know what, maybe I'll
send her to you and then you can teach her
to ski and.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
All right, well we'll try that. Maybe we'll do a
two for one both of you, you and your daughter.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Oh boy, yeah, I don't. I don't. Again, I need
to think about that a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Wells to be negotiated.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
TVD, TVD. As they say in the biz, you've been
skiing since basically when you could walk more is age
two or like born on skis or whatever. Do you
have a first memory or do you just is that
as it goes as far as you back, as far
as you remember.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Yeah, I mean I actually was in my dad was
coaching while going to law school at night, and he
actually had me in a backpack while he was coaching.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
So even before I was on skis, I was on
a person that was right, But I remember, you know,
I grew up in Minnesota, and man, it was so
freaking cold there.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
So I remember vivid memories of being really cold, my
dad bribing me with hot chocolate and donuts, and I
remember him like worming up my hands with you know,
blowing on my hand because they were so cold. But yeah,
I too, two and a half. That's when I kind
of when I started.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah, yeah, I spent a chunk of time in Minnesota.
I was doing theater. I was from the south. The
cold was something that I couldn't It was very difficult
for me, which I mean, that's like the opposite of you.
In fact, I telled a story that I had moved
into town and was doing a show in downtown Minneapolis
(06:36):
theater and I get done, maybe have a beer after
the show. I don't really remember. But by the time
I got to my car, this was early days of
like the automatic like to you know, like opening your car.
So I hit that and it doesn't unlock, and so
then I sticked you could still put the key in,
(06:57):
and I turned the lock and I get in the
car and my door won't it won't latch because now
I've moved the latch out of the way and it's
too cold to go back. But your car doesn't warm
up if it's not like moving. So I drive home.
I drive home to uptown Sorry Minne Police Department with
(07:19):
my door, holding my door with my elbow like cruxed
in as I'm driving because I'm so I'm so cold.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah. No, Minnesota is a was a tough place. That's
why I don't live there anymore. I love Minnesota, and
you know, I think I love the summers obviously more.
But we didn't have snow days at school. We had
day's row. It was too cold and we couldn't go
to school. But actually my uncle managed the Orpheum and
State theaters in Minneapolis as well, so you should have
gone there.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Great. Well, So now those were more touring theaters, so
you know, I wasn't in Bye Bye Birdie the big musical.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Yeah, the musicoger Field probably David Copperfield came through the Orpheum.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
I'm sure that's someone who did that.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah, he didn't disagree you on stage, so okay, that
makes sense.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, So as a young child myself, last personal ski story,
my father was well, eventually he was a doctor and
he did his residency in Salt Lake City, and my parents,
allegedly before I was born, were very big skiers, and
(08:29):
my mom, when she was pregnant with me, skied broke
her leg in several places. It's now an inch I
think over an inch shorter than the other leg. And
unlike you, they never skied again, literally never skied. Yeah,
when I was a kid, we were not allowed to go.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
I mean, that's definitely that's a story I've heard many
times in different variations. But you know, that's why I say,
if you don't enjoy being on the mountain, if you're
not confident in what you're doing, and then don't do it,
because you know, if you're scared of it, it's probably
best not to. But when you're a kid, you know,
you're like Gumby. You could crash and you know, become
(09:11):
a pretzel and you're totally fine. So I don't know.
If you start young and you get confidence, I'd say
go for it, but I don't. I'm not a big
proponent of pushing adults into I always feel responsible for
other people's injuries as well, So I'm sorry for your
mother and feel sorry.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, never went back, So I ended up you know,
when I became a teenager or whatever, started going going
with friends. Now, I know your mom didn't ski, is
that right? What was your what was your whole family's
relationship to skiing as you as you started out, it
was all different.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
You know, my mom had a stroke when she had me,
so she couldn't ski. She you know, her balance was
altered because of the stroke. She just couldn't do it.
And she tried several times, it just just didn't work.
And then my siblings, we're all really good, but they
just didn't want to be me. So there was that
kind of awkward like resentment. You know, like my my brother,
(10:10):
one of my brothers. There, it's me, my sister and
the triplets, and one of the triplets was kind of
the only other sibling that really love skiing. But I think,
you know, we just enjoyed being on the mountain together.
I think what brought us all together was really my
grandparents and you know, all of our cousins and you know,
my aunts and uncles. We would all get together and
go skiing, and you know, we would have like, you know,
(10:32):
a cabin and keystone and they would all drive down
from Wisconsin and we would drive from Minnesota and it
was just a really great family get together. But yeah,
now that everyone's older, not very many people still skiing.
My grandparents are no longer with us, so we just, yeah,
kind of fizzled out. But I'm still holding down the
(10:53):
fort for the for the skiing and the family.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
For you, when did it become an activity, something fun,
even something that you were good at, to like, this
is what I want to be. I want to be
the best in the world at this. When did that
come about?
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Well? I started racing when I was seven, and then
I met Peekaboo Street, who you know at the time,
she won the Olympics in Nagano in ninety eight, and
she was the thing at the time. And I met
her at a ski shop in Minnesota, and I got
home and I said, Dad, I just want to be Peekaboo,
And so it kind of changed my mindset. You know.
(11:33):
It wasn't that I wasn't good before. I just had
never thought about skiing in that way. So she'd made
me think of it, as you know, I have a
goal to look forward to, which is to be an Olympian.
And then I got home and my dad and I
made a ten year plan and I made the Olympics
when I was seventeen in Salt Lake City, so it
(11:55):
was It's pretty crazy to think about, you know, just
meeting her and making the plan and actually getting there
is obviously a lot of steps in between. But yeah,
definitely when I met her, everything kind of changed.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Did she just happen to be there or did you
go to meet her?
