January 21, 2025 • 36 mins
Welcome back to The PowHERful Podcast! As the temps drop in nearly every corner of the country, we find the women who are thriving in some of the harshest conditions Mother Nature can dish out, starting season 2 with 3x Paralympic gold medalist - Brenna Huckaby! In this episode, Brenna explains how a girl from Baton Rouge, Louisiana found her love for snowboarding through cancer. Brenna shares what she's learned on her hardest days that help her make it through everything and how we can all do the same. Plus how becoming a mom at 19 has shaped her life, and the history she's chasing as she prepares for the 2026 Paralympics in Milan-Cortina.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, friends, and welcome to the Powerful Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm your host, Aja McCord. In this podcast, we introduce
you to powerful women who were changing the game in
and outside of.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Their field of play.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
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 (00:21):
Welcome back my Powerful Pod squad. I am so excited
at for today's episode. Today we have Brenna Hakkabee. She
is a Paralympic snowboarder. She is a mom, she is
a founder of a media collective, and just an all
around badass, hilarious individual that I can't wait for you
to get to know. In this conversation, we talk about
(00:43):
everything from how becoming a mom at nineteen is something
that impacted her life exponentially, how losing her leg at
fifteen years old had this Louisiana native on the snow
on a mountain and less than a year later moving
across the country to pursue a career as a Paralympic snowboarder.
She takes us inside her injury and all that it
(01:06):
took to overcome it, and also reminded us how universal
struggle and hard days can be, and the lessons that
she shared about how she got through it, how she
continues to get through it. Powerful is the right word
for it. I cannot wait for you to hear this conversation.
(01:28):
I am so excited to be joined by Brenna Huckabee
for this episode of The Powerful podcast. She is a
three time Paralympic gold medalist. She has one, not one,
but two sb's.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
She's also a five time world champion, a mom.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
A disability advocate, and one of the founders of Cultured,
which is working to shift the narrative around Paris sport
and how we viewed Paralympic athletes. And Brenna, I am
so excited to have you here. So thank you for
being on this winter season of The Powerful.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Yay, thank you so much much for having me. I
am so excited to talk about all of those things
that you listed and so much more.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
We're just getting a little teas here at the top. Okay,
So first, I guess I want to start by introducing
people to you who do not know your story. I
have gotten to watching in the Paralympics the last few rounds,
and obviously we're in a non Olympic Paralympic year. But
you are one of the best snowboarders in the country
and you have the medals to prove it.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
So give us a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Of a background of how some girl from Baton Rouge,
Louisiana who was a competitive gymnast ended up as one
of the best pair of snowboarders in the country.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
You know, honestly, that is such a valid question because
it's a little bit of a Jamaican Bob sled team
situation there. But when I lost my leg from cancer,
so that's how I lost my leg. My hospital, they
took kids who lost mobility on a rehabilitation ski trip.
(02:56):
They had this idea that if these kids, myself and included,
could ski down a literal mountain, then when they got home,
they could tackle and conquer their figurative mountains of everyday life.
And I had the privilege to go on that trip.
But I didn't want to ski, no offensive skiers at all.
(03:20):
I just thought snowboarding looked so much cooler.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Girl, same same, I did the same thing as a teenager.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Yeah, and also it reminded me of a balance beam,
but it also just looked so much cooler. But yeah,
I went on this rehabilitation ski trip I got to snowboard.
I learned it's nothing like a balance beam.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
And I from one former competitive genist to another who
also learned a snowboard in their teens, nothing like that.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
No, No, it's so hard. Even still today, I'm like, wow,
you really thought having your feet fixed into one position
was like gymnastics the same same, Yeah, totally the same
high kicks for days. But yeah, that's how I learned
to snowboard. I fell in love with it immediately, and
(04:13):
about a year after that trip, I moved to Utah
so that I could snowboard full time and it was
a little bit of a healing through cancer situation and
using snowboard snowboarding as a tool for that. But also
in the back of my mind, I thought it would
be really cool to try and go to the Paralympics.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Okay, So I want to know, because, like I said,
I was also a competitive gymnast.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
I competed all the.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Way through high school, and so I know that sort
of passion of competitiveness and I still am competitive in
like my everyday life, and so it doesn't really surprise
me that it didn't take you long to proverbally and
literally get up off the couch and find another way
to utilize your competitiveness. But I think that it's said
(04:58):
like it's one thing to be competitive, and it's another
thing to be like you were fifteen, right, fifteen?
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Fourteen? Fifteen?
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, yeah, to say like, hey, by the way, mom
and dad, thanks for sending me on this journey.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I'd also like to move to Utah. Like, how did
that conversation work at fifteen?
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Yeah? Great question. So my parents I love them to death.
They have never been traditional ever with anything in life.
And so when it came to learning to snowboard and
deciding to make that move, my mom first of all,
she was on that original trip with me, and she
was like, when you snowboard, I see that Brenna again,
(05:37):
Like I see that light and that fire in your eyes,
and like I will do anything to keep that there.
That was like such a big aha moment for her.
And then she was also like selfishly, she's always wanted
to live in the mountains, so she was like, this
is a perfect opportunity for both of us, Like I
can help you pick up the pieces of your life
and I also get to live out a dream of
(05:58):
mine to live in the mountains, and so my dad
and my brothers I have two older brothers, stayed in Louisiana,
which was a challenge for sure, and then my mom
and I moved to Utah. I finished high school and
I snowboarded. Wow.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Okay, So then the next question is how does it go?
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Like?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
What is a Paralympic process?
Speaker 1 (06:17):
How did you go from like being on a snowboard
for the first time to a few years later becoming
a world champion.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Yeah, great question. It's definitely different than Olympics, right, because
we have people that are becoming Paralympians usually became disabled
later in life, so they didn't many of them didn't
grow up doing their sport. They may have been an
athlete in a different capacity, but like myself, I didn't
(06:46):
grow up snowboarding. So there's two ways that can go.
You can either pick it up really quickly and go
through the ranks of competing nationally, getting onto a world circuit,
doing well there, and then World Championships and then Paralympics,
which is the route I ended up luckily being a
part of. But also for a lot of people it's
(07:09):
really a challenging and really hard, and the level in
the Paralympics, even from going from a national to a
World Cup is huge. Like that leap is can feel
almost impossible for a lot of people. So it all
depends on timing and like the ability maybe before you
(07:30):
lost your leg in athleticism. But yeah, that was really
long winded way of saying. It looks different in different sports,
and for snowboarding, I just thankfully picked it up really
easily because of my gymnastics background, and then I think
just timing, like it was a really, you know, less
of a barrier to entry into the sport because it
(07:50):
was pretty new, and so I just worked my butt
off to kind of capitalize on that novelty of the sport.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
So the other thing that I was reading about is
from an article that I believe was published in two
thousand and twenty three, and it was the pair of
champs that you competed and in Spain, and you competed
with your snowboard leg hiked up so that your prosthetic
was showing. And I think that that, like I looked
at a few different angles of that picture and it
(08:19):
was so powerful to see you embracing your prosthetic and
not just embracing it, but showing it off to the world.
Can you describe, because again I keep saying it, but
like I was a competitive gymnast, I know how much
what your body looks like matters in that sport. So
how did you Brennap personally manage you know, it's easy,
(08:42):
It's not easy. It's one thing to make the transition athletically,
it's another thing to personally say, this is my life now,
this is different. How did you work through that? And
why was that picture at Para Champs so important?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Oh? Man, I've gone through different phases with acceptance in
my body, and it's funny. Accepting my prosthetic leg in
my everyday life was easier and a quicker process for
me than showing off my prosthetic in my snowboarding gear.
