July 9, 2024 • 58 mins
Alev Kelter's unique road to USA Rugby is a testament to her hard work and resilience. The former NCAA soccer and ice hockey standout shares fun and pivotal moments of her sport-fueled childhood in Alaska, her unlikely path to USA Rugby, and her journey with self-acceptance.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you're listening to this podcast, we know one thing
for absolute certain you are a fan of women's sports.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
And there's nothing better than enjoying women's sports with community,
and no better place to find that community than The
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Speaker 1 (00:17):
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Speaker 3 (00:18):
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and don't forget All summer, the sports Bra will be
featuring drinks picked out by our powerful women.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
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Speaker 3 (00:39):
Sports season jam packed with women's sports at the Sports Bra.
Hello friends, and welcome to the Powerful Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I'm your host Ajam McCord.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
In this podcast, we introduce you to powerful women who
are changing the game in and outside of their field
of play. These are women's stories, women who happen to
be doing things that many of us can only dream of,
but the lessons and inspiration they share is universal.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Welcome back to the Powerful Podcast.
Speaker 5 (01:07):
I'm your host aj McCord and I could not be
more thrilled to have the next woman joining us here today.
She was the top scorer for Team USA in Rio.
She was the first American woman to score a try
in the Olympics. She has a thousand points one hundred tries,
the only American to have that kind of stat line.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
And she's a women's seventh center for rugby.
Speaker 5 (01:30):
She just started with her position, but she was a
dual sport NCAA athlete as well.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
So this woman is straight up athletic.
Speaker 5 (01:36):
She's going to be representing tm USA for women sevens
in Paris this summer. Welcome a lef Kelter to the
Powerful Podcast. I'm so thrilled to have you on here.
Speaker 6 (01:47):
Thank you, AJ. It's an honor to be on your show.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
Okay, So, I have so many questions because it's so
cool to talk to somebody who is so passionate about
their sport, but also somebody who's just straight up an athlete.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
And that is really what you are.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Because I mentioned that you played soccer and hockey, we
didn't get into the fact we shall the fact that
you had a chance to play Team USA hockey back
at a few Olympic cycles ago.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
So I want to just start with a love calter.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
Tell me a little bit of your life story and
I'll jump in with where I have so many aspects
I want to dive into. But tell me a little
bit first about just your life story. How would you
describe what has defined your life?
Speaker 6 (02:28):
I mean, I grew up in a military family. My
dad was Air Force, my mom was also Air Force,
and we grew up moving around the country. I was
born in Tampa, from Florida to Arkansas, Arkansas to Colorado,
Colorado to Alaska, and all before I was six. So
from six on grew up in Alaska, and I call
(02:50):
Alaska home. So Eagle River is where we grew up.
And if you've ever been to Alaska, it is absolutely stunning.
It is truly God's country. But for my entire time childhood,
it was play as many sports as you can, I think,
to keep us out of trouble, and you know, don't
be afraid to take risks to go explore. See what's
(03:11):
you know? In Alaska it's the land of the midnight sun,
So you don't even sleep. You know, you're out playing
volleyball at midnight, you're hiking, starting hikes at you know,
eleven thirty. So it was it's a huge playground where
you can just experience, you know, beauty, but also learn
about yourself and the wilderness and the ruggedness of winter
and and so I had that kind of as my
(03:32):
like formative years with my older brother, my twin sister,
and my younger brother. So the four of us, we
were I would my mom would say hooligans, but we were,
you know, just having.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
Full I know, if you're not being described as a hooligan,
and I don't think you're doing childhood right.
Speaker 6 (03:48):
In Alaska and having two of just think two of me, Like,
we were pretty much trouble makers growing up, but sport
kept us out of you know, out of trouble, and
we're grateful for that. But yeah, it was just an
amazing childhood in Alaska and building tree forts and bombing
hills with rollerblades and yeah, everything you can imagine.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
Okay, So I want to get into your athletic journey
once we get through this child in Alaska thing. I
think everybody who grew up in the lower forty eight
right probably has that stereotypical vision of what it's like
to grow up in Alaska. But you're saying that it's
the stereotype for the reason that really was your childhood.
Did you have any wild animals that were your pets?
(04:27):
I mean, tell me some of your craziest Alaskan wilderness stories.
Speaker 6 (04:32):
I when we first moved up there, we were near
Alpglow Elementary School, which is near Eagle River, the actual
river that flows in to Chugiak, and I remember it
had snowed six feet and my dad was shoveling the
driveway so we could get to our car to go
(04:52):
to school, and I just remember not really seeing like
the top of him, And so we would make these
tunnels up the back The hill was like in our backyard.
The schools in our backyard. So we ended up like
carving these tunnels to get out to the sidewalk to
then go to school. And that just like was an
afternoon fun. And then sometime in the summertime, I was
(05:15):
checking the mail and this cute black lab came up
to me and I was like, I pet it on
the head and it just scurried up the hill and
I thought, oh, that was really athletic lab, Like what
the And it ended up being a black bear and
it was a cup It was a black bear cub
and I was like, oh my gosh, I ran inside.
My Dad's like stay inside, staying side. Where there's a cub,
there's a mama. You don't want to run into that.
(05:36):
And so that was my first ever I think it
was in third grade if I first ever experienced with
a black bear. And I was like, wow, that was
a really athletic, like it climbed a bluff like nothing.
I was like, oh my gosh, h wow.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Even the dogs are built different here.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
I just did graze my calf and I was like, okay,
like that's cute, Like here we are. But yeah, I'm
almost livid, but it was, gosh, just a lot of
like moose, and you learn about grizzly bear, you learn
how to defend yourself, you know about black bear, and
then just a ton of fishing, love to fly fish.
(06:11):
But yeah, I mean there's a lot of experience with
the wilderness in Alaska that is so amazing.
Speaker 5 (06:19):
I mean, this story about the black bear and the
black lab mix up is certainly going to live in infamy,
but it is so cool to hear a childhood that
is so nature based and is so just rooted an
adventure and it really feels like that set the stage
for the rest of your life because you go on
to have this great adventure in athletics that certainly had
(06:40):
plenty of ups and downs. But what do you think
is the thing from that childhood of growing up in Alaska,
growing up outside, messing around with your siblings in the
great outdoors. What is the thread that has become a
part of your life from that childhood.
Speaker 6 (06:54):
I think it's teamwork. I mean, if I could put
one thing that Alaska has built me on is to know,
be strong and not quit because everybody up there is living,
you know, through the winters. Is you know, having an
amazing time in the summertime. I think the winter sports,
like being an athlete, like the sun never really rises
(07:14):
in the wintertime, and so you need something to keep
your mind busy, to keep your body healthy and active,
and a lot of people across country ski you know.
For me, it was ice hockey, and so when we
came out from school, it was about two o'clock and
then we'd go into ice hockey practice and then by
the time we were done, it was you know, four or five,
which is a good time for the sun to be down,
so you don't really notice that the sun hasn't really
(07:37):
come up. But it's teamwork. And for me, I was
blessed to have a twin sister, and her name's Daria,
and we had this healthy competition between one another, and
we were this like, you know, this superhuman like she
had a lot of the natural gifted brains and I
kind of had the natural gifted brawn. And together we
were like we could solve any problem in the world.
And I had remember having to work really hard at
(07:59):
school and and I think vice versa with Daria was sport.
But together we would be outside, you know, doing corner
kicks and header goals to one another and you know,
just really pushing each other to the next limits. Yeah,
So I was blessed to have that. And then an
older brother that instilled on us, like his his physicality
(08:20):
and his ability to tackle anything. And that was before
I played rugby. He played football and baseball, and we
were his you know, every time we could go outside,
we were his tackle dummies and and learning how to
juke and be evasive and and then you know, be
his second He was a catcher, so we were his
second basement that he was throwing to and coming in
with chip teeth and we're like, Okay, now we're gonna
(08:42):
wear this hockey helmet when we're at second base. And
so it just it was teamwork and and that's just
like the ability to push past like an uncomfortable you know,
like ask, you know you want to do this, Sure,
why not, Let's try it and then work together to
solve that problem and then implement new skills and gain
(09:04):
some confidence and just kind of being in Alaska.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
Yeah, I mean, what a foundation to lay because you
talk a little bit about the athletic.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Things that you guys were doing as a family.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
You became the first female to play on the Chugyak
High School boys varsity team for soccer, correct ice hockey,
ice hockey, ice hockey.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Sorry because soccer.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
You were the first girl from Alaska to be picked
for the U fourteen ODP right the Olympic Development Program
national training camp. So I'm getting your athletic accomplishments confused
because there were so many of them growing up. You
played soccer, you did ice hockey, and so far we
haven't mentioned rugby, which is what we're going to the
Olympics for in just a few weeks. But I want
(09:48):
to talk about soccer and hockey and how those two
sports sort of came to the forefront for you of
the ones that you really felt like, hey, this is
where I.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Want to be, this is what I want to pursue,
this is what I want to do in college.
Speaker 6 (10:01):
Even absolutely, I mean, I think those were the two
that I ended up settling down because I couldn't live
without them. There were others that we played. I think
at one point there were six different sports. My mom
and my dad were racing us too, and again I
think it was because they were like, we see them
thriving and loving this, and there's going to be one
(10:21):
that stands out, you know, that they just are so
passionate about and I think that everybody should try everything,
you know, And for us it was softball, swimming, tennis, basketball,
you know, soccer. I don't even know ice hockey, So
there was a lot of different realms of athletics going on,
you know, And at one point, which was like high school,
(10:44):
that we decided, Okay, you know, we're gonna just do
ice hockey in the wintertime and soccer in the spring,
and those were the the ones I couldn't live without.
We had travel soccer We played for Alaska Rush and
Gold Strikers, and we traveled a lot to California. We
traveled a lot to other states to get seen, to
(11:06):
get scouted, and then also played on a boys hockey league.
They didn't have a super competitive women's league yet in Alaska,
and so that's why we played with the boys. And
I think that helped a lot with one the lead
up to rugby and the physicality of it putting a
shoulder in someone because you can check in boys hockey,
and to the speed of the game, you know, you
(11:27):
really had to be your head up and on a
swivel and your hands at a pace where you could
might not necessarily beat them with speed, but if you
took the right angles and you played smarter and you
had a faster pass, then you can beat anyone. So
it really helped us at the collegiate level get seen.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
So it's interesting to hear you talk about the benefits
of having to have played with the boys growing up.
Speaker 6 (11:50):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
So, I was a gymnast growing up. That was sort
of the sport. I played softball, I did soccer, I
did volleyball, like I did you name it. I probably played.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
At some point or the other, but gymnastics was the
one that for me really stuck out. Now, the unfortunate
thing for gymnastics is that the shelf life is pretty short, right,
and so by the time I was sixteen, it was
it was kind of one of those Okay, you're not
going to the Olympics, and so where do you want
to you know, do you want to do it in college?
And at that point I was so burnt out because
(12:17):
I had picked gymnastics earlier.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Maybe then some of the sports.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
Have to be picked, because I mean I'd committed to
it from ten to sixteen and it was forty hours
a week and all that jazz. But I say all
that to say, in an individual sport, I didn't have
that benefit of competing against the boys, but I still
competed against the boys.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
And things like sports knowledge, right, Like.
Speaker 5 (12:40):
As soon as you say like, oh yeah, I love sports,
I love watching football, I love watching X, Y and Z,
it's like, oh, well, well, like what do you know?
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Like who right this game in nineteen seventy six and
who was the center?
Speaker 6 (12:49):
Da da da?
Speaker 1 (12:50):
You get quizzed. And it's always that to me.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
Actually, I think maybe a better sports broadcaster because that's
what I grew up with was like I always got
quizzed by the boys on sports dollars.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
They were like, oh, you say you like it?
Speaker 6 (13:02):
Cool? Cool, that was your edge and you're really prove it.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Right, Yeah, So what are some of the moments that
you remember developing that edge when you were playing against
the boys or with the boys in hockey.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
And all of that.
Speaker 6 (13:16):
Absolutely, it reminds me of a moment where my mom
was fighting for us to be on the boys team
and she said, you know, I keep seeing these boys
coming out of school with the hard Hat award and
and I was like, yeah, that's that's a you know,
it's culture based. It's whoever's the hardest worker on the
on the ice gets gets the hard head award. And
she goes, how come you haven't had the hard head award?