Speaker 1 (12:12):
It was an autograph signing, I waited for like three
hours a line.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
And then you met her. Yep, that's incredible.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Yeah, she's just you know, she was kind of larger
than line. If she had this you know, amazing personality,
very charismatic, and I still have you know, I'm probably
too old for this, but I still have her poster
that she signed for me framed in my room.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
It does something to me. I don't know, like the
idea that you know now. I'm sure there's no shortage
of signings that you're doing. Do you ever think about
that when you're meeting either little girls or little boys
at events or signings, that the profound impact that you
could have on someone.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, I mean I've always had that image of myself
every time I meet a kid, I'm like, this could
have been me, you know, and I put myself in
their shoes and you know, actually, also when I got
her autograph, there was another person there, woman that was
signing autographs, and I ran into her the bathroom and
I asked her for her autograph in the bathroom and
she said no. And I was so young, you know,
(13:19):
and you don't realize it means a bathroom, Like, yeah,
I get it, don't want to take pictures in the bathroom,
but it was pretty traumatizing to me. So I always
have this image of how someone can really positively impact
you and vice versa, how it can negatively affect you.
And I always wanted to be like Peegloo was for me,
and that's why I started my foundation, because you know,
(13:41):
I want to inspire kids in whatever way I can
to follow their dreams. And sometimes it just takes, you know,
one person to open their eyes up to something different.
You know, I could be something more than what I
think I could be, and I hope I can give
that to them because she, you know, she changed my
life in a pretty impactful way.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Are you still friends?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Yeah? She lives like right down the road from me, ironically,
And it was so funny because I actually directed and
produced her documentary about two years ago. It's on Peacock
and I honestly I could barely do the interview because
I was so nervous. I felt like I was nine
years old again. It was a pretty cool moment. But
(14:24):
to be able to tell her story and to have
her trust in that way was really special. So it
was a very full circle moment. You never know what's
going to happen and where people will end up. You know,
it's just kind of crazy how life works out that way. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
No, I mean that is unbelievable that you meet her
at a signing and then a few years later you
end up producing her documentary. That's that's a.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Couple of years.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Just a couple of years. We're not going to count
you and your dad. You devise a ten year plan. Eventually,
I assume this is part of the plan. The whole
family moves to Vail, Colorado, Uh, for you to join
the ski club Vale? Is that right?
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Yeah? It was a it was a big move. You know,
my family and my siblings weren't really on board with
it. It was hard, but yeah, I mean there was a
reality that living in Minnesota could only get me so far,
and I had to move to the mountains. And at
first it was just me and my mom. We went
for a few months just us, but obviously, like my
grandparents and my dad, taking care of the other four
(15:26):
kids was too hard, so we just decided to stick
to stick, you know, together, and be a family and move.
And but that was a you know, that's where I
learned how to ski downhill? Wasn't bail.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yeah, I was kind of asked that, and then I
didn't because it felt like I was an idiot, and
I probably still am. But in Minnesota there's still mountains.
There's no ski mountains, right, No, No, they're not.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
No. I grew up at a place called Buck Hill
and it's about two hundred and sixty vertical feet they
actually have and I love it. It was an amazing
place grew up and had an amazing coach who actually
was my father's coach growing up. But they put landfill
on the top of it to make it higher. So
that should kind of give you an idea.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Yeah, that's not that doesn't sound correct.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
No, So I mean it's a move to mountains, you know, I.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Moved to actual mountain. Yeah, it was weird. I was
trying to navigate that. I was like, I don't remember
lots of lakes, but I don't remember a bunch of mountains.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
There lots of lots of lakes.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
So you go to Vail. Now your days are you?
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Like?
Speaker 2 (16:38):
You are you going to school?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Uh? Kind of? I mean, so what. I moved in
when I was twelve, and they had a ski academy there,
but I was too young. So for two years I
did homeschool and I was kind of like, I read
some books and you know, I took my dad's high
school German book and I was trying to teach myself German.
And then eventually it was obviously old enough to join
(17:01):
the academy, but then I got kicked out of that
because I didn't need the state requirements for attendance. So
I ended up having to do like an online school.
It was kind of a shit show, to be honest,
but I made it work, you know. I I I
was doing school work mostly in the summer because in
the winter I was racing, and I think, you know,
studying online was actually was nice because I had just
(17:22):
had a lot of flexibility. But again, I was basically
teaching myself, so I blame myself if I'm not smart enough.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Because you were teaching yourself. I don't know think that's
how that works. Yeah, that was one of the fun
facts I was given was that you speak fluent German. Yeah,
it does that. What does bomb gardner mean?
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Bomb gart It means like tree gardener.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
There you go. I trust you. Then, as far as
I'm concerned, that's what I've been told. Did that help
you later on, like as you're starting to do international competitions.
German has got to be a big language in this world, right.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah, it's the I mean it's the number one language
because everyone basically, you know, skiing is made up of Austria, Germany,
Switzerland and Italy and you know Sutrul, which is northern Italy.
They all speak. All those countries speak German. And so
also when I got to a point where I was
doing interviews, I could do interviews in German and it
helped a lot. You know, I felt like I connect
(18:20):
more with the history of the sport. I didn't want
to be, you know, that person that made other people
conform to me. I wanted to respect the history of
the sport. And it's not really applicable to anything else
in my life. Unfortunately, now that I'm retired, it's not like,
you know, I'm speaking German all the time, but trying
(18:40):
to learn Spanish and it is just really hard. It's very,
very different. So it's not helpful right now.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, yeah, I don't. I don't speak German.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Would you speak any other languages?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
French a little? I mean I took a lot of
years of French perfect.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
You know what that means?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Do you know what that means? Oh? Yeah. So I
worked with a French director for a number of years
and I traveled to Paris with him and I was like,
they're just not nice. And he goes, well, you know,
this is the phrase you need to say, jipaul from
say come in vach espanol par de moi and that
what is it? What is that? He goes, I speak
(19:27):
French like a Spanish cow. Excuse me, a Spanish cow.