And a lot of that is because I started snowboarding,
(09:19):
because it gave me this freedom away from being seen
as disabled. When I'm in my snowboarding gear, you visually
can't see my leg, and then also when I'm riding,
you really can't tell I have one leg, And most
of the times I'm riding way better than most people
in the mountain. So people are admiring that, and so
to pull up my pants and to show that, like
(09:42):
I'm doing this on one leg, part of me felt
like I was giving up the feeling of, you know,
not being seen as disabled. And then it took thirteen
years of being an amputee for me to say, you
know what, I'm proud that I can accomplish this with
a disability, and like I want all of y'all to
(10:04):
see that and to know it and to like just
celebrate what I and so many other snowboarders can do.
And I feel like once I did that, I was
reminded of the reason why I started snowboarding competitively, and
it was to show kids who had lost mobility through
cancer that, like, your life's gonna look different than it
(10:24):
did before, but it still can be really great and amazing.
And that showing of my leg while snowboarding just put
me back into like that mission and that why of
showing other people with one leg, like life moves on
and it can be way better than you thought.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
And I think that there's people who are going to
be inspired, if you will, by your journey. I don't
think I can tell you one single person on this
planet who hasn't had something about.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Their body that is hard for them to accept.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Why was it so important for you to be a
voice in just that overarching, massively human feeling of trying
to accept something about yourself that you cannot change, Gosha.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
So I feel like when I first lost my leg
and I first started social media, it was so much
easier because it was easier and harder. It was easier
because I knew that there weren't very many people out
there sharing their stories, sharing their prosthetics, sharing their life
with the disability. There wasn't very much representation, and it
was easy for me to say, Okay, I'm going to
(11:31):
do that and I'm going to be that representation. Now
there's so many amputees and disabled people that are out
there that are sharing their stories, sharing their lives, which
is amazing. But now it's like I've kind of taken
such a backseat that I forgot that, like, oh wait, no,
I have a voice and sharing these vulnerabilities and working
through them. And so I think it's just reminding myself
(11:55):
as much as possible that representation while the fight is
still inclusion and to have a seat at that table,
representation still matters. And to keep putting myself out there
in those ways because I know that it's helping someone.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
It's not just helping.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Like I've read the comments on even your recent posts,
and I have had the time to read so many
comments because I have watched your reels over and over again,
because you're not just showing representation. You are finding humor
and you are bringing joy to people's lives. And there
are people in your comments who are like, Hey, I'm
a four plus year amputee and you were the first
(12:33):
person that I found when I looked up what I
can do now, and you're freaking I mean, one of
your most recent ones was joking about how if you
had a nickel for every time someone asked you how
you lost your leg, you'd be able to pay.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
For the Salt Lake City ski patrollers raise that they
need so desperately.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
How have you just like, what is it about you,
Brenda Huckabee, the person that has been able to embrace
and transition throughout these different seasons of acceptance?
Speaker 4 (13:02):
I don't know. I because here's my thing. I truly
believe that we all go through periods in our lives.
Every single person that is painful, that is hard, that
feels impossible, and I just I want to like share
and show that, like if I can do it, you
can do it. But also here's how I don't. I
(13:23):
don't want to say if I can do it, you
can do it because oh, poor pitiful me with one leg.
It's more like I know that you're also going through
really tough stuff, and.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
It's tough shit.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
It's tough shit. Like I know that you're going through it.
One I'm going to kind of segue and I'm so sorry.
I'm adhd. We're gonna blame Itim not that. But one
thing that I find just so important, Well it's gone,
it's gone. I lost it.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
This is it.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
It was so important too. What were we talking about?
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Because what we're talking about just like how you as
a human have have this ability to navigate these different
seasons of acceptance.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Yeah, and like we all go through tough things. Oh right,
if I can do it, you can do it, not
because poor pitiful me with one leg, and oh you know,
I have two legs. So my life is so great.
But one thing that I always say is there are
periods of my life that was way harder than cancer.
And I draw from that pain and those things that
I learned, and I apply it to what I've learned
(14:29):
with having one leg, so I know when I'm sharing things,
it's universal, Like you can apply it to your life,
even if you've never had a disability, even if you
know whatever your hardest day is, it's applicable. And like,
that's kind of where I pull from. I know that
wasn't the most eloquent in a.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Little bit as great it was great. Where how did
you develop that ability? Though?
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Like?
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Was it was it something that you wished you'd seen?
Was it your family? Like where did that? Where did
that come from? How can people pull from that?
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Oh? Therapy, mental health? Oh yes, I think like I've
I think I've always been searching for control in my life,
and I feel like the best way to find control
is through knowledge and insight. And I just am constantly,
I'm journaling, I have a therapist, and I just want
(15:27):
to leave the world better than I found it. And
for me, the best way I can do that right
now in my life is through social media and sharing
my stories. And that's not to say that that's the
only way to you know, make big change, but I think, yeah,
just trying to figure out what your superpower is and
what your passion is in that moment and just doing
(15:47):
it like, just do it well.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
And one of the other ways you're not just influencing
and impacting the world at large, but your world at
home is being impacted by the way your daughter get
a chance to see the way you live.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
So tell me a little bit about your family.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
And how going from I mean, my gosh, your late
teens were like a lot. You squeezed a whole lifetime
into your late teens. So talk me through the journey
of becoming a mother and now getting a chance to
sort of just share this competitive lifestyle.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
But also a joyous lifestyle with your kiddos.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Yeah. So I got pregnant when I was nineteen, total accident.
I had actually been told by multiple doctors I was infertile,
I was on birth control. We were just in our eyes,
doing everything right, and I found out I was pregnant nineteen.
I was five months so long, and it was like,
you know, buckle up, you know, that's kind of what
(16:50):
I did. I just decided. I decided I was going
to do this because I didn't based off of my
infertility diagnosis. I didn't think I would ever have chance
to have a child later in life either. So it
was really hard and really challenging, and honestly blacked out
for like six years of it. My oldest is now eight.
(17:12):
But you know, it's paid off. All of that hard
work has paid off because now I get to snowboard
with my kids. They are the funniest anytime I go
to a playground, my daughters I have two now, my
other one's four. They'll run and they'll find other kids
on the playground and they'll pull them over and be like, look,
my mom has one leg. She had cancer and she's snowboards. Now.
(17:34):
It's a little embarrassing, but it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Oh my gosh, What does it feel like to have
your daughters in like just be so proud? I mean,
I can imagine it's I mean, I think it's hard
as a parent to I don't have any kids myself,
but my friends who are parents, they say, like, it means.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
The world when your kid is proud of you.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
So what does that feel like to have your daughters
pull these kiddos up and say, look, my mom.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
I know I wish, I wish I could feel I
do feel proud. I do feel proud. I think there's
probably some things I need to work on because I
constantly don't feel like enough for my kids. So when
this happens and I see this, I just I just
immediately go to, Okay, that's great that you think that now,
(18:24):
But later maybe you're going to think of all the
other ways that I fell short. And I think that's
probably more common than people realize. We just that beating
ourselves up as parents and trying to be the best
versions of ourselves that we could possibly be, even though
it's so hard. But I'm trying. I'm trying to sit
(18:46):
in the gratitude with it and to just like feel
that I don't know that connection or that I don't
know what I would call it, but I do my
best in trying to like enjoy it. But I do
mentally kind of beat myself up and go, oh, you
think that's cool now, but I all I can harpwn
(19:07):
are the things I did wrong ten minutes ago?