(13:38):
And I was like, you know, I'm I'm not certain.
She's like, well, are you working hard? You know? My
mom was always like absolutely you just yeah, just Tige.
Your mom like, let's go. And so she's like, are
you working hard? And I was like, yeah, I know,
I think that's a great question. I am working hard.
In the whole call ride home, I'm like thinking about it,
I'm like, un name which his mom in Turkish, because
(13:58):
my mom sides Turkish, my dad side's Irish. So Undy like,
I think I'm not being seen to this award because
I'm not in the locker room. And she's like, why
are you not in the locker room? And I was like, well,
the boys are undressing, and you know, they're like whatever.
She's like, no, like, they can get their lower half
on and then you can go in the locker room.
And then part of the thing is that you need
to be in the locker room to have the conversations,
(14:18):
to be you know, able to be seen for this award.
And I was like, okay, well what should I do.
She's like, well, you go and ask the coach if
you can be in the locker room. And I was
like okay. So we had this whole conversation, and you know,
of course, some parents were like up in arms about it,
and it came down to the boys voting. They're like, yeah,
I mean, obviously we can get ourselves dressed, and we'd
(14:39):
love if Kelter was in the locker room with us.
And so yeah, sure enough, I wasn't next week or
the week after, but you know, three weeks after that,
I came home with a hard hat award, And part
of it was that they just hadn't thought about it
because I wasn't in the locker room and it wasn't
like I was in a different locker room. I was
in a converted janitor's closet for just the women. And
(15:00):
so it was like when I told my mom that,
she was like, oh, that's not gonna work out. And
so for me, that was what I did at four
am when I had training before before school with the
boys team, and so I didn't know any different and
I didn't know the right way to ask or who
to ask. But with that guidance and then my mom's
(15:22):
just tenacity to say like we'll figure it out, really
sent like a mental model for me to say, like ask,
ask the hard questions, and if you want something, go
look for it and ask for it and push past
that awkward conversation or that boundary and not be afraid
of that. And for me, as a you know, fifteen
(15:44):
sixteen year old, I didn't really know that was vulnerability,
you know, I didn't know that that was the hard
conversations that needed to happen, and that I was maybe
afraid of that, afraid of what would be said around it,
afraid of the know and that started to you know transition, like, Okay,
this is risk, this is the reward, and now I'm
seeing the outcome, which is you know, equality, which is
(16:06):
really beautiful.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Whoa.
Speaker 6 (16:08):
And so when I started to you know, be in
the locker room, you you really are part of the conversations.
You're a part of the team, and you're a part
of leading that culture and leading those values. And once
that happened, it was I think even before that, I
was already considered one. And I wouldn't say like one
of the boys, because it's very apparent like we were
(16:30):
best all of us were like really best friends. But yes,
in a sense, like I was part of the team.
And and that's what's really nice because the team isn't
defined by gender, which is another thing that I'm really
passionate about. It's about the common goal and the values
you lead and everyone having a part in those that
that really matters to the team. So yeah, I just
(16:50):
think that that story like really embodied that idea of
like there was a moment where we were challenged. There's
a moment where we had vulnerability and had those conversations
in this moment where the outcome and the success you
could see come to fruition. Wow.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
Shout out to the mama too, because like that goes
back to exactly what we're talking about.
Speaker 6 (17:09):
Right, Like that always shout out to me.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yeah, shout out to.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
Leila because I think that goes back to even like
what we talked about, right is like Mama looked at
you and said, hey, something. Who knows what was in
her past, right, but I'm certain that she probably was
of a generation that didn't even have the chance, like
my mom wasn't a generation that didn't have a chance
to play a lot of sports in high school, right,
And who knows what was in your mom's past. But
(17:32):
she looked at you and said, hey, no, no, no,
my daughter gets better than this. Like I was as
hard as I did so my daughter could take the
next step.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
And like she said, she gave you that one.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
Hundred percent, And that was from her mom. I mean,
my grandma is also a Laila. There's three generations with
Leilah and my twins. Name is Daria Laylah, so it
is a very strong name. And so Laila, my grandma
came over here from Turkey. She was set to marry
the Turkish Prime minister's son and then ended up falling
in love with my grandfather, who was a Turkish American
(18:06):
interpreter for the Air Force. And so she was like,
I'm not interested in this fixed marriage. I'm interested in
love in passion, and at the time in Turkey that's
unheard of. And so she went over with her brother
to England. She studied at the London School of Economics
and then was also playing tennis and modeling on the side.
(18:29):
So like this Turkish woman was redefining what it means
to be female and what it means to be an
athlete and a model, and you know, falling in love
like at that time in those generations, and so it's
not unheard of that Leilah stood up in that moment
and said, no, my daughter will be educated and also
will be fighting for her and so yes will be equal.
(18:53):
And how that is translating through sport is really beautiful
because my mom was like, I want my dog to
explore all the different sports, fall in love with what
they're passionate about with, like my grandma with her true loves,
and then and really go for it and not be afraid.
So that is the beginning and and this is kind
of the middle way of that family of Leilah's strong women.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
This is the next step.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
Yeah, you are the next You are the next step
in this generation of badass women exactly.
Speaker 6 (19:25):
And you have to know those things to get inspired.
You have to know where you come from, your why
and and those are really important. And when things get
shitty or tough excuse my language, like you have to
come back to that basis. Yeah, I'm just grateful. Honestly,
it's humbling to talk about my grandma in a way.
And she's ninety six years old and actually today, yesterday
(19:47):
was her birthday, and she'll be headed to Paris. She's
gonna come, she's gonna come to Paris. We're gonna have
everyone there. So yeah, anyway, it's just I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Okay, well I need to see all the pictures of
the family interest because that's going to be an unreal
moment for you guys as a family. We'll get back
to the sports stuff in a minute, but in the
spirit of sort of this conversation, one of the things
we're coming off of Pride Month and I mentioned you know,
you were here living your truth, living your passion. That
was not an easy one open love for you because
(20:22):
you go on to play at the University of Wisconsin.
You played soccer, you played hockey, you were trying to
make TVUSA for hockey, and in the midst of all this,
you realize a part of your identity that you didn't
know before, or that you weren't maybe allowed to know
before based on the way that you grow up. So
tell me about how how you started to live your
(20:45):
truth as a young collegiate woman who came out as.
Speaker 6 (20:49):
By yeah, absolutely, you know, I was at Wisconsin and
before Wisconsin, I and I actually this came around like
when I was twelve years old, I made a pact.
I was very religious. I grew up Catholic, and I
think I jumped into Catholicism because there was a lot
(21:10):
of I wouldn't say like trauma, but it felt like,
you know, as a twelve thirteen year old that's how
I could. That's the word that best describes the distress
as like a teen is. There was a lot of
things going on and and I remember like there was
some like you know, like sexual abuse. When I was younger,
(21:32):
don't quite really remember it by like my one of
my brother's best friends and having that hard conversation with
my twin sister. She was also like, you know, that's
just normal, Leve like that happened, like like forget about it,
what's going on? And she took the other way, which
was like kind of avoidance. And for me, it was like, no,
this is something that I really need to address within
myself and what does this say about me? And you know,
(21:55):
Dario went, this is going to kind of liberate me
and open me up versus for me, I was like, oh,
I need to be modest, like I need to be
like completely like all the way up, like nobody, nobody's
gonna touch me like I do. And I think that
turned into safety in religion, and and I remember saying,
you know, I would I would pray a lot. I
would go to like adoration in the Catholic Church. You
(22:20):
can you know, you can stay from like adoring the
Eucharist to from like twelve am to to twenty four hours,
so you would relieve somebody. And so I remember signing
myself up to be like on Friday nights for everyone's partying.
I'm at the church, and I started to really pray
like this is this is kind of my calling. And
so I at twelve said, you know, Lord, I'm gonna
(22:44):
choose sport as my love. And then if you'd call
me out of that into you know, apostolic celibacy like
a nun, then I will listen and I'll I'll follow you.
And that that was That was me as as young
as young Eleve and I never dated into college. I
(23:05):
went to Mass every single day at the University of Wisconsin,
and I remember early in my junior year and had
some amazing, amazing people. I mean, Father Nilsson was my
spiritual director. And I would go to church and then
I you know, confession and then adoration and then training
and then school and then repeat, sleep and repeat, and
(23:27):
so there was no time to miss out on the
parties or the whatever. And my sister was quite the opposite,
very very liberal, very free, very doing her thing. And
that was Darien. That was a lef.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Did she go to Wisconsin with you?
Speaker 6 (23:40):
She did as well, and she was there at Wisconsin
with me and I remember coming home my beginning of
my junior year and coming downstairs and I was attracted
to my roommate and she was studying for her you know,
grad school and engineering whatever something. Books were everywhere, and
(24:01):
I remember just turning around going straight to the confessional
to my spiritu director and I was like, Badimias, and
I really don't know what to do. And he's like, well,
he needs to move out, and I just I was
like okay, Okay. So I moved out and I went
to live with my friend Aaron Simon, and we had
a beautiful friendship and we talked through it, and we
(24:24):
talked through teaching to the Catholic Church. We talked through
you know a lot of like anatomy and you know
what's going on. And then you know, we read like
a lot of spiritual reading on you know, homosexuality and
where it is and you know concupiscince and original sin
and how that all like this came down to this
sector of you know, grave sin. And for me this
(24:46):
whole time, I remember being like, I don't believe I'm
committing a grave sin. I don't believe that God, this
God that I love, that I've made a pack too
that has led me into a beautiful Division one. I
saw Division one soccer first, like you know, just a
lot of amazing firsts that is going to say, I
don't love you for this moment, and and so I
(25:09):
started to pull away a little bit, and I started
to really have some internal turmoil about what is the
side that God loves and what is the guy that
God doesn't love? And then I realized, okay, like I
need to find that love in myself and I need
to redefine what that love means and then actively participate
(25:34):
in in loving myself again. And that was struggle, AJA,
Like I really didn't know who I was in those
moments because there was so much confusion about sexuality and
about sin and about you know, and I just remember,
like father Neilsen said to me, he was very prophetic
(25:55):
in the moment. I was very open with him, and
he was very open with me about this. He's like,
you know, if you aren't sorry for this, then you
can't come to confession like it works as in like
your contrite in the sin if.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Are sorry sorry, like you're just going through the.
Speaker 6 (26:14):
Motions in really like an honest like don't be lukewarm
like And I thought that was really beautiful because he
never stopped loving me. He never did, and so for
me to see that. I was like, this is actual,
like the spiritual like teachings that but seeing I'm seeing
this in Father Nilsen, like he's like very honest with
me about it, and and I started, okay, So I
had to pull myself. I really didn't want to create.
(26:35):
I was teaching, you know, I was, I was teaching
spiritual direction. I was teaching these these classes you know
in Milwaukee, and and I really didn't want to create
like this scandal where you know, as a as a teacher,
as a Catholic teacher that I was, you know also,
(26:55):
And so I really pulled myself out of it because
I was like, before I figure all this out, I
need to do it correctly, you know. And whatever correctly
was at that time was you know, pulling away to
then find myself to then come back and say, you know,
I am gay and I do have these inclinations towards women,
(27:16):
and I don't think that that's a sin. And I
do think that God loves you even if you have
those inclinations, and whether they're from birth or you know,
it's nurture nature, it doesn't matter, like you can have
that relationship and still be you know, for me, you
can still be Catholic and you can still love and
you know, it was like everything from wanting to be
(27:37):
a saint to being crushed to like, you know, it's
like it was all of this in my heart, like
just this ball of question and also too, like I
I pulled away from the church because I thought the
institutionalized side of it was very black and white and
quite frankly, like I learned that my colors were rainbow,
you know, and it's like you use all the colors
(28:01):
to mix, you know, that flag, and you use all
the colors to live your life. And and that's what
freedom is, is being your color and to live it
vibrantly and to live it passionately and not be afraid.