And so that's what would happened. I would go into
a store restaurant in France and I would be trying.
Then I would say is and they would look at
me and then they would laugh and they'd be like, Okay,
what do you want? Yeah, they're total English speaking like
(19:50):
now they're there. I'm one of the gang.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
That's a good that's a good line.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
I should take that, you cause she should learn the
equivalent of that of Spanish. Yeah, I speak Spanish like.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
A American bull or something. I don't know. There's I'm
sure there's some something I could say something. I'll figure
that out. I'll get back to you.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Thank you. Please report back. Gravity Corps there at Ski
(20:32):
Club Veil. This is an intensive program for young skiers.
How did it help you in your car?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
I mean it gave me all of the downhill skills,
like visualization, and you know, we did a lot of
which isn't common now. We did a lot of terrain work.
So I was doing jumps and like you know, doing
super G and downhill when I was like really young.
And now everyone's very nervous about kids doing downhill and
flying through the air, so they make a wait until
(21:00):
they're sixteen or seventeen years old. And twelve thirteen, I'm
skiing super G so going like seventy miles an hour,
which I really enjoyed. And also, you know, I just
had a great group of people. I skied with girls
and boys that were quite a bit older than me.
So I was really good at shadowing people, just learning
(21:21):
and following behind. And because I wasn't cool, I was young,
and comparatively to them, I wasn't, you know, in their
league yet, so I just kind of hung back. I
learned from everyone, and eventually I beat them, and then
the rest history. I guess.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Do you think those limits should be put on?
Speaker 1 (21:43):
It's hard. I mean in all sports these days, there's
a lot of you know, individual coaching, and you hire
like personal trainers when kids are like ten and you know,
they're weightlifting and they're doing all these things, and like,
I don't know, you know, what the balance I think.
You know, obviously, you need to be prepared for your
sport so that you know you physically can handle what
(22:06):
you're doing. But at what point is that too much?
You know? I see a lot of kids between fourteen
and sixteen that have already blown out their knees, and
you know, is that because they're doing too much too young?
Or from a skiing perspective, is it because they're not
strong enough? Is it because you know, they're weightlifting too much?
I don't know the answer to that, But just the
(22:28):
way sports have evolved is pretty amazing because at this
day and age, you have to be so good, so
young to be competitive because everyone has just gotten everything's
so individualized. It's it's very hard to be competitive. You
really have to. Unfortunately, parents have to spend a lot
of money in any sport to really get their kids
to a competitive level, you know, to a very high
(22:48):
professional level.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Well, and I don't know if you're going to be
willing to admit to this or whatever, but I mean,
obviously it's it's true. So put humility aside for a second,
like you're doing it and by your own admission, at
this at this time, everybody else is older than you.
But you have a specific gift. You have a specific
skill that, for whatever reason is it enables you to
(23:14):
keep up and eventually excel and overtake these But to me,
the issue is, and this is what I'm curious about
your perspective about. This is what I battle with when
it comes to sports, is that we start making rules
that maybe are really sound and good rules for the
majority of kids, right like ninety nine percent of these
(23:36):
kids are not ready, but we make these rules that
potentially undermine people like you in your case. And so
I guess My question really is just from your perspective,
are these rules helpful, should they be enforced or do
we just have to take things more on a case
by case basis.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
I think rules are malleable. It kind of goes with
everything that I do. It's good to have guardrails, it's
good to have kind of parameters to kind of guide you.
But there's always exceptions to the rule. For example, with
my rehab, with all of my injuries from ninety nine
point nine percent of people, you say, okay, you tore
(24:20):
your ACL, it's going to be a nine month recovery, okay,
but not everyone recovers the same. I recover quickly, I
you know, dedicate my time to getting back, and it
may take me six months. So I think, you know,
there's just things shouldn't be set in stone. Nothing should
ever be set in stone, and there's always going to
(24:41):
be people that need to be at a certain level
at a certain time in life. For example, I you know,
when I was training in Veil at such a young
age with older kids, I was actually allowed into the
Junior Olympics when I was eleven and twelve with kids
that are thirteen and fourteen, and eventually fourteen and fifteen,
and I was beating them and I needed that competition.
(25:03):
If if they hadn't have been the rules so that
I could, you know, go to that next age group, right,
I don't know where I would be, you know, but
I don't think that should be obviously the standard. I
think it's like bowling. You just put some guardrails on
and sometimes you can. You know, people are good enough
to where you can drop them. But I don't know.
I they like speed limits, you know, It's.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Just it's malleable if you're a good enough driver. That's
what I told the cop last week when I got
pulled over. Now, sir, I promise you I'm way better
driving good than anybody else. Yeah, you skied your first
World Cup at age sixteen. Now you're you're sixteen years old.
(25:53):
You've had this dream now seven eight years. My math
is weak. Are you feeling like this is a big deal,
like I'm making history? Or is it like let me
just go win this thing? Like how are you feeling
As a young sixteen year old, I.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Felt a lot of pressure. Okay, you know I was
the youngest. Yeah, I mean there was one other girl
on the team and she was almost a year older
than me, but you know, we were by far the youngest,
and obviously the Salt Lake Olympics were the next year,
and so my first season, it wasn't just you know,
let's do the World Cups and see how you do.