Speaker 1 (19:11):
But yeah, yeah, well, and I think that I know,
like we're both competitive, Like you're much better, much higher
level competitive athlete than I ever was. But I know
for those of us who compete athletically and particularly in sports,
that say that there's a perfect option. It is so
hard to unlearn perfectionism, and I think that that is
(19:35):
like one of the things that I will have to
remember and relearn and undo and try again for the
rest of my life.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
No, actually same, I think it's been a New Year's
resolution since I was sixteen.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Let's go just a repeat.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Yeah, yeah, we'll get there. But that is such great
that's great insight because that is exactly what it is.
It's this constant chasing of perfection, and I do it.
I also have to rework that with snowboarding when I
have a heat that didn't go as planned, and I
can sit there and think of every tiny, little fraction
of a movement I could have done better. But the
(20:16):
reality is, even if I did that, who knows what
would have happened, It still might not have been that
perfect run. So that's great insight.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Yeah, what is the thing that you were most excited
about that you're working on right this moment?
Speaker 3 (20:29):
I mean not like this, Yeah, this season of life,
this season of life. What is getting you so excited.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
There's a couple different things. I would say snowboarding, I
am really hoping to not only go to the Paralympics
twenty twenty six in Milan. I have a big goal
to get at least one gold medal. That would put
(20:55):
me as like the most gold medals in Paralympic snowboarding
history if I can do that in Paralympic gold medals.
So that's my push right now. And then I'm working
on Cultured, which we kind of mentioned at the beginning,
and that's a media collective just around changing the narrative
around Paralympic sport, seeing Paralympians as badass athletes and not
(21:19):
just an inspiration for simply existing.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Okay, So with twenty twenty six, obviously it's not a
Paralympic year this year, but you still have a lot
of events and competitions coming up. So walk me through
what this winter, what this World Cup season looks like
for you in order to set yourself up to make
some history in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Yeah, So this season we have a few World Cup events.
I'll be in Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Colorado, and Canada. And
the big push though is World Championships, which is in March,
and so my goal is to secure one, if not two,
Those are big shoes to fill. World Championship gold medals
(22:00):
would be super sick. But I don't know. It'll be
a fight no matter what. So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
And what disciplines are you going to be competing this season?
Speaker 4 (22:07):
Great question. I do snowboard cross and banked slalom, so
one event is four people and of course the other
event is solo with time.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
If y'all have not seen border cross before, tune in
because if you, like anybody who likes it is I
don't know how you guys stay straight and not smacking
into each other, like it is one of the gnarliest
it's like. In fact, there was kayak cross in Paris
this year for the first time we had every lead
farth On, She's she's a Team USA kayaker. She went
(22:37):
sober in Paris and she was telling us about the
drops and just how chaotic it is. You have to
make sure your equipment doesn't get tangled in your in
your freaking neighbors while also going very fast.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Oh no, we definitely get tangled. It's just nature of
the game is staying up. But we always say rubbing
is racing, like you're going to hit. It's racing, but
you just want to stay up for sure.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Yeah, as long as we say vertical we're doing just.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
Fine, then I'm happy. Yes, exactly perfect.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Okay, we cannot wait to watch you, to root you
on and just walk up season. It's gonna be so
much fun to watch.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Yeah, I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
We got a chance to have Sarah Adams and a
few other Paralympic athletes on in season one.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
And when I tell you they're they're.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Like anybody who doubts the bad assery of Paralympic athletes
doesn't know a Paralympic athlete because it's not just I
think that's one of the things that is so it's
so hard to manage when people look at you and
they say, wow, you have gone through something extraordinary, right,
something that that not a lot of people have to
(23:43):
navigate what you've navigated, And it's almost like it's putting
you on a pedestal, but in a way that is separating.
So it's almost this like, oh, that's cool that you
did it, but like how how how do I apply
that to my life? Or like how do I so
what is the what do you guys to do with
culture to break down that barrier so that we can
(24:04):
look at an able bodied person who's never had to
go through cancer, who's never had to have an amputation,
can look at a Paralympic athlete and say, I see
myself in them.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
I want to connect with them, I want to watch
that sport.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Wow, that's beautiful. I think for us right now is
getting more of the athletes voices involved there. Like you mentioned,
there is that level of separation in the media, especially
around Paralympians and just disabled people in general. But one
thing I've noticed is a lot of the content and
(24:39):
the media that goes, you know, well worldwide, it's very
well seen a lot of the times, it's so heavily
focused on that disability. And one thing I talk about
a lot is it's obvious we went through something Like
it's obvious I have one leg, even if I was
born with one leg, it's obvious I had to go
(25:01):
through some shit to get here. But so I want
to know, like how did you get to the top
of your sport? Like how did you wake up every day, grind,
be disciplined, work through pain? Like what are the barriers
We've had people talking about just getting their sport into
like a national championship, Like how do you even get
(25:22):
your sports sanctioned? Things that people wouldn't even know myself included,
I've been learning so much because there's no broadcasting of it.
There's no just awareness of what's going on outside of
the fact that paralympians are disabled.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
Right right, and if they happen right after the Olympics,
so stay tuned, yes, right, Yeah, that's the other thing
is like.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
How do you how do you remind people that, like,
there's still there is a fantastic slate of competitions coming
your way right after the Olympics, and there is all
of the sort of national pride, there's all of the stories,
all the reasons we all love sports, which is the connection,
the human connection to watching someone give absolutely everything they've got.
(26:08):
So with that, I cannot imagine that trying to make
it to Milan next year is an easy task because snowboarding,
pair of snowboarding has just exploded in recent years. So
how are you staying on the top of your game?
How are you giving yourself the best chance to make
some history and become so it's the first woman with
(26:32):
four Paralympic gold medals, and snowboarding is what you would
be Yep, Okay, so how are you setting yourself up
one year out from the Paralympics.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
What are you doing well?
Speaker 4 (26:41):
It would also be the first person in general because no, man,
I'm sorry, poor goals either, let's go okay, we like that. Honestly,
I've kind of just allowed this goes back to the perfectionist.
I've allowed myself to not be perfect in other areas
of my life. I'm on snow at least four days
(27:02):
a week for multiple hours, and I'm in the gym,
and I'm just that takes up the majority of my day.
If I can create content beautiful, if I can help
out more with culture beautiful, but I'm also not filling
up my plate to the point that it's going to
take away from my main objective and my main priority,
which is snowboarding, which is hard, so hard.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
You are an elite athlete.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
I know it's hard because there's so many things that
we love doing right, and I think that's that's the
part that's hard, And like it was something I was
even like kind of hitting the face with here at
the beginning of doing this season of the Powerful is
like I feel like I.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Have to I have to believe in.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Myself in this way for other people to see it
in me. You know, it's like you have to sell
out for yourself and whatever it is you've decided to
do for other people to even have a chance at
believing that they can see you do it.
Speaker 4 (27:55):
Ooh, I love that.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Yeah, it's girl. I've been dribbling too.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Okay is a week it happen So twenty twenty five
and we're gonna be different this year. So the other
thing that I'm so curious about. You talk about journaling
and you talk about meditation. What is the everyday habit
that you feel like has helped you become the best
version of yourself as a snowboarder, as a mom, as
(28:19):
a partner, and as somebody who is trying to leave
this world just a little bit better than she found
it while also being a whole human and learning in
the process.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
Yeah, oh great. I so multiple things, I guess, and
they kind of rotate. But I would say these are
like the three trustees that I keep coming back to.