And so for me, that was what I learned. And
then I started to repaint my life with those colors,
(28:23):
and I started to dive into you know, I got
I got an art degree, and I started to understand
what like expressionistic you know, art meant and like what
you know, and you just start to live it. And
then sport became a performance art and it's like now
I'm living my I'm in my medium, I'm living my dream,
I'm creating this canvas of movements of pace, of you know,
(28:48):
manipulating defenders in space, and it becomes then a dance
that then becomes entertainment that then can lead to inspire
people to be themselves. So you know, I'm just I'm
grateful to have this conversation with you. And I'm also like,
it takes some time to realize who you are and
what you want, but and to be gentle with yourself
is what I learned in that process. But yeah, I'll
(29:10):
stop for a second, because that's not it was.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
All the people said, am in Like, that's all I
have to say.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
That vulnerability is such strength and it is so beautiful
because it is one of those processes that, especially for
kids who grew up in the church, right, Like, there
is a concern that what you have been taught and
then what you know to be true about yourself are
not or not compatible, that you have to choose yourself
(29:40):
or you have to choose God. And the more people
like yourself who come out and say that is not true,
I don't believe that to be the case. The more
people you are helping show the way to freedom, like,
the more people you are saying, hey, this is how
I navigated it, and it is not easy. It is
(30:01):
not simple, it is not straightforward.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
But you are not alone. Like that is it. That's
all that matters.
Speaker 5 (30:08):
And we'll get to the irony of you describing rugby
as a dance because my gosh, as violin as I've
ever seen. But to hear you say that even the
way you play sport is a way for you to
live out your true color, like alive. That is life
changing for someone to understand that that is possible. Like
(30:29):
you are powerful, like you are it. This is it,
you were, you were, you were defining that for us
right now, and it is It's so beautiful, and I'm
just I'm so grateful that you're willing to open up
and share this because I don't I can only imagine
the people who hear this that are going to, like
all of you who are listening, this is I just
(30:50):
I hope you let this sink in because I know
I'm going to come back and listen to this multiple
times over and over again because I think you touched
on so many things and I want to just let
that sit where it is because you did it beautifully,
no further questions. I just want to say, like all
the people said, amen to that journey and you sharing
(31:11):
it with us, So thank you for doing that. Yeah,
I guess we will switch gears because I do want
to talk about rugby and the vibrant color that you
are on the field and the fact that you're going
to Paris and that you're becoming this two time olympian
with the women's sevens team, which has some amazing.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Characters on it.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
By the way, some of your teammates are simply my
favorite follows on Instagram and TikTok, and I know you know,
Alona is the first one who comes to mind. So
if you don't follow the women's rugby sevens, you gotta
do it. It's the best. So all of this is happening,
you're figuring out who you are. You're just defining your discovering,
I guess is a better way to put it, discovering
(31:50):
your freedom and your sexuality. All while you're thinking, hey, yeah,
I'm absolutely going to represent teen USA, but I'm pretty
sure I'm going to do it in hockey because that's
what you were really really.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Good at in college as well.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
So you didn't make the team for tm USA soci
for twenty fourteen, right to make the US hockey team.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
So walk me through.
Speaker 5 (32:10):
Then, how that disappointment propelled you into finding Rugby.
Speaker 6 (32:15):
Yeah, so shortly after this, you know whole find of
you know, spirituality mixed with life took a toll on
my academics and also took a toll on my athletics.
And I think that was a way for me to cry.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
For help understandably.
Speaker 6 (32:32):
Yeah, And I remember my art teacher coming and saying,
you know, I'm going to have to fail you in
this because you know, simply you missed a lot of school.
And I said, I one hundred percent agree with you.
And she goes and I also have to ask like
are you okay? And that was the first person that
had asked are you okay? And and I was like,
(32:53):
I will get back to you because I was very
strong in this moment, like and I could you know,
pray anything away? And I came back and said, you know,
I think I do need help. I think I do
need a little period of time to to come back,
you know, like after and maybe retake this course. And
she was like absolutely, you know, obviously we love you here.
And it's very I chose art also is like it's
(33:16):
a cohort. There's twenty six people in your group, you know,
you really it's very intimate. And yeah, so I also
saw that side of you know, I used I used
alcohol as a as a mask and some habits that
became unhealthy and a lot of that revolved around your drinking.
(33:36):
I remember coming to to practice a little tipsy once,
and you know, it's just like things that were just
very much like not on par with how I wanted
to live my values in my life in those moments,
and so I think that carried out into this Olympic
you know, that was like the beginning of this Olympic
(33:56):
quad that pushed into really thinking about myself as a
statistic instead of myself as a leve and my values
and you know what I you know, inspiring people and
being a role model and things like that. And so
I fell into this. You know, I'm not certain how
to fully ask for help and need help, but this
(34:19):
is me at my best trying and unfortunately that wasn't enough,
you know, and I didn't have the answers that people
were asking, you know, like why weren't you here? What's
going on? Like why were you late? What's you know?
And for me, it was I understood it because I
was experiencing it, but I really didn't have the words
to express those emotions. And that led to, you know,
(34:43):
my beautiful entrance into into therapy, into asking for help
and to learning how not necessarily one to ask for help,
but learning how to talk about my emotions and talk
about what I needed. And for me, it was it
was a break, and that break happened fully happened after
(35:04):
I wasn't selected. And just to give some hindsight, I
had played you know, Division one ice hockey and soccer,
had been in the USU twenty three national ODP platform
for US soccer and for the full national team for
ice hockey. So I was on the soccer team when
Jille Ellis was the coach and they said, hey, we're
(35:25):
going to need you to focus just on soccer and
not hockey solely, like just yeah, picked one or the other,
and they were my loves and I couldn't pick just
one or the other. And so I ended up declining
that opportunity to continue with soccer because I loved hockey
and I thought hockey could give. In that time, I
(35:46):
believed that I had a chance of making that Olympic team,
and so I put all my x in one basket
and really went for it my fifth year and fell short.
And I remember saying like I I wish I could
have done things differently at the end of it, and
that haunted me. And I felt like a failure. And
(36:07):
it wasn't like it was, you know, listed on a list,
but it was basically I didn't make that residency squad
that then goes for a year and then they play
at the end of that year. And so fourteen and
so I felt like the biggest failure, you know, and
not just because I was trying to find myself a
really confused but just in general as sport, let's go
(36:29):
like just a sport. As I felt like, I called
my mom, who took me to practice, you know, four
am to six am, drove me all around from Alaska
at Fairbanks, which is an eight hour drive to and
from on the weekends, you know, in between work hours,
and you know, hockey and soccer is very expensive, especially
if you have two kids in it, and you know,
(36:50):
just a lot of time and effort spent felt like
it was wasted. And I remember going home to Alaska
as that's this is the break. This is the break
I really needed. And I was went to ali Esco,
which is our our beautiful, you know, ski resort, and
you know, grabbed my snowboard and went up the gondola
(37:10):
and I and I just remember being like, I'm no
longer on contract to play college sports. I just didn't
make the Olympic team. I'm really struggling with my sexuality
in who I am. And I think I'm gonna snowboard
this mountain, you know, with abandon. I'm gonna hit every jump,
try everything. And it was probably a sense of of
(37:31):
like I'm trying to feel some adrenaline. I'm trying to
feel something because I had been so numbed to the
fact that that failure was like taking me, taking my mind.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
I was like in protection mode.
Speaker 5 (37:44):
It was saying I can't take I can't feel because
it's too much.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
If I feel this much, it will not end well
for me.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
Yes, And and as I started to see myself really
address who I really was, I saw that failure come
to light. Then I was like, maybe I need to
continue to you know, stuff it or hide it or something.
Anyway it was and that's where I realized, like I
started this run and I did this backflip. I completely
(38:13):
biffed it, and thank god it's fresh powder. But like,
I'm I'm upside down, just like think about like me
upside down and like four feet of snow and and
my snowboards out and my head's in the snow. And
I just thought I could stay here and and that
and that was so real. I could stay here and
I don't need to get up right now. And yeah,
(38:34):
it was that. That to me was like the moment
I started to realize like I'm not okay, and I
started to think this could be it, Like I could
stay here and this could be it. And then I
had this like really epiphany and it was really beautiful moment,
probably like slightly hypothermic moment that I was. You know,
(38:57):
I was thinking about Daria, about my twin, and it
was like a very real flashback of like our birth,
which I don't remember, but this is the but with
each other. We were boommates for nine months and and
you know, we at the last minute, so I was
set to come out first, and then she flipped feet
(39:20):
first and really dangerous and my mom had to have
a C section, and so she came out first. And
forever will be the older twin. And every time someone
asks who's older, who's older, who's older, you know, they're
always I'm a little bit bigger than Daria, and so
it would be like, oh, eleven, and then Daria would
have this moment of correction and she'd feel very you know,
(39:41):
satisfied in this moment that was hers. And for me,
I never ever thought that was me like lesser than,
like as a less then that I didn't come out.
I came out second, and I'm I'm no less of
a human because I came out second, right, And so
that made a lot of sense to me. Is like
that was something I could not control. I could not
(40:03):
control that. And so why after this no of not
making the Olympic team, And this is where this like
epiphany is coming in, is like why am I feeling
like I'm a lesser human like that I failed that
I couldn't control that, And and part of it was
(40:24):
attached to the to the if I had been more
confident in who I am, if I have been confident
my sexuality, if I'd done this, like these are the
things that I wish I would have done, I could
have controlled that. And in my mind, I attributed it
to a leve You're no less of a human because
of that. No, you're no less of a human because
you came out second in the womb. And that got
(40:45):
me up. Yeah, that got me off my ass in
the freezing snow and down and like slowly made my
way to the to the lodge and and I'm and
I'm not kidding you. That saved my life. That moment
saved my life. And I remember getting some medical tension
(41:06):
at the lodge in bally Esca and listening to my phone.
I had some voicemails on my phone. Everyone was like
where the hell are you? And I had a missed
call from this gentleman named Rick Suggett and this is
like not kidding you the same day and that phone
call was like, Hey, this is Rick Suggett from USA Rugby.
(41:30):
I'm the Olympic coach and was wondering if you're interested
in trying rugby. If you are, and this is the
right number, please call me back. And at first I
thought it was my twin sister playing a prank on me,
because she was like, you know, I just want to
cheer her up, like let's figure it out and I
ended up calling my mom because I was like, hey,
what do you think about rugby? And would you let
(41:53):
your daughter play rugby? And not that I need my
mom's opinion, but she is Leila Helter and I would
love her support yes at this moment, and maybe some
guidance on is this something that I should follow up on,
you know? And she was like a love, like what's
the worst they can say to? You know? And I
was like, yeah, what is the word.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
That's actually it?
Speaker 6 (42:15):
And that started the journey. She said, don't be afraid
like the worst is already like they've already said no,
you know, like you've already heard that. You are slowly
working your way through that. And and with no strings attached,
you know, I flew out to California. I talked to Rick.
He said, you know, I know he's a Canadian, you know,
(42:36):
hockey player as well and converted to CFL football and
then to rugby. And he said, you know, I know
you're a hockey player. You might have a few loose screws.
I said, you know, I'll take that, and yeah, but
I have to have a confession. You know, I've never
touched any rugby balls in my life and he's like, well,
we have plenty here, so i'll see you in two
(42:56):
weeks and just let me know after five days if
you like rugby, and we'll go from there and just
no strings attached. And I think it was the perfect
thing for me in that moment to fly down to
sunny San Diego to be welcomed with the biggest arms
you could imagine. And I didn't know that that was
the rugby way. So for me that coming from you
(43:18):
could sneeze wrong in other national teams I've played for
and be gone to, you know, being pulled down for
other people to be pulled up and then coming and
saying like, hey, this is how you tackle, this is
how you pass. You know, I don't want you getting
knocked out, so please go cheek to cheek. You know,
(43:39):
this hip is really bony, you know, there's like little
things like that, and it was very It was all
player led, you know. Obviously the coach was out there.
Rick was out there, you know, leading some of the drills,
but mostly was out there with his camera just enjoying
the moments because that's how he led is he wanted
the players to be inspirations and to empower each other
and to also help each other, because as if we
(44:00):
all helped each other, we would be better. That is
what I wanted to be around. And that those strong
women who could hit each other at full pace and
then turn around and laugh and have a drink with
each other and sing and you know, just be kind
to one another. I wanted that to be my athletic
(44:21):
experience moving forward. And it was your team again.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
It was the team you grew up with.