(26:33):
It's I have to qualify for the Olympics next year.
I had to really establish myself on the team, and
I struggled. You know, it was it was hard. I had.
I had to get my legs underneath me and find
my confidence within that new peer group. And once I
got it, you know, I really figured everything out. When
I was kind of eighteen nineteen, I started getting on
(26:54):
the on the podium and I really felt like I belonged.
But in the beginning, you know, I struggled to find
my place and again, like being one of the youngest
people on the tours can be alienating, and again I
wasn't cool. I was like, homeschooling doesn't help much with
social skills, just FYI. But I figured it out eventually,
So it just took me maybe a little bit longer.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
You make that your first Olympics in two thousand and two,
What did that feel like? That's that's a different thing, right,
it was amazing.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
I mean, holy moly. Yeah, and ironically, like I'm on
the Olympic bid committee trying to get felt like back
to Olympics in twenty thirty four, which would be amazing.
But it was such a great gains. I mean it's hard.
I mean, honestly, it's all downhill from there. You know,
a home Olympics to start off is just incredible. And
it was also an interesting time. You know, after nine
(27:47):
to eleven, you know, everyone was on edge. The world
was watching us, and we really needed to do well
as a team for our country because you know, we
needed that that morale. And I had the best results
of the entire women's team, and because you know, all
of the veterans who were supposed to get medals didn't,
(28:09):
it was somehow a disappointment, and so my performance was
looked at as a disappointment, even though I had the
best result of the entire team, And so that was
hard for me and I kind of I thought, okay,
this is it. I'd established myself and I hadn't, you know,
in their minds, I had a long ways to go,
and and kind of wrapping my head around that was
(28:30):
hard because you focus on something like anything in life,
you have this one goal and you focus on it
so hard and you work towards it, and then you
get there and you realize, oh no, this is just
the start, This isn't the end point. This is just
the beginning. And so you know, I had to figure
that out and find my way forward.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
But I got there this stretch of dominance. I I mean, look,
I knew you were good. I didn't have your stats
like memorized or whatever. You don't, Brian, I mean, I
might now overall world champion in two thousand and eight,
(29:09):
two thousand and nine, two thy ten and then again
in twelve. Did you feel as though I can't lose?
Like did you have that feeling they talk about like
Michael Jordan right like in the zone or whatever. Is
that how you felt on the mountain?
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (29:29):
I did.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
I mean there was it was basically me against myself,
and you know, I felt so confident and it was
so light, you know, there wasn't I didn't feel a pressure.
I felt such an ease and such a joy and
it was such an amazing time, especially from twenty ten
(29:50):
to twenty twelve was kind of really my prime. And
I lost the overall title by three points, which was
kind of there's some political bullshit that went along with it,
but that era was pretty incredible, and I, I don't
know I was when I watched Michael Jordan's documentary. I
think it really struck a chord because you know, eventually
(30:10):
you have to figure out ways to motivate yourself because
you know, you keep winning and then I so it
was like, you know, some one person didn't say hi
to me, or you know, there's like I would find
things to focus on so that it would drive me
and so that we were I don't know that that
kind of storyline with Michael really hit a chord with
me as well.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Yeah, so this you're talking about twenty eleven with the
three point it's so funny because I just talked about
you winning four out of five years, and your brain
immediately goes to the one year.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Yeah didn't. That's so fascinating. So I don't know if
you've noticed this, but I'm highly competitive.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Yeah. See here's the thing. I think I'm highly competitive
until I talk to someone like you, and then I'm like,
all right, well, I mean there's highly competitive, and this
the media portrayed this is like you had a bitter rivalry.
Do you feel like that was all overplayed or again,
were you looking for motivation during that time?
Speaker 1 (31:12):
Yeah, I mean it was it was hard. You know,
my best friend on the tour, who I spent every
Christmas with, we were one and two. I mean, between
the two of us, we run every single downhill for
like a three year span, and so to be best
friends with your number one competitor is a challenge, obviously,
And there was some fishy things that went on at
(31:32):
the end of the season where I lost by three
points to her. There was a couple of races that
were canceled that really shouldn't have been canceled, and and
you know, I think that part of it is one
of the reasons why we had a hard time afterwards.
You know, she really felt like she deserved it, and
I felt like these races shouldn't have been canceled, and
(31:53):
I didn't have a fair shake of getting the title.
But you know, at the same time that ski racing,
like I have to accept it and I don't hold
anything against her, obviously, that's again that's the sport. But
at the time I think it was hard kind of
a riff and you know, then she got married and
things separated a little bit more. But I don't know.
(32:14):
For women especially, it's just it's hard to be friends
with your number one competitor.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
In addition to winning all those World Cups, you win
the downhill gold and the super g bronze at the
twenty ten Vancouver Olympics. Talk to me about the moment
that you win gold. There's the podium, there's the song,
(32:41):
the national anthem. Like, is this as overwhelming in the
moment for you as it would appear to be to me?
Or are you? Is it like these are just all
the years that I expect this to happen now?
Speaker 1 (32:57):
No, I mean that I still get very emotional every
time I see that Olympic run. It was really the
culmination of all of the years of my hard work,
but also my families, you know, my family sacrifice moving
to Colorado, and I mean we were not well off.
(33:20):
We struggled a lot, and moving to Colorado was not,
you know, an easy move for us. So I just
felt so overwhelmed with emotion, happiness, but also a lot
of relief. You know, there's so much building up to
that point. My entire life had build up to that
one moment and maybe think about it. It's two minutes.