I wake up earlier than my family so that I
have time to just like mentally prepare. That's something I
know within myself. I have a much better day. The
second is I block out my social media. So I
(28:52):
have an Apple my phone and it won't let me
in an hour hour after I wake up, and then
I have it set when my kids are home, like
I can't get into it, and if I do need
to get into it, I have to sit there and
take a deep breath as like a timer. Oh yeah,
so that helps. So that kind of keeps me away
from like phone addiction territory where I have definitely landed before.
(29:15):
And then the third thing is journaling like I and
sometimes it's on a scrap piece of paper and my
notes app. But if I if I notice thoughts like
are coming at me way too quickly, I know it's
time that I need to sit down and I need
to write and need to process, and actually probably do
that every day, but it's not every day that I
(29:36):
sit down and like do a you know, a long
journaling session, but that does happen frequently for sure.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Yeah, and some I love that. And those are three
things that I think, you know. Well.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
First off, what's the app called No Gay Keeping on
this podcast? Tell me what that is?
Speaker 4 (29:51):
One sec like one as easy I've used it for
I think I'm just they just told me I was
coming up with my year anniversary. We love it.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
So look at this resolution from twenty twenty before that
we kept and then celebrate resolutions kept. So now we
are going to transition into our next segment of the podcast.
This next section is called what are You sippin On?
It is brought to you by the Sports Bra. It
is the very first women's sports bar in the entire
(30:21):
world in Portland, Oregon. And so the week of your
episode that we debut, it is going to have a
drink called the Brenna. It can be a cocktail or
mocktail of your choice. So Brenna, we want to know
what are you sipping on?
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Oh man, this is tricky, I would say, And this
was my first go to drink when I turned twenty one,
and I've been watching a lot of sex in the city,
So I'm going to say a Cosmopolitan.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Ye, yes, we love a Cosmopolitan and a little bit
of carry Bradshaws. Yeah, that's a little bit of per
ferocity in our everyday lives.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Is a good thing.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
It is very good thing.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Next up we have rapid Fire, which I I think
this will suit you very well.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
It never suits me because I always want to know,
like I'll ask the question, and then I want to
know why you have the answer that you Yeah, No,
I get that. I'm like a kitting with the R
and I can't keep it up. But we're gonna do it.
This is my twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
Got this?
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Okay, rapid fire power it up.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
It is coffee or tea, Oh coffee, favorite ice cream flavor.
Speaker 4 (31:19):
Min chocolate chip.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Go to meal before or after snowboarding?
Speaker 4 (31:24):
Oatmeal before it's not good. I don't like it, but
I do it. Oatmeal every time it's not good.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
I don't like it.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
I don't like it. I don't, but I do it
every time.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Okay, So if you have oatmeal suggestions that are better
than what Burne is eating right now, put them in
the notes of this episode tag us on social We
want to know because we have a goal.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
We have twenty six to get to.
Speaker 4 (31:44):
Yeah, exactly, we need to.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
We need to like our breakfast. Are you early to
bed or wait early to rise or late to bed?
Speaker 4 (31:52):
I wake up early, but I don't want to. I
want to go to bed late and wake up late,
but I don't do that. I'm sorry. I know we're
suposed to be rapid here.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
I thought you were gonna be better at this than last.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Guys, I need context always.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
I'd same same, okay, so I'll allow you a little
bit of contexts.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Question, where's the favorite place that your sport has taken you?
Speaker 4 (32:13):
Oh? Okay, well I would say Japan, but I didn't
compete in Japan. I competed in Korea, but we went
to Japan and I loved it.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Works for me.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Yeah, okay, did you get to were you snowboarding or
it was like a little vaca.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
It was a vaca after but we went snowboarding. Also,
second coolest place that I went snowboarding was in Lazutu, Africa. Sorry,
it wasn't the question.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
That's incredible.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Yeah, so there's a tiny little ski hill in like
the middle of South Africa and we went and it
was really cool.
Speaker 3 (32:44):
Oh that's amazing. I love South Africa.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
That is one of my favorite places that my job
has ever taken me. If you were not a Paralympic snowboarder,
what sport would you want to be a Paralympic or
Olympic athlete in?
Speaker 4 (32:58):
Well? I mean, of course, yeah, I know, same same
if it were Paralympic. Well, I'm not gonna I'm gonna
manifest it for them because it's not in the Paralympics yet,
it would be surfing.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Yes, okay, So we have talked a lot about Paralympic
surfing on the pot because I do a lot of
surf coverage and so they're not. It doesn't sound like
it's it's gonna happen for LA twenty twenty eight, But
twenty thirty two, we are pushing. We're finding a way
to get parasurfing because it's so incredible, it's it's unble Yeah.
(33:31):
In the meantime, if you want to go surfing, you
just let me know, okay. And then what's your favorite dessert?
Speaker 4 (33:36):
Ooh oh a pedaphor? It's I don't know. They have
them in Louisiana and they're these tiny little almond cakes
and they've got like syrup. It's not like syrup, it's
like hard syrup and they've got like a simple syrup
on the bottom. They're so good. They're almond flavored cakes. Yeah,
so good.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Okay, that sounds delicious.
Speaker 4 (33:54):
Think it's French.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Yeah, I think it is actually sweet. We'll have to
try that. Tell me this of the wildest mishap you
have ever had while on a snowboard.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Oh well, last year, I was riding with my team
in Utah and I came around this corner and we
were like going really fast. We were flat bacing, just
kind of like racing, and there's this corner and it
goes down and then up and it kind of geezed
you out normally, which is like kind of fun and
a part of it, but it broke my prosthetic leg,
(34:26):
like it snapped my socket off. So thankfully I didn't
knock out hurt. I was on a heel, like on
my heels, so I just kind of like sat down
and like like slid out for a long while, and
then ski patrol had to come because I couldn't put
it back together. It was I have a video on
my Instagram.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
Oh my gosh, we will put it with this podcast
because that's wild.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
It was insane, like it was actually insane.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Oh my gosh. And you weren't like hurt.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
Noanly, I mean I would have easily been bury hurt
if it happened in any other situation. But yeah, but
because I didn't get hurt, it was hilarious.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Yeah, fair enough.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
And then what is the one thing that you want
people to know about you, Brenna hawkad be the person
that they can't necessarily get or that you want to
leave them with.
Speaker 4 (35:11):
Ooh, that's tough. I think I'm like, I'm just a
normal person. Like I'm so so frickin' normal that like,
please help put me on a pedestal because I am
just like you. I promise, I love it.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
And actually you're much funnier than I am.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
For the rest, if you don't all me good on
your social media, it is I'm kiding not Brena.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
I was dying laughing at like multiple different videos. And
then the last question.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
This is the Powerful podcast and we are all about
talking about powerful women and what they are doing to
change their sport leave this world a little bit better place. So, Brenna,
what does powerful mean to you?
Speaker 4 (35:49):
It means showing up as your most authentic and relatable
and just real self because you know that you have
value and you have worth. Hm wow, yeah something like that.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
You know, if that doesn't hit you right where it
needs to, because that is that's a.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
Very good reminder for me personally.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
So, Brenna, thank you so much for taking the time
to join us on the powerful podcast.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
I'm honored to have you a part of season two.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
I cannot wait to continue to follow you on social
media and the rest of your career and your life
as a mom and raising some beautiful kiddos into this world.