Speaker 5 (44:27):
It was it was like the team of sporting Yes, yep,
it was like it was.
Speaker 6 (44:32):
It was hard and yeah, and I'm your tackle dummy,
and it became it was yeah in a way familiar
back to where you know, young a Lev kind of
found her confidence and so I rebuilt that. And I
remember being in the being in the bedroom and you know,
one of our teammates list hours at the time, she's
you know, we had a you know, probably not super
(44:53):
pc now, but we had a gay house and a
straight house, and it was just comfortable that way. And
they said, you know, gay are straight? And I stuttered,
like as a I didn't say, and Liz said gay.
I looked at her smiled that that was it. That
was it. And I just remember living, you know, with
my teammates and being fully included, and like that's one
(45:16):
thing about rugby is that it's inclusive and that you
need every shape and size, size, and that you know
it doesn't matter your your gender, Like that's it's so
beautiful and doesn't matter who you love. Like it's so
absolutely beautiful the way this team and rugby in general,
(45:36):
and the ethos of the game of respect, of camaraderie,
you know, integrity like that that actually plays out in life,
not just on the field. So I was really culled
to it.
Speaker 5 (45:47):
Yeah, I mean, like how validating after everything that you
went through, after all the hard where you said, I
know that I can be all these things, right, Like
I know that my story can be made up of
all these vibrant colors. But it was like everyone was
telling you you had to pick these ones or this one.
(46:09):
And then you find this team that says, nope, every single.
Speaker 6 (46:14):
Color and we see you and love you, and and
like it wasn't I would say, like it wasn't my
athletic ability right that led them to loving me, you
know what I mean that I had to prove myself
through sport, to to earn respect. It was inherent, like
(46:36):
I love you because you're you want to try and
yet you love rugby and that for you like for
love leve Helter and I I was so yeah, like grateful,
just you know, honored to be a part of a
team that had that mentality and that wanted to be
(46:56):
better each day for each other. And that's why I stayed.
And that's why it's been almost over a decade of
playing at Chula Vista, the first place I ever set
foot on and touched the rugby ball in twenty fourteen,
and then two short years later had the dream of
playing in the first ever you know, seven's rugby in
(47:21):
the Olympics in Rio and you know, scoring that first
try and doing that. So it's a testament to those
women that came before me, Jillian Potter, Vix Fali and
Christine Ringenborg, Hannah Lockwood. You know. Then the list goes
on and also to Rick Suggett, who has passed away
since then, but you know who lives vibrantly through all
(47:42):
of us and our values. And there's one more person
I want to mention in this is that Lori Clifford.
She was a flag football teammate of mine in high
school and we said as a packed in high school,
if flag football ever is in the Olympics, we're going
to go. And we said. She called me. She went
to play basketball, I think at Western Oregon and I
(48:05):
played Wisconsin ice hockey and soccer, and she Facebook messaged
me and said, Hey, I'm playing seven's rugby. It's very
similar to flag football. You got to get your ass
over here and play. Can I give Rick your number?
And I said yes, And I think that's who mentioned
me and my twin to Rick at the time. And
so that is the beginning is Laurie. And I'll forever
(48:28):
be grateful for Laurie and her selflessness and the team
selflessness to teach me everything that they knew, knowing that
I might take their spot and still loved me through that.
And I think that's what teamwork is, and that's what
it means to be a high woman, which is our values,
(48:49):
and that's what it means to be a rugby player.
Speaker 5 (48:53):
If you didn't have a reason already, team We've given
so many. This is beautiful, this is teamwork, this is sister,
this is strength, this is this is all of it
and alive I feel like we have gotten I have
gotten a chance to just sort of you know, the
(49:16):
beautiful thing about love and community is that even like
the best of them, right, the best love, the best community,
the most pure, you just have to be in its vicinity.
Speaker 1 (49:30):
To feel it.
Speaker 5 (49:31):
Right, Like, I am not going to ever play rugby
seven's in the Olympics, but I feel that love from
your community just through talking to you, because it is
so pure, it is so honoring of each person's individual beauty.
And I have zeroed out that we will all feel
(49:55):
that when we watch you play, when we root you
guys on in Paris in a few weeks, and I
just I could not be more grateful for you opening
up those doors, both to who you are as a
person and to the community, the beautiful community that you
are a part of, both in your family, in your sexuality,
in your team. I feel like you've just you've opened
(50:18):
the doors and shown us this light and and we
can we can embrace it, we can bask in it,
and we can we can see what it's like and take.
Speaker 1 (50:25):
It back to our own individual communities.
Speaker 5 (50:27):
And I think that's that's another community, you know, Like
we're creating a community right here in this moment that
we can say this is this is what it is.
Speaker 1 (50:34):
And I just wow, I'm just so grateful.
Speaker 6 (50:38):
I'm I'm just I'm I'm honored to be here. I've
heard so much else so about you and and you're
you're phenomenal. So I mean, honestly, I don't these stories
don't come out just because you know, they defin really
pulled them out of me. And I am just so
grateful that you're. Yeah, I'm honored, Thank you as am.
Speaker 1 (50:56):
I Wow.
Speaker 5 (50:57):
Okay, we we have to move on to the Something
to Sip On segment is brought to you by the
Sports Bra.
Speaker 1 (51:04):
It is our women's sports bar in Portland, Oregon. To
that crowd, I can imagine.
Speaker 5 (51:08):
At eleven am on the Sunday that your episode airs
is just gonna be going crazy.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
I just I don't want to be there.
Speaker 5 (51:13):
See it, but they're gonna be enjoying a cocktail in
your honor, miss A Love Calter.
Speaker 1 (51:18):
And I want to know what is your something to
sip on?
Speaker 5 (51:22):
What are you enjoying embracing after a beautiful day on
the rugby field, a beautiful.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
Day in my hometown of San Diego, what are you
what are you sipping on?
Speaker 6 (51:31):
Okay? So this is there's two parts to this. There's eve.
There's a love prior to this who who you know,
prior to her sober years. So there's a sober eleve,
and then there's there's now cocktail.
Speaker 1 (51:43):
And mocktails, take your choice.
Speaker 6 (51:46):
And so prior to the mice sober, I really loved whiskey, deafthitely, whiskey,
anything whiskey, So a whiskey stour with egg white is
probably a go to. I mean, I really would just
do whiskey on the rocks. But if it's people coming
other people, not just the leve, then I think that,
you know, the whiskey sour with the egg white is great.
But but if you do just like whiskey on the rocks,
(52:08):
like just one little circle cube with some really good
you know, before egg peat whiskey, that's that's it. And
then the sober lev is uh and I'm actually, let's see, yeah,
a little over I think a thousand, one thousand days
(52:31):
sober so yeah, I haven't checked, but I mean it's
like day to day, right, so and just keep saying
yes and keep coming back my friends. But uh, they
sober lev used urba mate like mate tea very South American,
you know, Argentinian drink and uh to help kind of
(52:57):
wean off the alcohol. So now we're going to go.
Speaker 5 (52:59):
Into our power up segment, which is our rapid fire questions.
I don't have a lot of faith in us that
we can do this rapidly, but we're going to try it.
Speaker 6 (53:06):
I can do it, we can do it.
Speaker 5 (53:07):
Okay, Well, I think I'm gonna get distracted because don't
have too many questions, but we're ready.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
Okay, here we go. We can do this. You kind
of already answer this. Coffee your tea coffee? Okay, favorite
ice cream flavor?
Speaker 6 (53:21):
Uh, cookie dough ooh good?
Speaker 1 (53:24):
One go to meal before or after playing rugby?
Speaker 6 (53:29):
Oh h crackshack chicken sandwich, fried chicken sandwich with sweep
tail breads.
Speaker 5 (53:34):
Yeah, okay, what is the favorite place your sport has
taken you?
Speaker 6 (53:40):
Now?
Speaker 5 (53:40):
You have played three sports at an extremely high level,
so feel free to choose any of them. But I
would specifically love to know about.
Speaker 6 (53:47):
Rugby absolutely, Okay. I love playing at the World Cup
in New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (53:54):
Love New Zealand. What were you in? It's stunning city
where you funk?
Speaker 6 (54:00):
To day and it's of Auckland.
Speaker 1 (54:03):
Yeah. I love New Zealand. Yeah, see, so I won't get.
Speaker 6 (54:07):
To Also, the South Islands beautiful as well, but it's.
Speaker 5 (54:11):
I spent fourteen days in New Zealand and we did
half and half half half south, half north, and I
was like, how.
Speaker 1 (54:19):
Do I move here?
Speaker 5 (54:19):
Because it really felt you know what, it felt like
San Diego. It felt like all the San Diego. Yeah, exactly.
It was like ocean mountains in close proximity. Yes, I
loved it. I loved it where the mountains meet the water. Amen,
get that tattooed on my soul. Okay, if you were
not a rugby player, what sport? I mean, gosh, we
(54:39):
could again choose choose your poison. This doesn't have to
be one that you actually were close at making the
Olympics in. But if you weren't a rugby player, what
sport would you want to be an Olympian in?
Speaker 6 (54:49):
Surfing? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (54:52):
Okay? A favorite dessert?
Speaker 6 (54:56):
Favorite dessert, let's see, Okay, carrot cake. My mom makes
a really good strawberry cake.
Speaker 1 (55:06):
But oh shut up, mom, Okay. Dream vacation spot. Yeah, Alaska,
that's very fair. I love Alaska. It's Oh it's so beautiful.
Speaker 6 (55:17):
I'm on the Kenai fishing.
Speaker 1 (55:19):
Oh so fun. What is the best piece of advice
you have ever gotten.
Speaker 6 (55:24):
Ever gotten? It's probably from my grandma, and she said
to follow your passions and not be afraid of taking
risks and and loving fully.
Speaker 5 (55:33):
All Right, the wildest mishap you've ever had playing rugby, I.
Speaker 6 (55:37):
Would say, like just to give a caveat before I
share a little bit about my injury. Is very safe.
The sport is very safe. You learn how to use
momentum to tackle, and so you're you're you're not like
American football where you're hitting with your head. You're using
your shoulders and momentum, and it's it's very safe. You
learn techniques to make sure you fight concussions where your
(55:59):
your next is really strong. And yeah, I think actually
I'm just gonna say that and not say my injury.
So okay, it's very it's very it was very There's
a couple of injuries that I've had, but but rugby
is is is very safe. And I'm gonna pivot really
quick with that. Sometimes in rugby that you uh, you know,
(56:23):
you have very tight clothing on and and you're you're
you're highly encouraged to wear spandex for this reason. But
uh yes, my my spandex and my pants were pulled
down in a tackle and everyone got to witness my white,
very white ass and and actually that it was Sarah
(56:44):
Goss after I had scored a try I had, you know,
in burts, and she landed on top of me and
then gracefully also pulled my pants up. So and I
love her and she has she has a beautiful friend
of mine. So shout out to Sarah her any now married.
But yeah for for doing that. And some people were
(57:07):
blinded because this this this as has not seen the
sun in a long time.
Speaker 5 (57:12):
So Alaska, it's just not it's you know it as
I would like to adopt you.
Speaker 1 (57:20):
I would like to adopt you as the same.
Speaker 6 (57:22):
Thank you, so okay.
Speaker 5 (57:25):
And then the last question for you, my dear, a
love of Kelter, is what does powerful mean to you?
Speaker 6 (57:32):
Powerful means to me that you're not afraid of the
nose or yes is in your life and you are
not defined by your performance, but you are defined by
your purpose. And so find the reasons you're why and
find your purpose and then jump into it.
Speaker 1 (57:53):
Beautiful, I am just so grateful for this conversation. A
love it is. Similarly, I've heard so much about you.
Speaker 5 (57:59):
We have the same circles and it's such a gift
to have had you on this podcast sharing your story,
and I just I am so grateful for you, so
thank you for being thank you.
Speaker 1 (58:12):
So yeah.
Speaker 5 (58:13):
Great to see you. Cannot wait to meet up in
San Diego. It's gonna be awesome. Thank you everyone for
joining us on this episode of the Powerful Podcast. Rudan
Alev and the women's sevens team in just a few
weeks in Paris. We'll see you next time. This is
a reminder to check us out every Tuesday all summer
long everywhere you get your podcasts, And if you really
enjoy this and don't want to miss an episode, be
(58:34):
sure to hit not subscribe button.