My Downhall run was two minutes long. You know. It's like,
(33:44):
how do you quantify your entire life's work in two minutes.
So I'm very thankful for that moment. I wish that
I could bottle it up and experience it, you know again,
because it happened so fast, and I was so overwhelmed
with emotion that I was trying the majority of that
day and I had to race the next day, so
I didn't even really get to enjoy it. I had
(34:07):
to try to focus again for the next day. But
it was such an incredible experience and I'm so thankful
for it. And you know, my mom passed away a
year ago, and when I watched the Olympic run, you
see me in the finish and then it pans immediately
to my mom and so that is just like for me,
it's so emotional and it's so amazing that I had
(34:28):
that experience with her and with my family.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
That's incredible. I'm glad you had that too. Thanks in
twenty fourteen, you tear your acl so you can't compete.
It's so chea. How tough is this for you to
swallow at the time.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
Oh it's brutal. I mean, you know, watching all of
my friends win medals and I'm sitting at home with
you know, having just had surgery. You know, the Olympics
are once every four years, and I think for this
for the public, for spectators, it seems like it happens
very quickly because you have a Summer Olympics every two
years and then the Winter Olympics. But for us, it's
(35:06):
like there's so much that goes on in between, and
so much build up. And that was really, honestly, I'd
say even more my prime than when I went into
Vancouver because I had already won, I didn't have any pressure,
you know, I would have been in such a great position,
and yeah, it was a brutal experience. I wish I
had been there, but you know, such as life. So
(35:26):
I just hunger down and focused on the next Olympics,
which we were in South Korea, which is my last Olympics.
And by that point I had been pretty ravaged with injuries,
so it was not like I was in my prime,
but I was thankful to come away with another medal.
So you take what you can get.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Well, I mean, yeah, you miss out on those Olympics.
But the next few years, you match or your breaking
multiple records. Most Super G's won all time downhill victories,
World Cup. Are these are these wins and these records,
are they driving you to keep going and do more?
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Yeah? Definitely. I mean I'm I'm you know, I'm a competitor,
you know, and I was never afraid to say it.
You know, I I need that next goal, you know,
I want I wanted you know, I enjoy ski racing,
but I also need, you know, something to drive me.
And those records were something that drove me, especially when
(36:29):
I was injured, you know, I I wanted to go fast,
I wanted to win, I wanted to break records, and
especially at the end, you know, trying to break sin
Mark's record was something that really really helped push me
because I was so close, but you know, ultimately it
wasn't meant to be. But but yeah, I just I
(36:50):
feel like there's no shame in saying I was driven
by records.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Yeah. What's what's your proudest race of all the races.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Of all the wins, I don't know, I mean probably
the Olympics, you know, winning the goal. I think just
from an emotional perspective and looking at how much my
family sacrifice. But if I'm thinking about what was the
most difficult, I think it was coming back from two acls.
I was out for almost two years and I won
my second race back and I cried like a little baby.
(37:20):
You know, it was just it was a It was
a lot. It was a lot of hard work. You know,
I had to learn how to walk again. You know,
it was a it was from you know, bottom to
the top. I was at freaking the bottom, like minus
the bottom. I was in the basement. I was you know,
it was a pretty gnarly comeback. But yeah, I think
(37:42):
I was most proud outside of the Olympics with with
that comeback race.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
As an elite athlete, you have to deal with well
one being in like peak physical condition at all times,
dealing with injuries, and then you add in to all
of that skiing where a catastrophic accident can happen at
any moment. How do you deal psychologically with that cycle
(38:28):
of injury, healing, rehab, injury that's really unique to skiing.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
Well, honestly, I talk about this a lot now when
I do public speaking. You know, I approach risk, you
know when I'm in the starting gate, I've already I
know what the risks are. You know, I know that
I could crash, I could be paralyzed. Many people were
when I was racing. But you can't think about that.
(38:56):
You have to focus on, you know, being present, being
in the moment, your the work that you've put in,
trusting that preparation, and really letting go of that of
that anxiety or fear, because if you think about what
could happen, it will happen. So I think about literally
only performing getting my best all the time, because if
(39:17):
I'm nervous, if I'm thinking about what if anything negative
that I'm thinking about, will most likely happen. So, you know,
I feel like, what's you know, what's the worst that
can happen. I'm just going to go for it and
we'll see, we'll see where it ends up. But if
you think about, you know, the negative, and you don't
ski your best, you're you've already lost before you've even started.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
I'm pretty sure this is the problem with my golf game.
I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
Thinking about hitting it into the bunker and you hit
into the bunker of.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Course, of course, yeah, I mean, it's not risking catastrophic
injury necessarily, But but.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
The bunker is pretty catastrophic yet pond over.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
There is really large and is pretty close to where
I want to hit it. You were known for putting
your body on the line skiing courageously aggressively, and how
did you deal with criticism that you got over the
(40:19):
years to the type of skiing that you wanted to
do and the fact that you were dealing with all
of these injuries because of how courageous you were. Like,
just talk to me a little bit about your relationship
with the press at that time and having to having
to deal with that in addition to everything else.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
Yeah, the press has been, uh an interesting part of
my career. You know, I've always been very open and forthcoming.
You know, I don't I don't really hold my cards
close to my chest, and you know, I'm an open
book and I do things kind of my way. You know.
I was just different. I or makeup. I didn't. I
don't follow trends. I just do what I think is best.