I think it's going to be just so fun and
we're so grateful that you took the time.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
Yay, thank you so much for having me. This is awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
This is a reminder to check us out every Tuesday
everywhere you get your podcasts, And if you really enjoy
this and don't want to miss an episode, be sure
to hit that subscribe button.
Hello, friends, and welcome to the Powerful Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm your host, Aja McCord. In this podcast, we introduce
you to powerful women who were changing the game in
and outside of.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Their field of play.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
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 (00:21):
Welcome back my Powerful Pod squad. I am so excited
at for today's episode. Today we have Brenna Hakkabee. She
is a Paralympic snowboarder. She is a mom, she is
a founder of a media collective, and just an all
around badass, hilarious individual that I can't wait for you
to get to know. In this conversation, we talk about
(00:43):
everything from how becoming a mom at nineteen is something
that impacted her life exponentially, how losing her leg at
fifteen years old had this Louisiana native on the snow
on a mountain and less than a year later moving
across the country to pursue a career as a Paralympic snowboarder.
She takes us inside her injury and all that it
(01:06):
took to overcome it, and also reminded us how universal
struggle and hard days can be, and the lessons that
she shared about how she got through it, how she
continues to get through it. Powerful is the right word
for it. I cannot wait for you to hear this conversation.
(01:28):
I am so excited to be joined by Brenna Huckabee
for this episode of The Powerful podcast. She is a
three time Paralympic gold medalist. She has one, not one,
but two sb's.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
She's also a five time world champion, a mom.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
A disability advocate, and one of the founders of Cultured,
which is working to shift the narrative around Paris sport
and how we viewed Paralympic athletes. And Brenna, I am
so excited to have you here. So thank you for
being on this winter season of The Powerful.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Yay, thank you so much much for having me. I
am so excited to talk about all of those things
that you listed and so much more.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
We're just getting a little teas here at the top. Okay,
So first, I guess I want to start by introducing
people to you who do not know your story. I
have gotten to watching in the Paralympics the last few rounds,
and obviously we're in a non Olympic Paralympic year. But
you are one of the best snowboarders in the country
and you have the medals to prove it.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
So give us a little bit.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Of a background of how some girl from Baton Rouge,
Louisiana who was a competitive gymnast ended up as one
of the best pair of snowboarders in the country.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
You know, honestly, that is such a valid question because
it's a little bit of a Jamaican Bob sled team
situation there. But when I lost my leg from cancer,
so that's how I lost my leg. My hospital, they
took kids who lost mobility on a rehabilitation ski trip.
(02:56):
They had this idea that if these kids, myself and included,
could ski down a literal mountain, then when they got home,
they could tackle and conquer their figurative mountains of everyday life.
And I had the privilege to go on that trip.
But I didn't want to ski, no offensive skiers at all.
(03:20):
I just thought snowboarding looked so much cooler.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Girl, same same, I did the same thing as a teenager.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Yeah, and also it reminded me of a balance beam,
but it also just looked so much cooler. But yeah,
I went on this rehabilitation ski trip I got to snowboard.
I learned it's nothing like a balance beam.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
And I from one former competitive genist to another who
also learned a snowboard in their teens, nothing like that.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
No, No, it's so hard. Even still today, I'm like, wow,
you really thought having your feet fixed into one position
was like gymnastics the same same, Yeah, totally the same
high kicks for days. But yeah, that's how I learned
to snowboard. I fell in love with it immediately, and
(04:13):
about a year after that trip, I moved to Utah
so that I could snowboard full time and it was
a little bit of a healing through cancer situation and
using snowboard snowboarding as a tool for that. But also
in the back of my mind, I thought it would
be really cool to try and go to the Paralympics.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Okay, So I want to know, because, like I said,
I was also a competitive gymnast.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
I competed all the.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Way through high school, and so I know that sort
of passion of competitiveness and I still am competitive in
like my everyday life, and so it doesn't really surprise
me that it didn't take you long to proverbally and
literally get up off the couch and find another way
to utilize your competitiveness. But I think that it's said
(04:58):
like it's one thing to be competitive, and it's another
thing to be like you were fifteen, right, fifteen?
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Fourteen? Fifteen?
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, yeah, to say like, hey, by the way, mom
and dad, thanks for sending me on this journey.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I'd also like to move to Utah. Like, how did
that conversation work at fifteen?
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Yeah? Great question. So my parents I love them to death.
They have never been traditional ever with anything in life.
And so when it came to learning to snowboard and
deciding to make that move, my mom first of all,
she was on that original trip with me, and she
was like, when you snowboard, I see that Brenna again,
(05:37):
Like I see that light and that fire in your eyes,
and like I will do anything to keep that there.
That was like such a big aha moment for her.
And then she was also like selfishly, she's always wanted
to live in the mountains, so she was like, this
is a perfect opportunity for both of us, Like I
can help you pick up the pieces of your life
and I also get to live out a dream of
(05:58):
mine to live in the mountains, and so my dad
and my brothers I have two older brothers, stayed in Louisiana,
which was a challenge for sure, and then my mom
and I moved to Utah. I finished high school and
I snowboarded. Wow.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Okay, So then the next question is how does it go?
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Like?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
What is a Paralympic process?
Speaker 1 (06:17):
How did you go from like being on a snowboard
for the first time to a few years later becoming
a world champion.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Yeah, great question. It's definitely different than Olympics, right, because
we have people that are becoming Paralympians usually became disabled
later in life, so they didn't many of them didn't
grow up doing their sport. They may have been an
athlete in a different capacity, but like myself, I didn't
(06:46):
grow up snowboarding. So there's two ways that can go.
You can either pick it up really quickly and go
through the ranks of competing nationally, getting onto a world circuit,
doing well there, and then World Championships and then Paralympics,
which is the route I ended up luckily being a
part of. But also for a lot of people it's
(07:09):
really a challenging and really hard, and the level in
the Paralympics, even from going from a national to a
World Cup is huge. Like that leap is can feel
almost impossible for a lot of people. So it all
depends on timing and like the ability maybe before you
(07:30):
lost your leg in athleticism. But yeah, that was really
long winded way of saying. It looks different in different sports,
and for snowboarding, I just thankfully picked it up really
easily because of my gymnastics background, and then I think
just timing, like it was a really, you know, less
of a barrier to entry into the sport because it
(07:50):
was pretty new, and so I just worked my butt
off to kind of capitalize on that novelty of the sport.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
So the other thing that I was reading about is
from an article that I believe was published in two
thousand and twenty three, and it was the pair of
champs that you competed and in Spain, and you competed
with your snowboard leg hiked up so that your prosthetic
was showing. And I think that that, like I looked
at a few different angles of that picture and it
(08:19):
was so powerful to see you embracing your prosthetic and
not just embracing it, but showing it off to the world.
Can you describe, because again I keep saying it, but
like I was a competitive gymnast, I know how much
what your body looks like matters in that sport. So
how did you Brennap personally manage you know, it's easy,
(08:42):
It's not easy. It's one thing to make the transition athletically,
it's another thing to personally say, this is my life now,
this is different. How did you work through that? And
why was that picture at Para Champs so important?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Oh? Man, I've gone through different phases with acceptance in
my body, and it's funny. Accepting my prosthetic leg in
my everyday life was easier and a quicker process for
me than showing off my prosthetic in my snowboarding gear.