If you're listening to this podcast, we know one thing
for absolute certain you are a fan of women's sports.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
And there's nothing better than enjoying women's sports with community,
and no better place to find that community than The
Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon, the very first women's sports.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Bar in the world.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
The owner Jenny Wynn and her team have created the
best atmosphere combined with top tier menu and cocktail options
to root on your favorite team. So next time you're
in Portland, be sure to stop by the sports Bra
and don't forget All summer, the sports Bra will be
featuring drinks picked out by our powerful women.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
So stop by, have a sit, and enjoy the summer.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Sports season jam packed with women's sports at the Sports Bra.
Hello friends, and welcome to the Powerful Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I'm your host Ajam McCord.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
In this podcast, we introduce you to powerful women who
are changing the game in and outside of their field
of play. These are women's stories, women who happen to
be doing things that many of us can only dream of,
but the lessons and inspiration they share is universal.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Welcome back to the Powerful Podcast.
Speaker 5 (01:07):
I'm your host aj McCord and I could not be
more thrilled to have the next woman joining us here today.
She was the top scorer for Team USA in Rio.
She was the first American woman to score a try
in the Olympics. She has a thousand points one hundred tries,
the only American to have that kind of stat line.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
And she's a women's seventh center for rugby.
Speaker 5 (01:30):
She just started with her position, but she was a
dual sport NCAA athlete as well.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
So this woman is straight up athletic.
Speaker 5 (01:36):
She's going to be representing tm USA for women sevens
in Paris this summer. Welcome a lef Kelter to the
Powerful Podcast. I'm so thrilled to have you on here.
Speaker 6 (01:47):
Thank you, AJ. It's an honor to be on your show.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
Okay, So, I have so many questions because it's so
cool to talk to somebody who is so passionate about
their sport, but also somebody who's just straight up an athlete.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
And that is really what you are.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Because I mentioned that you played soccer and hockey, we
didn't get into the fact we shall the fact that
you had a chance to play Team USA hockey back
at a few Olympic cycles ago.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
So I want to just start with a love calter.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
Tell me a little bit of your life story and
I'll jump in with where I have so many aspects
I want to dive into. But tell me a little
bit first about just your life story. How would you
describe what has defined your life?
Speaker 6 (02:28):
I mean, I grew up in a military family. My
dad was Air Force, my mom was also Air Force,
and we grew up moving around the country. I was
born in Tampa, from Florida to Arkansas, Arkansas to Colorado,
Colorado to Alaska, and all before I was six. So
from six on grew up in Alaska, and I call
(02:50):
Alaska home. So Eagle River is where we grew up.
And if you've ever been to Alaska, it is absolutely stunning.
It is truly God's country. But for my entire time childhood,
it was play as many sports as you can, I think,
to keep us out of trouble, and you know, don't
be afraid to take risks to go explore. See what's
(03:11):
you know? In Alaska it's the land of the midnight sun,
So you don't even sleep. You know, you're out playing
volleyball at midnight, you're hiking, starting hikes at you know,
eleven thirty. So it was it's a huge playground where
you can just experience, you know, beauty, but also learn
about yourself and the wilderness and the ruggedness of winter
and and so I had that kind of as my
(03:32):
like formative years with my older brother, my twin sister,
and my younger brother. So the four of us, we
were I would my mom would say hooligans, but we were,
you know, just having.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
Full I know, if you're not being described as a hooligan,
and I don't think you're doing childhood right.
Speaker 6 (03:48):
In Alaska and having two of just think two of me, Like,
we were pretty much trouble makers growing up, but sport
kept us out of you know, out of trouble, and
we're grateful for that. But yeah, it was just an
amazing childhood in Alaska and building tree forts and bombing
hills with rollerblades and yeah, everything you can imagine.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
Okay, So I want to get into your athletic journey
once we get through this child in Alaska thing. I
think everybody who grew up in the lower forty eight
right probably has that stereotypical vision of what it's like
to grow up in Alaska. But you're saying that it's
the stereotype for the reason that really was your childhood.
Did you have any wild animals that were your pets?
(04:27):
I mean, tell me some of your craziest Alaskan wilderness stories.
Speaker 6 (04:32):
I when we first moved up there, we were near
Alpglow Elementary School, which is near Eagle River, the actual
river that flows in to Chugiak, and I remember it
had snowed six feet and my dad was shoveling the
driveway so we could get to our car to go
(04:52):
to school, and I just remember not really seeing like
the top of him, And so we would make these
tunnels up the back The hill was like in our backyard.
The schools in our backyard. So we ended up like
carving these tunnels to get out to the sidewalk to
then go to school. And that just like was an
afternoon fun. And then sometime in the summertime, I was
(05:15):
checking the mail and this cute black lab came up
to me and I was like, I pet it on
the head and it just scurried up the hill and
I thought, oh, that was really athletic lab, Like what
the And it ended up being a black bear and
it was a cup It was a black bear cub
and I was like, oh my gosh, I ran inside.
My Dad's like stay inside, staying side. Where there's a cub,
there's a mama. You don't want to run into that.
(05:36):
And so that was my first ever I think it
was in third grade if I first ever experienced with
a black bear. And I was like, wow, that was
a really athletic, like it climbed a bluff like nothing.
I was like, oh my gosh, h wow.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Even the dogs are built different here.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
I just did graze my calf and I was like, okay,
like that's cute, Like here we are. But yeah, I'm
almost livid, but it was, gosh, just a lot of
like moose, and you learn about grizzly bear, you learn
how to defend yourself, you know about black bear, and
then just a ton of fishing, love to fly fish.
(06:11):
But yeah, I mean there's a lot of experience with
the wilderness in Alaska that is so amazing.
Speaker 5 (06:19):
I mean, this story about the black bear and the
black lab mix up is certainly going to live in infamy,
but it is so cool to hear a childhood that
is so nature based and is so just rooted an
adventure and it really feels like that set the stage
for the rest of your life because you go on
to have this great adventure in athletics that certainly had
(06:40):
plenty of ups and downs. But what do you think
is the thing from that childhood of growing up in Alaska,
growing up outside, messing around with your siblings in the
great outdoors. What is the thread that has become a
part of your life from that childhood.
Speaker 6 (06:54):
I think it's teamwork. I mean, if I could put
one thing that Alaska has built me on is to know,
be strong and not quit because everybody up there is living,
you know, through the winters. Is you know, having an
amazing time in the summertime. I think the winter sports,
like being an athlete, like the sun never really rises
(07:14):
in the wintertime, and so you need something to keep
your mind busy, to keep your body healthy and active,
and a lot of people across country ski you know.
For me, it was ice hockey, and so when we
came out from school, it was about two o'clock and
then we'd go into ice hockey practice and then by
the time we were done, it was you know, four or five,
which is a good time for the sun to be down,
so you don't really notice that the sun hasn't really
(07:37):
come up. But it's teamwork. And for me, I was
blessed to have a twin sister, and her name's Daria,
and we had this healthy competition between one another, and
we were this like, you know, this superhuman like she
had a lot of the natural gifted brains and I
kind of had the natural gifted brawn. And together we
were like we could solve any problem in the world.
And I had remember having to work really hard at
(07:59):
school and and I think vice versa with Daria was sport.
But together we would be outside, you know, doing corner
kicks and header goals to one another and you know,
just really pushing each other to the next limits. Yeah,
So I was blessed to have that. And then an
older brother that instilled on us, like his his physicality
(08:20):
and his ability to tackle anything. And that was before
I played rugby. He played football and baseball, and we
were his you know, every time we could go outside,
we were his tackle dummies and and learning how to
juke and be evasive and and then you know, be
his second He was a catcher, so we were his
second basement that he was throwing to and coming in
with chip teeth and we're like, Okay, now we're gonna
(08:42):
wear this hockey helmet when we're at second base. And
so it just it was teamwork and and that's just
like the ability to push past like an uncomfortable you know,
like ask, you know you want to do this, Sure,
why not, Let's try it and then work together to
solve that problem and then implement new skills and gain
(09:04):
some confidence and just kind of being in Alaska.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
Yeah, I mean, what a foundation to lay because you
talk a little bit about the athletic.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Things that you guys were doing as a family.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
You became the first female to play on the Chugyak
High School boys varsity team for soccer, correct ice hockey,
ice hockey, ice hockey.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Sorry because soccer.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
You were the first girl from Alaska to be picked
for the U fourteen ODP right the Olympic Development Program
national training camp. So I'm getting your athletic accomplishments confused
because there were so many of them growing up. You
played soccer, you did ice hockey, and so far we
haven't mentioned rugby, which is what we're going to the
Olympics for in just a few weeks. But I want
(09:48):
to talk about soccer and hockey and how those two
sports sort of came to the forefront for you of
the ones that you really felt like, hey, this is
where I.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Want to be, this is what I want to pursue,
this is what I want to do in college.
Speaker 6 (10:01):
Even absolutely, I mean, I think those were the two
that I ended up settling down because I couldn't live
without them. There were others that we played. I think
at one point there were six different sports. My mom
and my dad were racing us too, and again I
think it was because they were like, we see them
thriving and loving this, and there's going to be one
(10:21):
that stands out, you know, that they just are so
passionate about and I think that everybody should try everything,
you know, And for us it was softball, swimming, tennis, basketball,
you know, soccer. I don't even know ice hockey, So
there was a lot of different realms of athletics going on,
you know, And at one point, which was like high school,
(10:44):
that we decided, Okay, you know, we're gonna just do
ice hockey in the wintertime and soccer in the spring,
and those were the the ones I couldn't live without.
We had travel soccer We played for Alaska Rush and
Gold Strikers, and we traveled a lot to California. We
traveled a lot to other states to get seen, to
(11:06):
get scouted, and then also played on a boys hockey league.
They didn't have a super competitive women's league yet in Alaska,
and so that's why we played with the boys. And
I think that helped a lot with one the lead
up to rugby and the physicality of it putting a
shoulder in someone because you can check in boys hockey,
and to the speed of the game, you know, you
(11:27):
really had to be your head up and on a
swivel and your hands at a pace where you could
might not necessarily beat them with speed, but if you
took the right angles and you played smarter and you
had a faster pass, then you can beat anyone. So
it really helped us at the collegiate level get seen.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
So it's interesting to hear you talk about the benefits
of having to have played with the boys growing up.
Speaker 6 (11:50):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
So, I was a gymnast growing up. That was sort
of the sport. I played softball, I did soccer, I
did volleyball, like I did you name it. I probably played.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
At some point or the other, but gymnastics was the
one that for me really stuck out. Now, the unfortunate
thing for gymnastics is that the shelf life is pretty short, right,
and so by the time I was sixteen, it was
it was kind of one of those Okay, you're not
going to the Olympics, and so where do you want
to you know, do you want to do it in college?
And at that point I was so burnt out because
(12:17):
I had picked gymnastics earlier.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Maybe then some of the sports.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
Have to be picked, because I mean I'd committed to
it from ten to sixteen and it was forty hours
a week and all that jazz. But I say all
that to say, in an individual sport, I didn't have
that benefit of competing against the boys, but I still
competed against the boys.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
And things like sports knowledge, right, Like.
Speaker 5 (12:40):
As soon as you say like, oh yeah, I love sports,
I love watching football, I love watching X, Y and Z,
it's like, oh, well, well, like what do you know?
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Like who right this game in nineteen seventy six and
who was the center?
Speaker 6 (12:49):
Da da da?
Speaker 1 (12:50):
You get quizzed. And it's always that to me.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
Actually, I think maybe a better sports broadcaster because that's
what I grew up with was like I always got
quizzed by the boys on sports dollars.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
They were like, oh, you say you like it?
Speaker 6 (13:02):
Cool? Cool, that was your edge and you're really prove it.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Right, Yeah, So what are some of the moments that
you remember developing that edge when you were playing against
the boys or with the boys in hockey.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
And all of that.
Speaker 6 (13:16):
Absolutely, it reminds me of a moment where my mom
was fighting for us to be on the boys team
and she said, you know, I keep seeing these boys
coming out of school with the hard Hat award and
and I was like, yeah, that's that's a you know,
it's culture based. It's whoever's the hardest worker on the
on the ice gets gets the hard head award. And
she goes, how come you haven't had the hard head award?