(41:03):
And I think it was hard for me because when
I started to get injured, Honestly, at that time, people
were so negative on me because I was always winning
and then I want and everyone's like, oh, we want
you to come back. You know. It's like that that
classic American story. We you know, we tear her down
to build her back up again, and then everyone you
know wanted me to see me and succeed, and then
and then again. Kind of at the end, it was like, oh,
(41:25):
now she's getting injured too much and she's risking too much,
that she's doing this to herself. And you know, I
was known as this very dramatic person, which is pretty
hilarious because I am the farthest thing from dramatic. I
am a simple, like straightforward person. You know, I do
what needs to be done. You know, if I've heard
I come back, I don't like I you know, I'm
(41:47):
I'm not dramatic. And so I struggled a lot with
the people's perception of me, and I still honestly do.
It's it's a really hard thing to to accept because
I just want to like scream at the Internet like
that's not who I am. But that's just the way
things are now with social media. Everyone has their opinion
and and you know, I, yeah, I crashed a lot,
(42:11):
but guess what downhill you're going eighty miles an hour
should happen. You know, you put everything on the line,
and sometimes, you know, you hit a bump and your
ski goes the opposite way and before you know what,
you're blown out your knee again. So you know, I
just I try not to focus on the external distractions.
I always try to focus on, Okay, who am I,
(42:32):
what am I doing? Why is this important to me?
Who is important to me? And the Internet is not
important to me? So but it's still, you know, even
though I say that, it's still a process. I mean
never easy. I would say, you.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
Know, in football, in basketball, in baseball, at least for
the men, you're given a ton of training about how
to deal with the press. And you are in this sport,
in golf, in you are in this sport that in
the United States becomes really really big once a year,
(43:12):
slash once every four years, and so you're dealing during
those times with like intense media press. But my guess
is you're not really given the training for it at
least here, maybe in maybe in German, you know, in Germany,
(43:34):
right like you can answer those questions, are you know,
because they're more used to it or whatever. So I
wonder one is that true, and two if you could
have an impact toward young athletes today in your sport
or potentially ones also that have a similar sort of
media cycle. Is there any advice that you would give?
(43:55):
Is there anything you wish you had done different?
Speaker 1 (43:57):
I mean, yeah, I guess looking back you can always
say I wish I would have done some things differently.
But advice I always give is to be authentic. Be
authentically yourself, don't listen to what anyone else says. I
think we're all different and that difference makes us special.
And you know, I didn't get media training. I didn't
(44:18):
really think to a degree necessarily that I needed it
because I was never hiding anything. I'm just explaining to
the media what happened, what my experience is, you know,
what I'm doing, how I'm feeling. I didn't feel like
that that was a problem. And you know, in Europe
and when I was doing interviews in German, it was
(44:38):
pretty simple because there was very little drama. You know,
they were talking more about how is your run, how
do you physically feel? Instead of who are you dating?
And that type of conversation was hard for me because
it was not about sports. Anymore. It was going into
a different realm that I pop called. Yeah, it's pop cult.
It's it's just and it's hard. It's hard to manage
(45:01):
that and every again, like everyone has their opinion, and
you know, keeping that at an arms distance is hard.
When everyone's constantly asking me about it. I can shut
off social media, but when you're giving interviews and it's
always the same question over and over again, it drives
you nuts. So I would say, you know, just be yourself.
(45:24):
Always be yourself, Always be authentic. And I always think,
if I am not sure about an answer, just wait
and I'll you know, think about the answer and I'll
say it maybe later or do my own thing with it.
But if you're unsure, never answered, because people always like
to rope you into things, and if you're unsure, you're
going to get yourself into trouble.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Yeah, you know, it's funny because even with all the
media training they get. I just had a conversation with
Andrew Whitworth from the LA Rams after losing the first
Super Bowl that he played with them. He gave a
quote and the Jenna Basically the quote was, you know,
(46:07):
how do you feel losing the Super Bowl? And the
answer that was given was we're all going to die someday.
And he said even as he was saying it, Now,
what he explained to me was and he said, I'm
sure he hasn't memorized like the twelve sentences that he
said around that quote that actually made that not about
(46:32):
losing the Super Bowl, right like not about But at
the time he said, you know, as he said it,
he knew, like.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
Well, that's that's going to be the head.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
That's that's what they're going to take.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean everything can be taken out
of context. I I tried to not give them sound
bites like that. You know, I think there's a way
of being authentic and being yourself while also limiting that
drama effect that people like to hone in on because
they're always waiting for you to slip up or say
one thing that they can use as a headline and
(47:07):
click bait. And honestly, nowadays they'll just do it anyway.
So it's at least if you don't say it, it may
be a little bit better. But honestly, yeah, it doesn't matter,
it cares, it doesn't matter. That is what it is.
Speaker 5 (47:20):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (47:20):
You retired in twenty nineteen after getting one final medal
at the World Championships. How does that feel? Is there
a relief? Is there sadness? Is there a regret? Is
there a celebration? How does that feel?
Speaker 1 (47:35):
Kind of all the above? I mean, I think physically
I was really relieved because I was in so much pain.
You know, I was wearing two knee braces I had,
was skiing with no lcl I a tibo plateau fracture.
I was like, you know, I felt like I was
being held together by duct tape at that point. So
physically I was like, this is this is what's right,
(47:56):
this is what needs to happen. But also emotionally, I know,
I love skiing. I love pushing myself. I love fighting
for a challenge. I love even the process, the gym,
you know, the work that goes into it, and then
obviously the racing and going fast. You know, all those
things are things that I love dearly and I've done
my whole life. So you know, going from something that's
(48:19):
been there is like my rock since I was you know,
two and a half years old, to waking up one
day being retired and that's just gone. It was the
process was more of mourning as if I something or
someone had died, had it kind of had to go
through all the phases. I definitely did some celebrating and
then I try to take some time off and that
(48:41):
lasted about two days and then I said, put me
back to work. I need to I need to do stuff.