And a lot of that is because I started snowboarding,
(09:19):
because it gave me this freedom away from being seen
as disabled. When I'm in my snowboarding gear, you visually
can't see my leg, and then also when I'm riding,
you really can't tell I have one leg, And most
of the times I'm riding way better than most people
in the mountain. So people are admiring that, and so
to pull up my pants and to show that, like
(09:42):
I'm doing this on one leg, part of me felt
like I was giving up the feeling of, you know,
not being seen as disabled. And then it took thirteen
years of being an amputee for me to say, you
know what, I'm proud that I can accomplish this with
a disability, and like I want all of y'all to
(10:04):
see that and to know it and to like just
celebrate what I and so many other snowboarders can do.
And I feel like once I did that, I was
reminded of the reason why I started snowboarding competitively, and
it was to show kids who had lost mobility through
cancer that, like, your life's gonna look different than it
(10:24):
did before, but it still can be really great and amazing.
And that showing of my leg while snowboarding just put
me back into like that mission and that why of
showing other people with one leg, like life moves on
and it can be way better than you thought.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
And I think that there's people who are going to
be inspired, if you will, by your journey. I don't
think I can tell you one single person on this
planet who hasn't had something about.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Their body that is hard for them to accept.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Why was it so important for you to be a
voice in just that overarching, massively human feeling of trying
to accept something about yourself that you cannot change, Gosha.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
So I feel like when I first lost my leg
and I first started social media, it was so much
easier because it was easier and harder. It was easier
because I knew that there weren't very many people out
there sharing their stories, sharing their prosthetics, sharing their life
with the disability. There wasn't very much representation, and it
was easy for me to say, Okay, I'm going to
(11:31):
do that and I'm going to be that representation. Now
there's so many amputees and disabled people that are out
there that are sharing their stories, sharing their lives, which
is amazing. But now it's like I've kind of taken
such a backseat that I forgot that, like, oh wait, no,
I have a voice and sharing these vulnerabilities and working
through them. And so I think it's just reminding myself
(11:55):
as much as possible that representation while the fight is
still inclusion and to have a seat at that table,
representation still matters. And to keep putting myself out there
in those ways because I know that it's helping someone.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
It's not just helping.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Like I've read the comments on even your recent posts,
and I have had the time to read so many
comments because I have watched your reels over and over again,
because you're not just showing representation. You are finding humor
and you are bringing joy to people's lives. And there
are people in your comments who are like, Hey, I'm
a four plus year amputee and you were the first
(12:33):
person that I found when I looked up what I
can do now, and you're freaking I mean, one of
your most recent ones was joking about how if you
had a nickel for every time someone asked you how
you lost your leg, you'd be able to pay.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
For the Salt Lake City ski patrollers raise that they
need so desperately.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
How have you just like, what is it about you,
Brenda Huckabee, the person that has been able to embrace
and transition throughout these different seasons of acceptance?
Speaker 4 (13:02):
I don't know. I because here's my thing. I truly
believe that we all go through periods in our lives.
Every single person that is painful, that is hard, that
feels impossible, and I just I want to like share
and show that, like if I can do it, you
can do it. But also here's how I don't. I
(13:23):
don't want to say if I can do it, you
can do it because oh, poor pitiful me with one leg.
It's more like I know that you're also going through
really tough stuff, and.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
It's tough shit.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
It's tough shit. Like I know that you're going through it.
One I'm going to kind of segue and I'm so sorry.
I'm adhd. We're gonna blame Itim not that. But one
thing that I find just so important, Well it's gone,
it's gone. I lost it.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
This is it.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
It was so important too. What were we talking about?
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Because what we're talking about just like how you as
a human have have this ability to navigate these different
seasons of acceptance.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Yeah, and like we all go through tough things. Oh right,
if I can do it, you can do it, not
because poor pitiful me with one leg, and oh you know,
I have two legs. So my life is so great.
But one thing that I always say is there are
periods of my life that was way harder than cancer.
And I draw from that pain and those things that
I learned, and I apply it to what I've learned
(14:29):
with having one leg, so I know when I'm sharing things,
it's universal, Like you can apply it to your life,
even if you've never had a disability, even if you
know whatever your hardest day is, it's applicable. And like,
that's kind of where I pull from. I know that
wasn't the most eloquent in a.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Little bit as great it was great. Where how did
you develop that ability? Though?
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Like?
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Was it was it something that you wished you'd seen?
Was it your family? Like where did that? Where did
that come from? How can people pull from that?
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Oh? Therapy, mental health? Oh yes, I think like I've
I think I've always been searching for control in my life,
and I feel like the best way to find control
is through knowledge and insight. And I just am constantly,
I'm journaling, I have a therapist, and I just want
(15:27):
to leave the world better than I found it. And
for me, the best way I can do that right
now in my life is through social media and sharing
my stories. And that's not to say that that's the
only way to you know, make big change, but I think, yeah,
just trying to figure out what your superpower is and
what your passion is in that moment and just doing
(15:47):
it like, just do it well.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
And one of the other ways you're not just influencing
and impacting the world at large, but your world at
home is being impacted by the way your daughter get
a chance to see the way you live.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
So tell me a little bit about your family.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
And how going from I mean, my gosh, your late
teens were like a lot. You squeezed a whole lifetime
into your late teens. So talk me through the journey
of becoming a mother and now getting a chance to
sort of just share this competitive lifestyle.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
But also a joyous lifestyle with your kiddos.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Yeah. So I got pregnant when I was nineteen, total accident.
I had actually been told by multiple doctors I was infertile,
I was on birth control. We were just in our eyes,
doing everything right, and I found out I was pregnant nineteen.
I was five months so long, and it was like,
you know, buckle up, you know, that's kind of what
(16:50):
I did. I just decided. I decided I was going
to do this because I didn't based off of my
infertility diagnosis. I didn't think I would ever have chance
to have a child later in life either. So it
was really hard and really challenging, and honestly blacked out
for like six years of it. My oldest is now eight.
(17:12):
But you know, it's paid off. All of that hard
work has paid off because now I get to snowboard
with my kids. They are the funniest anytime I go
to a playground, my daughters I have two now, my
other one's four. They'll run and they'll find other kids
on the playground and they'll pull them over and be like, look,
my mom has one leg. She had cancer and she's snowboards. Now.
(17:34):
It's a little embarrassing, but it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Oh my gosh, What does it feel like to have
your daughters in like just be so proud? I mean,
I can imagine it's I mean, I think it's hard
as a parent to I don't have any kids myself,
but my friends who are parents, they say, like, it means.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
The world when your kid is proud of you.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
So what does that feel like to have your daughters
pull these kiddos up and say, look, my mom.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
I know I wish, I wish I could feel I
do feel proud. I do feel proud. I think there's
probably some things I need to work on because I
constantly don't feel like enough for my kids. So when
this happens and I see this, I just I just
immediately go to, Okay, that's great that you think that now,
(18:24):
But later maybe you're going to think of all the
other ways that I fell short. And I think that's
probably more common than people realize. We just that beating
ourselves up as parents and trying to be the best
versions of ourselves that we could possibly be, even though
it's so hard. But I'm trying. I'm trying to sit
(18:46):
in the gratitude with it and to just like feel
that I don't know that connection or that I don't
know what I would call it, but I do my
best in trying to like enjoy it. But I do
mentally kind of beat myself up and go, oh, you
think that's cool now, but I all I can harpwn
(19:07):
are the things I did wrong ten minutes ago?