(13:38):
And I was like, you know, I'm I'm not certain.
She's like, well, are you working hard? You know? My
mom was always like absolutely you just yeah, just Tige.
Your mom like, let's go. And so she's like, are
you working hard? And I was like, yeah, I know,
I think that's a great question. I am working hard.
In the whole call ride home, I'm like thinking about it,
I'm like, un name which his mom in Turkish, because
(13:58):
my mom sides Turkish, my dad side's Irish. So Undy like,
I think I'm not being seen to this award because
I'm not in the locker room. And she's like, why
are you not in the locker room? And I was like, well,
the boys are undressing, and you know, they're like whatever.
She's like, no, like, they can get their lower half
on and then you can go in the locker room.
And then part of the thing is that you need
to be in the locker room to have the conversations,
(14:18):
to be you know, able to be seen for this award.
And I was like, okay, well what should I do.
She's like, well, you go and ask the coach if
you can be in the locker room. And I was
like okay. So we had this whole conversation, and you know,
of course, some parents were like up in arms about it,
and it came down to the boys voting. They're like, yeah,
I mean, obviously we can get ourselves dressed, and we'd
(14:39):
love if Kelter was in the locker room with us.
And so yeah, sure enough, I wasn't next week or
the week after, but you know, three weeks after that,
I came home with a hard hat award, And part
of it was that they just hadn't thought about it
because I wasn't in the locker room and it wasn't
like I was in a different locker room. I was
in a converted janitor's closet for just the women. And
(15:00):
so it was like when I told my mom that,
she was like, oh, that's not gonna work out. And
so for me, that was what I did at four
am when I had training before before school with the
boys team, and so I didn't know any different and
I didn't know the right way to ask or who
to ask. But with that guidance and then my mom's
(15:22):
just tenacity to say like we'll figure it out, really
sent like a mental model for me to say, like ask,
ask the hard questions, and if you want something, go
look for it and ask for it and push past
that awkward conversation or that boundary and not be afraid
of that. And for me, as a you know, fifteen
(15:44):
sixteen year old, I didn't really know that was vulnerability,
you know, I didn't know that that was the hard
conversations that needed to happen, and that I was maybe
afraid of that, afraid of what would be said around it,
afraid of the know and that started to you know transition, like, Okay,
this is risk, this is the reward, and now I'm
seeing the outcome, which is you know, equality, which is
(16:06):
really beautiful.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Whoa.
Speaker 6 (16:08):
And so when I started to you know, be in
the locker room, you you really are part of the conversations.
You're a part of the team, and you're a part
of leading that culture and leading those values. And once
that happened, it was I think even before that, I
was already considered one. And I wouldn't say like one
of the boys, because it's very apparent like we were
(16:30):
best all of us were like really best friends. But yes,
in a sense, like I was part of the team.
And and that's what's really nice because the team isn't
defined by gender, which is another thing that I'm really
passionate about. It's about the common goal and the values
you lead and everyone having a part in those that
that really matters to the team. So yeah, I just
(16:50):
think that that story like really embodied that idea of
like there was a moment where we were challenged. There's
a moment where we had vulnerability and had those conversations
in this moment where the outcome and the success you
could see come to fruition. Wow.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
Shout out to the mama too, because like that goes
back to exactly what we're talking about.
Speaker 6 (17:09):
Right, Like that always shout out to me.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Yeah, shout out to.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
Leila because I think that goes back to even like
what we talked about, right is like Mama looked at
you and said, hey, something. Who knows what was in
her past, right, but I'm certain that she probably was
of a generation that didn't even have the chance, like
my mom wasn't a generation that didn't have a chance
to play a lot of sports in high school, right,
And who knows what was in your mom's past. But
(17:32):
she looked at you and said, hey, no, no, no,
my daughter gets better than this. Like I was as
hard as I did so my daughter could take the
next step.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
And like she said, she gave you that one.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
Hundred percent, And that was from her mom. I mean,
my grandma is also a Laila. There's three generations with
Leilah and my twins. Name is Daria Laylah, so it
is a very strong name. And so Laila, my grandma
came over here from Turkey. She was set to marry
the Turkish Prime minister's son and then ended up falling
in love with my grandfather, who was a Turkish American
(18:06):
interpreter for the Air Force. And so she was like,
I'm not interested in this fixed marriage. I'm interested in
love in passion, and at the time in Turkey that's
unheard of. And so she went over with her brother
to England. She studied at the London School of Economics
and then was also playing tennis and modeling on the side.
(18:29):
So like this Turkish woman was redefining what it means
to be female and what it means to be an
athlete and a model, and you know, falling in love
like at that time in those generations, and so it's
not unheard of that Leilah stood up in that moment
and said, no, my daughter will be educated and also
will be fighting for her and so yes will be equal.
(18:53):
And how that is translating through sport is really beautiful
because my mom was like, I want my dog to
explore all the different sports, fall in love with what
they're passionate about with, like my grandma with her true loves,
and then and really go for it and not be afraid.
So that is the beginning and and this is kind
of the middle way of that family of Leilah's strong women.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
This is the next step.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
Yeah, you are the next You are the next step
in this generation of badass women exactly.
Speaker 6 (19:25):
And you have to know those things to get inspired.
You have to know where you come from, your why
and and those are really important. And when things get
shitty or tough excuse my language, like you have to
come back to that basis. Yeah, I'm just grateful. Honestly,
it's humbling to talk about my grandma in a way.
And she's ninety six years old and actually today, yesterday
(19:47):
was her birthday, and she'll be headed to Paris. She's
gonna come, she's gonna come to Paris. We're gonna have
everyone there. So yeah, anyway, it's just I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Okay, well I need to see all the pictures of
the family interest because that's going to be an unreal
moment for you guys as a family. We'll get back
to the sports stuff in a minute, but in the
spirit of sort of this conversation, one of the things
we're coming off of Pride Month and I mentioned you know,
you were here living your truth, living your passion. That
was not an easy one open love for you because
(20:22):
you go on to play at the University of Wisconsin.
You played soccer, you played hockey, you were trying to
make TVUSA for hockey, and in the midst of all this,
you realize a part of your identity that you didn't
know before, or that you weren't maybe allowed to know
before based on the way that you grow up. So
tell me about how how you started to live your
(20:45):
truth as a young collegiate woman who came out as.
Speaker 6 (20:49):
By yeah, absolutely, you know, I was at Wisconsin and
before Wisconsin, I and I actually this came around like
when I was twelve years old, I made a pact.
I was very religious. I grew up Catholic, and I
think I jumped into Catholicism because there was a lot
(21:10):
of I wouldn't say like trauma, but it felt like,
you know, as a twelve thirteen year old that's how
I could. That's the word that best describes the distress
as like a teen is. There was a lot of
things going on and and I remember like there was
some like you know, like sexual abuse. When I was younger,
(21:32):
don't quite really remember it by like my one of
my brother's best friends and having that hard conversation with
my twin sister. She was also like, you know, that's
just normal, Leve like that happened, like like forget about it,
what's going on? And she took the other way, which
was like kind of avoidance. And for me, it was like, no,
this is something that I really need to address within
myself and what does this say about me? And you know,
(21:55):
Dario went, this is going to kind of liberate me
and open me up versus for me, I was like, oh,
I need to be modest, like I need to be
like completely like all the way up, like nobody, nobody's
gonna touch me like I do. And I think that
turned into safety in religion, and and I remember saying,
you know, I would I would pray a lot. I
would go to like adoration in the Catholic Church. You
(22:20):
can you know, you can stay from like adoring the
Eucharist to from like twelve am to to twenty four hours,
so you would relieve somebody. And so I remember signing
myself up to be like on Friday nights for everyone's partying.
I'm at the church, and I started to really pray
like this is this is kind of my calling. And
so I at twelve said, you know, Lord, I'm gonna
(22:44):
choose sport as my love. And then if you'd call
me out of that into you know, apostolic celibacy like
a nun, then I will listen and I'll I'll follow you.
And that that was That was me as as young
as young Eleve and I never dated into college. I
(23:05):
went to Mass every single day at the University of Wisconsin,
and I remember early in my junior year and had
some amazing, amazing people. I mean, Father Nilsson was my
spiritual director. And I would go to church and then
I you know, confession and then adoration and then training
and then school and then repeat, sleep and repeat, and
(23:27):
so there was no time to miss out on the
parties or the whatever. And my sister was quite the opposite,
very very liberal, very free, very doing her thing. And
that was Darien. That was a lef.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Did she go to Wisconsin with you?
Speaker 6 (23:40):
She did as well, and she was there at Wisconsin
with me and I remember coming home my beginning of
my junior year and coming downstairs and I was attracted
to my roommate and she was studying for her you know,
grad school and engineering whatever something. Books were everywhere, and
(24:01):
I remember just turning around going straight to the confessional
to my spiritu director and I was like, Badimias, and
I really don't know what to do. And he's like, well,
he needs to move out, and I just I was
like okay, Okay. So I moved out and I went
to live with my friend Aaron Simon, and we had
a beautiful friendship and we talked through it, and we
(24:24):
talked through teaching to the Catholic Church. We talked through
you know a lot of like anatomy and you know
what's going on. And then you know, we read like
a lot of spiritual reading on you know, homosexuality and
where it is and you know concupiscince and original sin
and how that all like this came down to this
sector of you know, grave sin. And for me this
(24:46):
whole time, I remember being like, I don't believe I'm
committing a grave sin. I don't believe that God, this
God that I love, that I've made a pack too
that has led me into a beautiful Division one. I
saw Division one soccer first, like you know, just a
lot of amazing firsts that is going to say, I
don't love you for this moment, and and so I
(25:09):
started to pull away a little bit, and I started
to really have some internal turmoil about what is the
side that God loves and what is the guy that
God doesn't love? And then I realized, okay, like I
need to find that love in myself and I need
to redefine what that love means and then actively participate
(25:34):
in in loving myself again. And that was struggle, AJA,
Like I really didn't know who I was in those
moments because there was so much confusion about sexuality and
about sin and about you know, and I just remember,
like father Neilsen said to me, he was very prophetic
(25:55):
in the moment. I was very open with him, and
he was very open with me about this. He's like,
you know, if you aren't sorry for this, then you
can't come to confession like it works as in like
your contrite in the sin if.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Are sorry sorry, like you're just going through the.
Speaker 6 (26:14):
Motions in really like an honest like don't be lukewarm
like And I thought that was really beautiful because he
never stopped loving me. He never did, and so for
me to see that. I was like, this is actual,
like the spiritual like teachings that but seeing I'm seeing
this in Father Nilsen, like he's like very honest with
me about it, and and I started, okay, So I
had to pull myself. I really didn't want to create.
(26:35):
I was teaching, you know, I was, I was teaching
spiritual direction. I was teaching these these classes you know
in Milwaukee, and and I really didn't want to create
like this scandal where you know, as a as a teacher,
as a Catholic teacher that I was, you know also,
(26:55):
And so I really pulled myself out of it because
I was like, before I figure all this out, I
need to do it correctly, you know. And whatever correctly
was at that time was you know, pulling away to
then find myself to then come back and say, you know,
I am gay and I do have these inclinations towards women,
(27:16):
and I don't think that that's a sin. And I
do think that God loves you even if you have
those inclinations, and whether they're from birth or you know,
it's nurture nature, it doesn't matter, like you can have
that relationship and still be you know, for me, you
can still be Catholic and you can still love and
you know, it was like everything from wanting to be
(27:37):
a saint to being crushed to like, you know, it's
like it was all of this in my heart, like
just this ball of question and also too, like I
I pulled away from the church because I thought the
institutionalized side of it was very black and white and
quite frankly, like I learned that my colors were rainbow,
you know, and it's like you use all the colors
(28:01):
to mix, you know, that flag, and you use all
the colors to live your life. And and that's what
freedom is, is being your color and to live it
vibrantly and to live it passionately and not be afraid.