This is too much time on my hands. And I've
always felt, you know, it's been a few years now,
but finding that new challenge that gets me excited and
gets that kind of passion within me going like ski racing,
that is really hard. That's why I'm always I'm so active.
(49:03):
I'm in the gym, I'm always trying new sports, and
I'm working hard. But I'm also finding that balance of
traveling and doing adventures because I need that. It's something
that I need for my soul. And people think that
i'm you know, I'm seeking the spotlight, and you know,
I'm doing all these things to get attention, and which
is just such bullshit. You know, I'm just I'm here
(49:24):
living my life. I'm trying to do what feeds my
soul and what makes me happy, and that's it. My
only goal is to you know, lead a healthy life
that I'm happy with. That I can have a positive
impact on others and just feed my dogs. You know,
I got to work hard to feed those guys. There's
a lot of them there. You go.
Speaker 2 (49:42):
You you just alluded to it, but you use the
phrase when you retired that your body quote broken beyond repair.
After all of those years and all of those injuries.
Let me ask you this, it's been almost four years
or four years ish, how as your body resis, do
you feel better now or do you feel like there
(50:04):
are things that will never chante? No, you don't.
Speaker 1 (50:07):
I've had three surgery since I retired. One was three
weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (50:11):
Jesus.
Speaker 1 (50:12):
It's I'm paying the price for pushing myself the way
I did. But it's a price worth paying.
Speaker 2 (50:19):
You know.
Speaker 1 (50:19):
I don't have any regrets. I ski with my heart
on my sleeve, and that's what I enjoy doing, so
I don't I don't have any regrets. I'm really hoping
that I have one more surgery left. I'm not sure
when i'll do it. Maybe in the next six months
or so. I hope that will be the last one
that I'll need for a while. But it's mainly my
(50:41):
right knee. That's just it's a constant struggle daily. But
every athlete and every honestly every person you know, these
you sacrifice something to succeed to get to where you
want to go, to follow your dreams. You know, you
can't have your cake and eat it too. So I
don't regret anything. I just I do hope that the
(51:01):
magic of medicine will fix me a little bit more
than where I currently am.
Speaker 2 (51:07):
Well, look, you're understanding it a little bit. Most people
to achieve their dreams don't have to sacrifice their entire
body multiple surgeries. Well, let me ask you this, would
would you ever be satisfied? Just like going and skiing
a blue ski a blue have a cocktail at the
(51:27):
fire pit.
Speaker 1 (51:28):
And yeah, that's what's I do really love doing that.
I like I have kind of like a ski in
the blue. Yeah, you know, I don't ski moguls because
that's just nonsense. That makes my knees hurt just looking
at it. But I like just a nice groomer, just
an easy groomer. I'm cruising, you know, we ski over
to the chalet, I have you know, some hot Toddies
(51:48):
or whatever, Lobos tequila, and then I'll you know, get
back on the slopes and I'll ski with some friends
and I'll go back to my car and I'll go home.
And it's great. I love doing that. It's just it's simple,
it's fun. It's you know. I started skiing with my family,
you know, as family ski trips Keystone with my grandparents,
and that's what it's all about, you know, just being
(52:09):
out there with your family, enjoying nature. You no cell phones,
you know, you're just out there enjoying the moment. And
that's what I do now.
Speaker 2 (52:18):
I love that. I'm so glad for you about that.
And that's the first time I've actually thought about it
like that.
Speaker 1 (52:24):
For you.
Speaker 2 (52:25):
It could be like just going out, being able to
hang out, enjoy being out. Truthfully, I'm really glad.
Speaker 1 (52:33):
Thanks. I mean, it's that's that's what it's all about,
you know. I mean, life is short. We have to
enjoy it. If you know we're not enjoying it, then
do something else that we enjoy.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
I do have to bring this up. You become the
first woman to ski the street is the strife, and
you did it at night, so you're not what this is.
This is antithetical to what I thought you were. Well,
I know, but I'm saying, like, I thought you were
(53:06):
gonna tell me like f off about the blue, Like no,
I've got to go, like I'm going to do Mount
Baldy or something, or half Dome in Yosemite. They're gonna
put They're gonna put snow on it for me, and
I'm gonna ski down the face of a clip. Why
why'd you do it? What made you do it? What
made you want to do it? And why'd you do it?
Speaker 1 (53:27):
I mean, I've always wanted to race against the men.
It's something that I'm you know, I just it's kind
of like Michelle Wee, you know, it's like the next level.
I just want to get to the next level. How
do I make my ski faster? So Red Bull's always
known this, They've I've been They've been my sponsor for
like twenty years. They call me up after Thanksgiving and
(53:48):
they said, hey, do you want to ski to Strike
And I'm like, yeah, absolutely, let's do it. And they're
like at night and I'm like, I mean, I don't
know how you're gonna do that, but sure, let's let's
do it. And they're like, really, honestly, we thought you
were going to say no, we didn't really have a
tough plan.
Speaker 2 (54:06):
A plan.
Speaker 1 (54:06):
So yeah, they figured out a plan and it was
I mean, I creb skiing in Minnesota, which actually I
skied at night usually after school. We always ski at night,
so I love skiing at night. But I mean I've
never skeed a downhill at night, you know, to light
up a whole downhill course, which they had to do
it in sections because it was just impossible to do.