Speaker 1 (19:11):
But yeah, yeah, well, and I think that I know,
like we're both competitive, Like you're much better, much higher
level competitive athlete than I ever was. But I know
for those of us who compete athletically and particularly in sports,
that say that there's a perfect option. It is so
hard to unlearn perfectionism, and I think that that is
(19:35):
like one of the things that I will have to
remember and relearn and undo and try again for the
rest of my life.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
No, actually same, I think it's been a New Year's
resolution since I was sixteen.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Let's go just a repeat.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Yeah, yeah, we'll get there. But that is such great
that's great insight because that is exactly what it is.
It's this constant chasing of perfection, and I do it.
I also have to rework that with snowboarding when I
have a heat that didn't go as planned, and I
can sit there and think of every tiny, little fraction
of a movement I could have done better. But the
(20:16):
reality is, even if I did that, who knows what
would have happened, It still might not have been that
perfect run. So that's great insight.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Yeah, what is the thing that you were most excited
about that you're working on right this moment?
Speaker 3 (20:29):
I mean not like this, Yeah, this season of life,
this season of life. What is getting you so excited.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
There's a couple different things. I would say snowboarding, I
am really hoping to not only go to the Paralympics
twenty twenty six in Milan. I have a big goal
to get at least one gold medal. That would put
(20:55):
me as like the most gold medals in Paralympic snowboarding
history if I can do that in Paralympic gold medals.
So that's my push right now. And then I'm working
on Cultured, which we kind of mentioned at the beginning,
and that's a media collective just around changing the narrative
around Paralympic sport, seeing Paralympians as badass athletes and not
(21:19):
just an inspiration for simply existing.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Okay, So with twenty twenty six, obviously it's not a
Paralympic year this year, but you still have a lot
of events and competitions coming up. So walk me through
what this winter, what this World Cup season looks like
for you in order to set yourself up to make
some history in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Yeah, So this season we have a few World Cup events.
I'll be in Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Colorado, and Canada. And
the big push though is World Championships, which is in March,
and so my goal is to secure one, if not two,
Those are big shoes to fill. World Championship gold medals
(22:00):
would be super sick. But I don't know. It'll be
a fight no matter what. So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
And what disciplines are you going to be competing this season?
Speaker 4 (22:07):
Great question. I do snowboard cross and banked slalom, so
one event is four people and of course the other
event is solo with time.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
If y'all have not seen border cross before, tune in
because if you, like anybody who likes it is I
don't know how you guys stay straight and not smacking
into each other, like it is one of the gnarliest
it's like. In fact, there was kayak cross in Paris
this year for the first time we had every lead
farth On, She's she's a Team USA kayaker. She went
(22:37):
sober in Paris and she was telling us about the
drops and just how chaotic it is. You have to
make sure your equipment doesn't get tangled in your in
your freaking neighbors while also going very fast.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Oh no, we definitely get tangled. It's just nature of
the game is staying up. But we always say rubbing
is racing, like you're going to hit. It's racing, but
you just want to stay up for sure.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Yeah, as long as we say vertical we're doing just.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
Fine, then I'm happy. Yes, exactly perfect.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Okay, we cannot wait to watch you, to root you
on and just walk up season. It's gonna be so
much fun to watch.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Yeah, I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
We got a chance to have Sarah Adams and a
few other Paralympic athletes on in season one.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
And when I tell you they're they're.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Like anybody who doubts the bad assery of Paralympic athletes
doesn't know a Paralympic athlete because it's not just I
think that's one of the things that is so it's
so hard to manage when people look at you and
they say, wow, you have gone through something extraordinary, right,
something that that not a lot of people have to
(23:43):
navigate what you've navigated, And it's almost like it's putting
you on a pedestal, but in a way that is separating.
So it's almost this like, oh, that's cool that you
did it, but like how how how do I apply
that to my life? Or like how do I so
what is the what do you guys to do with
culture to break down that barrier so that we can
(24:04):
look at an able bodied person who's never had to
go through cancer, who's never had to have an amputation,
can look at a Paralympic athlete and say, I see
myself in them.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
I want to connect with them, I want to watch
that sport.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Wow, that's beautiful. I think for us right now is
getting more of the athletes voices involved there. Like you mentioned,
there is that level of separation in the media, especially
around Paralympians and just disabled people in general. But one
thing I've noticed is a lot of the content and
(24:39):
the media that goes, you know, well worldwide, it's very
well seen a lot of the times, it's so heavily
focused on that disability. And one thing I talk about
a lot is it's obvious we went through something Like
it's obvious I have one leg, even if I was
born with one leg, it's obvious I had to go
(25:01):
through some shit to get here. But so I want
to know, like how did you get to the top
of your sport? Like how did you wake up every day, grind,
be disciplined, work through pain? Like what are the barriers
We've had people talking about just getting their sport into
like a national championship, Like how do you even get
(25:22):
your sports sanctioned? Things that people wouldn't even know myself included,
I've been learning so much because there's no broadcasting of it.
There's no just awareness of what's going on outside of
the fact that paralympians are disabled.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
Right right, and if they happen right after the Olympics,
so stay tuned, yes, right, Yeah, that's the other thing
is like.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
How do you how do you remind people that, like,
there's still there is a fantastic slate of competitions coming
your way right after the Olympics, and there is all
of the sort of national pride, there's all of the stories,
all the reasons we all love sports, which is the connection,
the human connection to watching someone give absolutely everything they've got.
(26:08):
So with that, I cannot imagine that trying to make
it to Milan next year is an easy task because snowboarding,
pair of snowboarding has just exploded in recent years. So
how are you staying on the top of your game?
How are you giving yourself the best chance to make
some history and become so it's the first woman with
(26:32):
four Paralympic gold medals, and snowboarding is what you would
be Yep, Okay, so how are you setting yourself up
one year out from the Paralympics.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
What are you doing well?
Speaker 4 (26:41):
It would also be the first person in general because no, man,
I'm sorry, poor goals either, let's go okay, we like that. Honestly,
I've kind of just allowed this goes back to the perfectionist.
I've allowed myself to not be perfect in other areas
of my life. I'm on snow at least four days
(27:02):
a week for multiple hours, and I'm in the gym,
and I'm just that takes up the majority of my day.
If I can create content beautiful, if I can help
out more with culture beautiful, but I'm also not filling
up my plate to the point that it's going to
take away from my main objective and my main priority,
which is snowboarding, which is hard, so hard.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
You are an elite athlete.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
I know it's hard because there's so many things that
we love doing right, and I think that's that's the
part that's hard, And like it was something I was
even like kind of hitting the face with here at
the beginning of doing this season of the Powerful is
like I feel like I.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Have to I have to believe in.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Myself in this way for other people to see it
in me. You know, it's like you have to sell
out for yourself and whatever it is you've decided to
do for other people to even have a chance at
believing that they can see you do it.
Speaker 4 (27:55):
Ooh, I love that.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Yeah, it's girl. I've been dribbling too.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Okay is a week it happen So twenty twenty five
and we're gonna be different this year. So the other
thing that I'm so curious about. You talk about journaling
and you talk about meditation. What is the everyday habit
that you feel like has helped you become the best
version of yourself as a snowboarder, as a mom, as
(28:19):
a partner, and as somebody who is trying to leave
this world just a little bit better than she found
it while also being a whole human and learning in
the process.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
Yeah, oh great. I so multiple things, I guess, and
they kind of rotate. But I would say these are
like the three trustees that I keep coming back to.