And so for me, that was what I learned. And
then I started to repaint my life with those colors,
(28:23):
and I started to dive into you know, I got
I got an art degree, and I started to understand
what like expressionistic you know, art meant and like what
you know, and you just start to live it. And
then sport became a performance art and it's like now
I'm living my I'm in my medium, I'm living my dream,
I'm creating this canvas of movements of pace, of you know,
(28:48):
manipulating defenders in space, and it becomes then a dance
that then becomes entertainment that then can lead to inspire
people to be themselves. So you know, I'm just I'm
grateful to have this conversation with you. And I'm also like,
it takes some time to realize who you are and
what you want, but and to be gentle with yourself
is what I learned in that process. But yeah, I'll
(29:10):
stop for a second, because that's not it was.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
All the people said, am in Like, that's all I
have to say.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
That vulnerability is such strength and it is so beautiful
because it is one of those processes that, especially for
kids who grew up in the church, right, Like, there
is a concern that what you have been taught and
then what you know to be true about yourself are
not or not compatible, that you have to choose yourself
(29:40):
or you have to choose God. And the more people
like yourself who come out and say that is not true,
I don't believe that to be the case. The more
people you are helping show the way to freedom, like,
the more people you are saying, hey, this is how
I navigated it, and it is not easy. It is
(30:01):
not simple, it is not straightforward.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
But you are not alone. Like that is it. That's
all that matters.
Speaker 5 (30:08):
And we'll get to the irony of you describing rugby
as a dance because my gosh, as violin as I've
ever seen. But to hear you say that even the
way you play sport is a way for you to
live out your true color, like alive. That is life
changing for someone to understand that that is possible. Like
(30:29):
you are powerful, like you are it. This is it,
you were, you were, you were defining that for us
right now, and it is It's so beautiful, and I'm
just I'm so grateful that you're willing to open up
and share this because I don't I can only imagine
the people who hear this that are going to, like
all of you who are listening, this is I just
(30:50):
I hope you let this sink in because I know
I'm going to come back and listen to this multiple
times over and over again because I think you touched
on so many things and I want to just let
that sit where it is because you did it beautifully,
no further questions. I just want to say, like all
the people said, amen to that journey and you sharing
(31:11):
it with us, So thank you for doing that. Yeah,
I guess we will switch gears because I do want
to talk about rugby and the vibrant color that you
are on the field and the fact that you're going
to Paris and that you're becoming this two time olympian
with the women's sevens team, which has some amazing.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Characters on it.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
By the way, some of your teammates are simply my
favorite follows on Instagram and TikTok, and I know you know,
Alona is the first one who comes to mind. So
if you don't follow the women's rugby sevens, you gotta
do it. It's the best. So all of this is happening,
you're figuring out who you are. You're just defining your discovering,
I guess is a better way to put it, discovering
(31:50):
your freedom and your sexuality. All while you're thinking, hey, yeah,
I'm absolutely going to represent teen USA, but I'm pretty
sure I'm going to do it in hockey because that's
what you were really really.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Good at in college as well.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
So you didn't make the team for tm USA soci
for twenty fourteen, right to make the US hockey team.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
So walk me through.
Speaker 5 (32:10):
Then, how that disappointment propelled you into finding Rugby.
Speaker 6 (32:15):
Yeah, so shortly after this, you know whole find of
you know, spirituality mixed with life took a toll on
my academics and also took a toll on my athletics.
And I think that was a way for me to cry.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
For help understandably.
Speaker 6 (32:32):
Yeah, And I remember my art teacher coming and saying,
you know, I'm going to have to fail you in
this because you know, simply you missed a lot of school.
And I said, I one hundred percent agree with you.
And she goes and I also have to ask like
are you okay? And that was the first person that
had asked are you okay? And and I was like,
(32:53):
I will get back to you because I was very
strong in this moment, like and I could you know,
pray anything away? And I came back and said, you know,
I think I do need help. I think I do
need a little period of time to to come back,
you know, like after and maybe retake this course. And
she was like absolutely, you know, obviously we love you here.
And it's very I chose art also is like it's
(33:16):
a cohort. There's twenty six people in your group, you know,
you really it's very intimate. And yeah, so I also
saw that side of you know, I used I used
alcohol as a as a mask and some habits that
became unhealthy and a lot of that revolved around your drinking.
(33:36):
I remember coming to to practice a little tipsy once,
and you know, it's just like things that were just
very much like not on par with how I wanted
to live my values in my life in those moments,
and so I think that carried out into this Olympic
you know, that was like the beginning of this Olympic
(33:56):
quad that pushed into really thinking about myself as a
statistic instead of myself as a leve and my values
and you know what I you know, inspiring people and
being a role model and things like that. And so
I fell into this. You know, I'm not certain how
to fully ask for help and need help, but this
(34:19):
is me at my best trying and unfortunately that wasn't enough,
you know, and I didn't have the answers that people
were asking, you know, like why weren't you here? What's
going on? Like why were you late? What's you know?
And for me, it was I understood it because I
was experiencing it, but I really didn't have the words
to express those emotions. And that led to, you know,
(34:43):
my beautiful entrance into into therapy, into asking for help
and to learning how not necessarily one to ask for help,
but learning how to talk about my emotions and talk
about what I needed. And for me, it was it
was a break, and that break happened fully happened after
(35:04):
I wasn't selected. And just to give some hindsight, I
had played you know, Division one ice hockey and soccer,
had been in the USU twenty three national ODP platform
for US soccer and for the full national team for
ice hockey. So I was on the soccer team when
Jille Ellis was the coach and they said, hey, we're
(35:25):
going to need you to focus just on soccer and
not hockey solely, like just yeah, picked one or the other,
and they were my loves and I couldn't pick just
one or the other. And so I ended up declining
that opportunity to continue with soccer because I loved hockey
and I thought hockey could give. In that time, I
(35:46):
believed that I had a chance of making that Olympic team,
and so I put all my x in one basket
and really went for it my fifth year and fell short.
And I remember saying like I I wish I could
have done things differently at the end of it, and
that haunted me. And I felt like a failure. And
(36:07):
it wasn't like it was, you know, listed on a list,
but it was basically I didn't make that residency squad
that then goes for a year and then they play
at the end of that year. And so fourteen and
so I felt like the biggest failure, you know, and
not just because I was trying to find myself a
really confused but just in general as sport, let's go
(36:29):
like just a sport. As I felt like, I called
my mom, who took me to practice, you know, four
am to six am, drove me all around from Alaska
at Fairbanks, which is an eight hour drive to and
from on the weekends, you know, in between work hours,
and you know, hockey and soccer is very expensive, especially
if you have two kids in it, and you know,
(36:50):
just a lot of time and effort spent felt like
it was wasted. And I remember going home to Alaska
as that's this is the break. This is the break
I really needed. And I was went to ali Esco,
which is our our beautiful, you know, ski resort, and
you know, grabbed my snowboard and went up the gondola
(37:10):
and I and I just remember being like, I'm no
longer on contract to play college sports. I just didn't
make the Olympic team. I'm really struggling with my sexuality
in who I am. And I think I'm gonna snowboard
this mountain, you know, with abandon. I'm gonna hit every jump,
try everything. And it was probably a sense of of
(37:31):
like I'm trying to feel some adrenaline. I'm trying to
feel something because I had been so numbed to the
fact that that failure was like taking me, taking my mind.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
I was like in protection mode.
Speaker 5 (37:44):
It was saying I can't take I can't feel because
it's too much.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
If I feel this much, it will not end well
for me.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
Yes, And and as I started to see myself really
address who I really was, I saw that failure come
to light. Then I was like, maybe I need to
continue to you know, stuff it or hide it or something.
Anyway it was and that's where I realized, like I
started this run and I did this backflip. I completely
(38:13):
biffed it, and thank god it's fresh powder. But like,
I'm I'm upside down, just like think about like me
upside down and like four feet of snow and and
my snowboards out and my head's in the snow. And
I just thought I could stay here and and that
and that was so real. I could stay here and
I don't need to get up right now. And yeah,
(38:34):
it was that. That to me was like the moment
I started to realize like I'm not okay, and I
started to think this could be it, Like I could
stay here and this could be it. And then I
had this like really epiphany and it was really beautiful moment,
probably like slightly hypothermic moment that I was. You know,
(38:57):
I was thinking about Daria, about my twin, and it
was like a very real flashback of like our birth,
which I don't remember, but this is the but with
each other. We were boommates for nine months and and
you know, we at the last minute, so I was
set to come out first, and then she flipped feet
(39:20):
first and really dangerous and my mom had to have
a C section, and so she came out first. And
forever will be the older twin. And every time someone
asks who's older, who's older, who's older, you know, they're
always I'm a little bit bigger than Daria, and so
it would be like, oh, eleven, and then Daria would
have this moment of correction and she'd feel very you know,
(39:41):
satisfied in this moment that was hers. And for me,
I never ever thought that was me like lesser than,
like as a less then that I didn't come out.
I came out second, and I'm I'm no less of
a human because I came out second, right, And so
that made a lot of sense to me. Is like
that was something I could not control. I could not
(40:03):
control that. And so why after this no of not
making the Olympic team, And this is where this like
epiphany is coming in, is like why am I feeling
like I'm a lesser human like that I failed that
I couldn't control that, And and part of it was
(40:24):
attached to the to the if I had been more
confident in who I am, if I have been confident
my sexuality, if I'd done this, like these are the
things that I wish I would have done, I could
have controlled that. And in my mind, I attributed it
to a leve You're no less of a human because
of that. No, you're no less of a human because
you came out second in the womb. And that got
(40:45):
me up. Yeah, that got me off my ass in
the freezing snow and down and like slowly made my
way to the to the lodge and and I'm and
I'm not kidding you. That saved my life. That moment
saved my life. And I remember getting some medical tension
(41:06):
at the lodge in bally Esca and listening to my phone.
I had some voicemails on my phone. Everyone was like
where the hell are you? And I had a missed
call from this gentleman named Rick Suggett and this is
like not kidding you the same day and that phone
call was like, Hey, this is Rick Suggett from USA Rugby.
(41:30):
I'm the Olympic coach and was wondering if you're interested
in trying rugby. If you are, and this is the
right number, please call me back. And at first I
thought it was my twin sister playing a prank on me,
because she was like, you know, I just want to
cheer her up, like let's figure it out and I
ended up calling my mom because I was like, hey,
what do you think about rugby? And would you let
(41:53):
your daughter play rugby? And not that I need my
mom's opinion, but she is Leila Helter and I would
love her support yes at this moment, and maybe some
guidance on is this something that I should follow up on,
you know? And she was like a love, like what's
the worst they can say to? You know? And I
was like, yeah, what is the word.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
That's actually it?
Speaker 6 (42:15):
And that started the journey. She said, don't be afraid
like the worst is already like they've already said no,
you know, like you've already heard that. You are slowly
working your way through that. And and with no strings attached,
you know, I flew out to California. I talked to Rick.
He said, you know, I know he's a Canadian, you know,
(42:36):
hockey player as well and converted to CFL football and
then to rugby. And he said, you know, I know
you're a hockey player. You might have a few loose screws.
I said, you know, I'll take that, and yeah, but
I have to have a confession. You know, I've never
touched any rugby balls in my life and he's like, well,
we have plenty here, so i'll see you in two
(42:56):
weeks and just let me know after five days if
you like rugby, and we'll go from there and just
no strings attached. And I think it was the perfect
thing for me in that moment to fly down to
sunny San Diego to be welcomed with the biggest arms
you could imagine. And I didn't know that that was
the rugby way. So for me that coming from you
(43:18):
could sneeze wrong in other national teams I've played for
and be gone to, you know, being pulled down for
other people to be pulled up and then coming and
saying like, hey, this is how you tackle, this is
how you pass. You know, I don't want you getting
knocked out, so please go cheek to cheek. You know,
(43:39):
this hip is really bony, you know, there's like little
things like that, and it was very It was all
player led, you know. Obviously the coach was out there.
Rick was out there, you know, leading some of the drills,
but mostly was out there with his camera just enjoying
the moments because that's how he led is he wanted
the players to be inspirations and to empower each other
and to also help each other, because as if we
(44:00):
all helped each other, we would be better. That is
what I wanted to be around. And that those strong
women who could hit each other at full pace and
then turn around and laugh and have a drink with
each other and sing and you know, just be kind
to one another. I wanted that to be my athletic
(44:21):
experience moving forward. And it was your team again.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
It was the team you grew up with.
Speaker 5 (44:27):
It was it was like the team of sporting Yes, yep,
it was like it was.