But I mean it was pretty amazing. Again, I love
(54:28):
pushing the limits. So but I hadn't skied. I hadn't
skied one run of downhill since my very last downhill
race in twenty nineteen. So I literally jumped in borrows
from Ryan Cochran Siegel, who won the silver medal at
the last Olympics. I borrowed a pair of his skis.
I did a couple of practice runs, and then I
(54:49):
did it, and I was, honestly, I was probably the
most nervous I've ever been in my life. I don't
really get nervous, but I was like, I am old,
Am I insane? You know? Am I gonna totally ruin myself?
Speaker 2 (55:00):
But my ration is this, I mean, yes, by the way,
you are insane. That is insane, but all the rest
of it, no, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (55:08):
My ration was, you know I'm getting a knee replacement, right,
so if I crash, oh jeez, and I my stuff out,
who cares? You know, I'm just gonna get a new
great is.
Speaker 2 (55:22):
That is not that is not healthy.
Speaker 1 (55:25):
That is not.
Speaker 2 (55:27):
Oh I'm getting a new leg next week anyway, So
oh my god.
Speaker 1 (55:34):
That's how my brain works.
Speaker 2 (55:36):
So that well, it works. It works for you. It
worked out, and now your name is there. You can't
take that away from you, uh, fearless. In the business
world here, how that's what we call a professional transition.
Speaker 1 (55:52):
You must have done this.
Speaker 2 (55:53):
Advising VC firms. You're working with company, you're making goggles,
you're making ski clothing with head. Did you notice how
I didn't try to say that, say it unique? Unique? Yeah,
you're crushing it. What's the next thing? Business? What are
you going?
Speaker 1 (56:13):
We were we have some really amazing products coming up
with my production company called Opera Productions. And obviously the
strike I get.
Speaker 2 (56:21):
It, opright, I get it.
Speaker 1 (56:24):
Not very many people I got it, get it. And
then I'm like, I thought this was like, what's apress?
I'm like, no, that's not it.
Speaker 2 (56:36):
It comes back to fra Boom.
Speaker 1 (56:39):
Yeah, I saw. We have a lot of amazing products
coming up with that. But obviously, you know, the strikes
have slowed everything down. But this winter's coming up, so
my my next ski line is launching. I'm actually launching
Mend's this year, which I'm really excited about. I have
my foundation, which we have our annual gala in a
(56:59):
couple I'm really excited about that. What else I mean,
I'm on the Olympic bid committee for the Solid Games
that I said good luck and thank you. I'm on
the Olympic Broadcast Systems Board. I'm doing some things. I'm
out here hustling.
Speaker 2 (57:15):
You're doing a lot of things. If you need a
skier for any of your projects for a prey.
Speaker 1 (57:20):
Hey I will.
Speaker 2 (57:22):
I actually probably don't.
Speaker 1 (57:25):
Don't give a call. I think it could be good.
You could be in the bar on the mountain seeing You.
Speaker 2 (57:33):
Absolutely know that, friends, I got you.
Speaker 1 (57:35):
You'd crush it.
Speaker 2 (57:36):
You absolutely know that I could do that. Uh yeah.
I do want to mention the Lenzy Vaughn Foundation providing
camps and scholarships for girls to pursue all sorts of
things athletics, academics, the arts, and you had some camps
this summer I mentioned earlier Strong Girls Camps. Yep, was
that successful.
Speaker 1 (57:56):
Yeah, it was awesome. I mean, honestly, you know, again
it kind of was back to Peekaboo. But we have curriculums,
so I try to give them skills to be able
to be confident and have positive body image and all
of these things that you know are just so difficult
for kids these days, and try to inspire them so
they can go out in the world and be strong,
you know, empowered young women. But yeah, we actually just
(58:19):
started using our own curriculum this year and I'm really
excited about it, and we have a couple more camps
coming up, so I'm just going to try to keep scaling,
keep impacting as many kids as possible. And I think that's, honestly,
such a big part of being an athlete is that
responsibility of past paying it forward. And I've all, you know,
(58:40):
because of Peekaboo and my parents obviously, I just have
taken that responsibility to heart. So definitely something that's driven
me the most since I've retired.
Speaker 2 (58:50):
That is admirable. Congratulations to you. You know, I'm a
big fan of yours. I wish you all continued great
success with your production company, with the Lindsay Bond Foundation,
and with all of your beasts, your VC making shark
mogulan skills in the business world. Lendsy, I wish you
(59:14):
nothing but the best. Thank you so much for coming
and talking to me.
Speaker 1 (59:17):
Thanks Brandon, I appreciate it. Let's go golfing. I got
a hole in one last time we were together, so
maybe we'll make it.
Speaker 2 (59:23):
I mean, I must be good luck, I think, so
let's get it. Let's get it done, all right.
Speaker 1 (59:29):
Thank you, Lendsy.
Speaker 2 (59:42):
I'm so stoked you came on. Thank you so much.
It was great to see you again, even if you
don't remember meeting me the first time. But I get it.
You made a hole in one and that I'm sure
caused you. No shortage of celebration between that, your hole
in one, your foundation, your businesses, you being a damn delight.
You simply cannot be stopped, it seems, so. My best
(01:00:07):
of luck in everything that you have in the future. Unfortunately,
this podcast does have to be stopped right now because
we're done. But don't worry, only until next week when
we're going to be back with another guest who I
am sure will captivate and delight you. So until then,
Now long everyone, and have a really good week. Off
(01:00:37):
the Beat is hosted and executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner,
alongside our executive producer Linglee. Our senior producer is Diego Tapia.
Our producers are Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and Emily Carr.
Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary, and our intern
is Thomas Olsen. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed
(01:01:00):
by the one and only Creed Braden
Host
Brian Baumgartner
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.