I wake up earlier than my family so that I
have time to just like mentally prepare. That's something I
know within myself. I have a much better day. The
second is I block out my social media. So I
(28:52):
have an Apple my phone and it won't let me
in an hour hour after I wake up, and then
I have it set when my kids are home, like
I can't get into it, and if I do need
to get into it, I have to sit there and
take a deep breath as like a timer. Oh yeah,
so that helps. So that kind of keeps me away
from like phone addiction territory where I have definitely landed before.
(29:15):
And then the third thing is journaling like I and
sometimes it's on a scrap piece of paper and my
notes app. But if I if I notice thoughts like
are coming at me way too quickly, I know it's
time that I need to sit down and I need
to write and need to process, and actually probably do
that every day, but it's not every day that I
(29:36):
sit down and like do a you know, a long
journaling session, but that does happen frequently for sure.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Yeah, and some I love that. And those are three
things that I think, you know. Well.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
First off, what's the app called No Gay Keeping on
this podcast? Tell me what that is?
Speaker 4 (29:51):
One sec like one as easy I've used it for
I think I'm just they just told me I was
coming up with my year anniversary. We love it.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
So look at this resolution from twenty twenty before that
we kept and then celebrate resolutions kept. So now we
are going to transition into our next segment of the podcast.
This next section is called what are You sippin On?
It is brought to you by the Sports Bra. It
is the very first women's sports bar in the entire
(30:21):
world in Portland, Oregon. And so the week of your
episode that we debut, it is going to have a
drink called the Brenna. It can be a cocktail or
mocktail of your choice. So Brenna, we want to know
what are you sipping on?
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Oh man, this is tricky, I would say, And this
was my first go to drink when I turned twenty one,
and I've been watching a lot of sex in the city,
So I'm going to say a Cosmopolitan.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Ye, yes, we love a Cosmopolitan and a little bit
of carry Bradshaws. Yeah, that's a little bit of per
ferocity in our everyday lives.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Is a good thing.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
It is very good thing.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Next up we have rapid Fire, which I I think
this will suit you very well.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
It never suits me because I always want to know,
like I'll ask the question, and then I want to
know why you have the answer that you Yeah, No,
I get that. I'm like a kitting with the R
and I can't keep it up. But we're gonna do it.
This is my twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
Got this?
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Okay, rapid fire power it up.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
It is coffee or tea, Oh coffee, favorite ice cream flavor.
Speaker 4 (31:19):
Min chocolate chip.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Go to meal before or after snowboarding?
Speaker 4 (31:24):
Oatmeal before it's not good. I don't like it, but
I do it. Oatmeal every time it's not good.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
I don't like it.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
I don't like it. I don't, but I do it
every time.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Okay, So if you have oatmeal suggestions that are better
than what Burne is eating right now, put them in
the notes of this episode tag us on social We
want to know because we have a goal.
Speaker 3 (31:43):
We have twenty six to get to.
Speaker 4 (31:44):
Yeah, exactly, we need to.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
We need to like our breakfast. Are you early to
bed or wait early to rise or late to bed?
Speaker 4 (31:52):
I wake up early, but I don't want to. I
want to go to bed late and wake up late,
but I don't do that. I'm sorry. I know we're
suposed to be rapid here.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
I thought you were gonna be better at this than last.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Guys, I need context always.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
I'd same same, okay, so I'll allow you a little
bit of contexts.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Question, where's the favorite place that your sport has taken you?
Speaker 4 (32:13):
Oh? Okay, well I would say Japan, but I didn't
compete in Japan. I competed in Korea, but we went
to Japan and I loved it.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Works for me.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
Yeah, okay, did you get to were you snowboarding or
it was like a little vaca.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
It was a vaca after but we went snowboarding. Also,
second coolest place that I went snowboarding was in Lazutu, Africa. Sorry,
it wasn't the question.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
That's incredible.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Yeah, so there's a tiny little ski hill in like
the middle of South Africa and we went and it
was really cool.
Speaker 3 (32:44):
Oh that's amazing. I love South Africa.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
That is one of my favorite places that my job
has ever taken me. If you were not a Paralympic snowboarder,
what sport would you want to be a Paralympic or
Olympic athlete in?
Speaker 4 (32:58):
Well? I mean, of course, yeah, I know, same same
if it were Paralympic. Well, I'm not gonna I'm gonna
manifest it for them because it's not in the Paralympics yet,
it would be surfing.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Yes, okay, So we have talked a lot about Paralympic
surfing on the pot because I do a lot of
surf coverage and so they're not. It doesn't sound like
it's it's gonna happen for LA twenty twenty eight, But
twenty thirty two, we are pushing. We're finding a way
to get parasurfing because it's so incredible, it's it's unble Yeah.
(33:31):
In the meantime, if you want to go surfing, you
just let me know, okay. And then what's your favorite dessert?
Speaker 4 (33:36):
Ooh oh a pedaphor? It's I don't know. They have
them in Louisiana and they're these tiny little almond cakes
and they've got like syrup. It's not like syrup, it's
like hard syrup and they've got like a simple syrup
on the bottom. They're so good. They're almond flavored cakes. Yeah,
so good.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Okay, that sounds delicious.
Speaker 4 (33:54):
Think it's French.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Yeah, I think it is actually sweet. We'll have to
try that. Tell me this of the wildest mishap you
have ever had while on a snowboard.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Oh well, last year, I was riding with my team
in Utah and I came around this corner and we
were like going really fast. We were flat bacing, just
kind of like racing, and there's this corner and it
goes down and then up and it kind of geezed
you out normally, which is like kind of fun and
a part of it, but it broke my prosthetic leg,
(34:26):
like it snapped my socket off. So thankfully I didn't
knock out hurt. I was on a heel, like on
my heels, so I just kind of like sat down
and like like slid out for a long while, and
then ski patrol had to come because I couldn't put
it back together. It was I have a video on
my Instagram.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
Oh my gosh, we will put it with this podcast
because that's wild.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
It was insane, like it was actually insane.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Oh my gosh. And you weren't like hurt.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
Noanly, I mean I would have easily been bury hurt
if it happened in any other situation. But yeah, but
because I didn't get hurt, it was hilarious.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Yeah, fair enough.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
And then what is the one thing that you want
people to know about you, Brenna hawkad be the person
that they can't necessarily get or that you want to
leave them with.
Speaker 4 (35:11):
Ooh, that's tough. I think I'm like, I'm just a
normal person. Like I'm so so frickin' normal that like,
please help put me on a pedestal because I am
just like you. I promise, I love it.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
And actually you're much funnier than I am.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
For the rest, if you don't all me good on
your social media, it is I'm kiding not Brena.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
I was dying laughing at like multiple different videos. And
then the last question.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
This is the Powerful podcast and we are all about
talking about powerful women and what they are doing to
change their sport leave this world a little bit better place. So, Brenna,
what does powerful mean to you?
Speaker 4 (35:49):
It means showing up as your most authentic and relatable
and just real self because you know that you have
value and you have worth. Hm wow, yeah something like that.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
You know, if that doesn't hit you right where it
needs to, because that is that's a.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
Very good reminder for me personally.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
So, Brenna, thank you so much for taking the time
to join us on the powerful podcast.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
I'm honored to have you a part of season two.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
I cannot wait to continue to follow you on social
media and the rest of your career and your life
as a mom and raising some beautiful kiddos into this world.
I think it's going to be just so fun and
we're so grateful that you took the time.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
Yay, thank you so much for having me. This is awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
This is a reminder to check us out every Tuesday
everywhere you get your podcasts, And if you really enjoy
this and don't want to miss an episode, be sure
to hit that subscribe button.
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