Speaker 6 (44:32):
It was hard and yeah, and I'm your tackle dummy,
and it became it was yeah in a way familiar
back to where you know, young a Lev kind of
found her confidence and so I rebuilt that. And I
remember being in the being in the bedroom and you know,
one of our teammates list hours at the time, she's
you know, we had a you know, probably not super
(44:53):
pc now, but we had a gay house and a
straight house, and it was just comfortable that way. And
they said, you know, gay are straight? And I stuttered,
like as a I didn't say, and Liz said gay.
I looked at her smiled that that was it. That
was it. And I just remember living, you know, with
my teammates and being fully included, and like that's one
(45:16):
thing about rugby is that it's inclusive and that you
need every shape and size, size, and that you know
it doesn't matter your your gender, Like that's it's so
beautiful and doesn't matter who you love. Like it's so
absolutely beautiful the way this team and rugby in general,
(45:36):
and the ethos of the game of respect, of camaraderie,
you know, integrity like that that actually plays out in life,
not just on the field. So I was really culled
to it.
Speaker 5 (45:47):
Yeah, I mean, like how validating after everything that you
went through, after all the hard where you said, I
know that I can be all these things, right, Like
I know that my story can be made up of
all these vibrant colors. But it was like everyone was
telling you you had to pick these ones or this one.
(46:09):
And then you find this team that says, nope, every single.
Speaker 6 (46:14):
Color and we see you and love you, and and
like it wasn't I would say, like it wasn't my
athletic ability right that led them to loving me, you
know what I mean that I had to prove myself
through sport, to to earn respect. It was inherent, like
(46:36):
I love you because you're you want to try and
yet you love rugby and that for you like for
love leve Helter and I I was so yeah, like grateful,
just you know, honored to be a part of a
team that had that mentality and that wanted to be
(46:56):
better each day for each other. And that's why I stayed.
And that's why it's been almost over a decade of
playing at Chula Vista, the first place I ever set
foot on and touched the rugby ball in twenty fourteen,
and then two short years later had the dream of
playing in the first ever you know, seven's rugby in
(47:21):
the Olympics in Rio and you know, scoring that first
try and doing that. So it's a testament to those
women that came before me, Jillian Potter, Vix Fali and
Christine Ringenborg, Hannah Lockwood. You know. Then the list goes
on and also to Rick Suggett, who has passed away
since then, but you know who lives vibrantly through all
(47:42):
of us and our values. And there's one more person
I want to mention in this is that Lori Clifford.
She was a flag football teammate of mine in high
school and we said as a packed in high school,
if flag football ever is in the Olympics, we're going
to go. And we said. She called me. She went
to play basketball, I think at Western Oregon and I
(48:05):
played Wisconsin ice hockey and soccer, and she Facebook messaged
me and said, Hey, I'm playing seven's rugby. It's very
similar to flag football. You got to get your ass
over here and play. Can I give Rick your number?
And I said yes, And I think that's who mentioned
me and my twin to Rick at the time. And
so that is the beginning is Laurie. And I'll forever
(48:28):
be grateful for Laurie and her selflessness and the team
selflessness to teach me everything that they knew, knowing that
I might take their spot and still loved me through that.
And I think that's what teamwork is, and that's what
it means to be a high woman, which is our values,
(48:49):
and that's what it means to be a rugby player.
Speaker 5 (48:53):
If you didn't have a reason already, team We've given
so many. This is beautiful, this is teamwork, this is sister,
this is strength, this is this is all of it
and alive I feel like we have gotten I have
gotten a chance to just sort of you know, the
(49:16):
beautiful thing about love and community is that even like
the best of them, right, the best love, the best community,
the most pure, you just have to be in its vicinity.
Speaker 1 (49:30):
To feel it.
Speaker 5 (49:31):
Right, Like, I am not going to ever play rugby
seven's in the Olympics, but I feel that love from
your community just through talking to you, because it is
so pure, it is so honoring of each person's individual beauty.
And I have zeroed out that we will all feel
(49:55):
that when we watch you play, when we root you
guys on in Paris in a few weeks, and I
just I could not be more grateful for you opening
up those doors, both to who you are as a
person and to the community, the beautiful community that you
are a part of, both in your family, in your sexuality,
in your team. I feel like you've just you've opened
(50:18):
the doors and shown us this light and and we
can we can embrace it, we can bask in it,
and we can we can see what it's like and take.
Speaker 1 (50:25):
It back to our own individual communities.
Speaker 5 (50:27):
And I think that's that's another community, you know, Like
we're creating a community right here in this moment that
we can say this is this is what it is.
Speaker 1 (50:34):
And I just wow, I'm just so grateful.
Speaker 6 (50:38):
I'm I'm just I'm I'm honored to be here. I've
heard so much else so about you and and you're
you're phenomenal. So I mean, honestly, I don't these stories
don't come out just because you know, they defin really
pulled them out of me. And I am just so
grateful that you're. Yeah, I'm honored, Thank you as am.
Speaker 1 (50:56):
I Wow.
Speaker 5 (50:57):
Okay, we we have to move on to the Something
to Sip On segment is brought to you by the
Sports Bra.
Speaker 1 (51:04):
It is our women's sports bar in Portland, Oregon. To
that crowd, I can imagine.
Speaker 5 (51:08):
At eleven am on the Sunday that your episode airs
is just gonna be going crazy.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
I just I don't want to be there.
Speaker 5 (51:13):
See it, but they're gonna be enjoying a cocktail in
your honor, miss A Love Calter.
Speaker 1 (51:18):
And I want to know what is your something to
sip on?
Speaker 5 (51:22):
What are you enjoying embracing after a beautiful day on
the rugby field, a beautiful.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
Day in my hometown of San Diego, what are you
what are you sipping on?
Speaker 6 (51:31):
Okay? So this is there's two parts to this. There's eve.
There's a love prior to this who who you know,
prior to her sober years. So there's a sober eleve,
and then there's there's now cocktail.
Speaker 1 (51:43):
And mocktails, take your choice.
Speaker 6 (51:46):
And so prior to the mice sober, I really loved whiskey, deafthitely, whiskey,
anything whiskey, So a whiskey stour with egg white is
probably a go to. I mean, I really would just
do whiskey on the rocks. But if it's people coming
other people, not just the leve, then I think that,
you know, the whiskey sour with the egg white is great.
But but if you do just like whiskey on the rocks,
(52:08):
like just one little circle cube with some really good
you know, before egg peat whiskey, that's that's it. And
then the sober lev is uh and I'm actually, let's see, yeah,
a little over I think a thousand, one thousand days
(52:31):
sober so yeah, I haven't checked, but I mean it's
like day to day, right, so and just keep saying
yes and keep coming back my friends. But uh, they
sober lev used urba mate like mate tea very South American,
you know, Argentinian drink and uh to help kind of
(52:57):
wean off the alcohol. So now we're going to go.
Speaker 5 (52:59):
Into our power up segment, which is our rapid fire questions.
I don't have a lot of faith in us that
we can do this rapidly, but we're going to try it.
Speaker 6 (53:06):
I can do it, we can do it.
Speaker 5 (53:07):
Okay, Well, I think I'm gonna get distracted because don't
have too many questions, but we're ready.
Speaker 1 (53:13):
Okay, here we go. We can do this. You kind
of already answer this. Coffee your tea coffee? Okay, favorite
ice cream flavor?
Speaker 6 (53:21):
Uh, cookie dough ooh good?
Speaker 1 (53:24):
One go to meal before or after playing rugby?
Speaker 6 (53:29):
Oh h crackshack chicken sandwich, fried chicken sandwich with sweep
tail breads.
Speaker 5 (53:34):
Yeah, okay, what is the favorite place your sport has
taken you?
Speaker 6 (53:40):
Now?
Speaker 5 (53:40):
You have played three sports at an extremely high level,
so feel free to choose any of them. But I
would specifically love to know about.
Speaker 6 (53:47):
Rugby absolutely, Okay. I love playing at the World Cup
in New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (53:54):
Love New Zealand. What were you in? It's stunning city
where you funk?
Speaker 6 (54:00):
To day and it's of Auckland.
Speaker 1 (54:03):
Yeah. I love New Zealand. Yeah, see, so I won't get.
Speaker 6 (54:07):
To Also, the South Islands beautiful as well, but it's.
Speaker 5 (54:11):
I spent fourteen days in New Zealand and we did
half and half half half south, half north, and I
was like, how.
Speaker 1 (54:19):
Do I move here?
Speaker 5 (54:19):
Because it really felt you know what, it felt like
San Diego. It felt like all the San Diego. Yeah, exactly.
It was like ocean mountains in close proximity. Yes, I
loved it. I loved it where the mountains meet the water. Amen,
get that tattooed on my soul. Okay, if you were
not a rugby player, what sport? I mean, gosh, we
(54:39):
could again choose choose your poison. This doesn't have to
be one that you actually were close at making the
Olympics in. But if you weren't a rugby player, what
sport would you want to be an Olympian in?
Speaker 6 (54:49):
Surfing? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (54:52):
Okay? A favorite dessert?
Speaker 6 (54:56):
Favorite dessert, let's see, Okay, carrot cake. My mom makes
a really good strawberry cake.
Speaker 1 (55:06):
But oh shut up, mom, Okay. Dream vacation spot. Yeah, Alaska,
that's very fair. I love Alaska. It's Oh it's so beautiful.
Speaker 6 (55:17):
I'm on the Kenai fishing.
Speaker 1 (55:19):
Oh so fun. What is the best piece of advice
you have ever gotten.
Speaker 6 (55:24):
Ever gotten? It's probably from my grandma, and she said
to follow your passions and not be afraid of taking
risks and and loving fully.
Speaker 5 (55:33):
All Right, the wildest mishap you've ever had playing rugby, I.
Speaker 6 (55:37):
Would say, like just to give a caveat before I
share a little bit about my injury. Is very safe.
The sport is very safe. You learn how to use
momentum to tackle, and so you're you're you're not like
American football where you're hitting with your head. You're using
your shoulders and momentum, and it's it's very safe. You
learn techniques to make sure you fight concussions where your
(55:59):
your next is really strong. And yeah, I think actually
I'm just gonna say that and not say my injury.
So okay, it's very it's very it was very There's
a couple of injuries that I've had, but but rugby
is is is very safe. And I'm gonna pivot really
quick with that. Sometimes in rugby that you uh, you know,
(56:23):
you have very tight clothing on and and you're you're
you're highly encouraged to wear spandex for this reason. But
uh yes, my my spandex and my pants were pulled
down in a tackle and everyone got to witness my white,
very white ass and and actually that it was Sarah
(56:44):
Goss after I had scored a try I had, you know,
in burts, and she landed on top of me and
then gracefully also pulled my pants up. So and I
love her and she has she has a beautiful friend
of mine. So shout out to Sarah her any now married.
But yeah for for doing that. And some people were
(57:07):
blinded because this this this as has not seen the
sun in a long time.
Speaker 5 (57:12):
So Alaska, it's just not it's you know it as
I would like to adopt you.
Speaker 1 (57:20):
I would like to adopt you as the same.
Speaker 6 (57:22):
Thank you, so okay.
Speaker 5 (57:25):
And then the last question for you, my dear, a
love of Kelter, is what does powerful mean to you?
Speaker 6 (57:32):
Powerful means to me that you're not afraid of the
nose or yes is in your life and you are
not defined by your performance, but you are defined by
your purpose. And so find the reasons you're why and
find your purpose and then jump into it.
Speaker 1 (57:53):
Beautiful, I am just so grateful for this conversation. A
love it is. Similarly, I've heard so much about you.
Speaker 5 (57:59):
We have the same circles and it's such a gift
to have had you on this podcast sharing your story,
and I just I am so grateful for you, so
thank you for being thank you.
Speaker 1 (58:12):
So yeah.
Speaker 5 (58:13):
Great to see you. Cannot wait to meet up in
San Diego. It's gonna be awesome. Thank you everyone for
joining us on this episode of the Powerful Podcast. Rudan
Alev and the women's sevens team in just a few
weeks in Paris. We'll see you next time. This is
a reminder to check us out every Tuesday all summer
long everywhere you get your podcasts, And if you really
enjoy this and don't want to miss an episode, be
(58:34):
sure to hit not subscribe button.
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