S2/E12: Katie Uhlaender (USA Skeleton)

In the season finale of The PowHERful AJ McCord sits down with Katie Uhlaender, a 5x Olympic skeleton athlete who, at 40-years old, is trying to do the unprecedented and make a sixth Olympic team. In this episode Katie gets vulnerable, sharing the doubt she faces as she pursues this massive achievement, and the advice her dad passed along to her at 18 she still leans on to this day. 

And a note from AJ: I cannot thank you all enough for joining us for the second season of The PowHERful. These women have taken us around the world, shown the resiliency and vulnerability they possess, and by sharing it, have inspired me to apply it to my own life. I hope you feel the same. We’ll be announcing the launch of Season 3 shortly, stay locked in on social with @thepowherful and my own channels @aj_mccord. We have some really exciting things planned as head back into the summer sports world and I am so grateful for the trust each of you, and each of these women, have placed in what we’re building here. See you soon! 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, friends, and welcome to the Powerful Podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm your host AJ McCord.

Speaker 3 (00:04):
In this podcast, we introduced you to powerful women who
were changing the game in and outside.

Speaker 4 (00:10):
Of their field of play.

Speaker 3 (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 4 (00:21):
Welcome back to the Powerful Podcast.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
I'm your host AJ McCord and oh my gosh, y'all,
Katie Ulanner is going to be our twelfth guest of
this twenty twenty five winter season, and what a season
finale I have for you. This woman is trying to
make history by going to her sixth Olympics as a
skeleton athlete. She's already made history by going to five

(00:43):
of them, but at forty years old, she is trying
to redefine what is possible. And the fire and the
energy that came from this conversation it was incredible, and
I'm gonna be honest with y'all, it turned into a
little bit of a therapy session, so make sure you listen.

Speaker 4 (00:59):
To it in the mood because we went deep here.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
We talked about a lot of things, imposter syndrome and
which voices to turn up in your head as you're
chasing your dreams. And I just think that this has
something for everybody. So I am so grateful to Katie
and her vulnerability, her ferocity, and I hope you all
enjoyed this episode. You guys, this woman is making history

(01:25):
in the sport of skeleton. She is a five time,
yes counted, five time Olympian. She in twenty twenty two,
became the first woman in the sport to compete in
five Olympics Games.

Speaker 4 (01:37):
She is trying to make it six.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
And speaking of six, that's how many seasons that she
was also a crew member on Survivor. Katie Ulander, we
have so much to get into with your story. Thank
you so much for being here.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Thanks for having me. What that was quite the intro.
I'm honored.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Well, it's your accomplishments, ma'am, and so it's really easy
to intro you when it has I mean, it's just
so incredible to see what you've done in the sport
of skeleton.

Speaker 4 (01:59):
And I think also, obviously I have.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
A background in broadcast journalism, and I know that among
a crew being a woman is oftentimes you're one of
very few women in the behind the scenes aspects of
TV as well. So I just want to start with
a little bit about you personally. How did you get
into the sport of skeleton to the point where you
have now been to the Olympics five times, last one

(02:21):
in twenty twenty two.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Oh my gosh. Well, I was young and didn't know
any better, That's the honest truth. I was in high school.

Speaker 5 (02:30):
I wanted to be an athlete, and I originally, you know,
because my dad was major league baseball player. I was like, Oh,
I'll just like train and I'll go walk on to
a softball team. I had played men's baseball the majority
of my high school careers, so I didn't have much
softball experience. And I was training at the Silverthorne Recreation
Center in Colorado and kind of like didn't have a

(02:52):
group to train with, you know, I.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Was kind of doing it on my own.

Speaker 5 (02:54):
And I noticed this woman that had like a shaved head, tattoos,
piercings everywhere, like looking real, real tough. But all I
saw was an athlete. She was squatting a lot of weight,
and I was like, I bet she's fast. So I
walked up to her and I said, Hey, do you
sprint and she's like yeah, and I was like, do
you want to race? And she was like, who the
are you? And I was like, oh, yeah, I'm Katie,

(03:16):
like I'm trying to be an athlete, like I haven't
raced in a while. I thought it'd be fun and
she was like you're crazy, and I was like, well, yeah,
that's cool. And then she happen to be a Bob's
letter talked me into trying out for skeleton and.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
It looked intimidating. I really looked scary.

Speaker 5 (03:32):
I was like, I don't know what this is, but
it looks like a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
So at eighteen, I went out there, tried out. I
won Junior.

Speaker 5 (03:41):
Nationals my third week ever on a sled. I went
to Junior Worlds and got seventh. I came back I
won Senior Nationals the eighth week, and it was basically
like go to the Olympics or go to college.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
And I got sucked in.

Speaker 5 (03:56):
Like I thought, oh I can I can go to
the Olympics and I can go to college like whenever.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
So it was quit the adventure.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah, and what a wild I mean, eighteen is such
a pivotal point in most people's lives. But my goodness
to go from thinking, hey, I might play softball, go
to college to actually, I'm gonna try this Olympic thing.
You said your dad was a major league baseball player.
What was his reaction to sort of you completely shifting
the sport but achieving a really high level of a

(04:24):
success really quickly.

Speaker 5 (04:26):
I mean at first he was like, all right, what
are you gonna do about it? Like you want nationals
after four weeks? How are you going to prove to
me that you're committed to this? And he supported me
and like doing a fundraiser, like attended it, like bought
the super ugly painting to cover what cost I had
left to get a sled. But at my first Olympics

(04:47):
in Charino two thousand and six, he.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
Know, he was so old school.

Speaker 5 (04:52):
He's like the combination of characters from Grand Charino and
Trouble with the Curve, I swear, but he would do
these interviews in front of me, and he was telling
people how proud he was of me and that I'd
accomplished more than he had at twenty one, And because
twenty that's hold. It was my first Olympics. It was
a it was amazing. He was someone that could understand

(05:13):
the intensity of sport, what the what the passion was
and and the dedication required. So anytime I had doubts,
he had these amazing stories about his experience, you know,
playing ball back in the day with Mickey Mantle and
his idols of Yogi Barra, Like, there were so many
crazy stories and people Johnny Bench these names and people I.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
Know those names, girl, those are some absolute legends. And
to have your dad be able to share those stories,
I mean, what even now, I guess what is one
of those that kind of floats across your mind every
once in a while.

Speaker 5 (05:50):
I mean, there's one that's there all the time. Because
the lesson he gave in telling the story is applicable
at multiple times throughout my life. So and I think
anyone can relate to it when you are doing something
and you're like, man, I don't know if I deserve
this or like it's been it's taking me longer to
do this than it took other people, Like you know,
I'm you know, speaking of which I'm forty. I still

(06:12):
haven't finished my college degree. Like I don't really have
a home. I don't have like a family, like most
people my age. So I was like, you know, that's
one of those moments. But the one that he spoke
to me and told me the story about was when
I won Junior Nationals and I was heading out of
the country for the first time to Germany to compete
at Junior Worlds. Olympic gold medalist Tristan Gaale was going

(06:34):
to be there a Europa Cup champion, like all these
people that had these amazing resumes that were competing at
this event, and I'd been on a sled three weeks.
I told my dad, I don't I don't know if
I should like be going to this event, Like I
don't even own my own equipment.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
I had to like borrow someone's stuff.

Speaker 5 (06:52):
And he told me about how he had his first
at bat in Yankee Stadium with Mickey Mann on the outfield,
and he was like panicking.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
He was like stepping in and out of the batter's.

Speaker 5 (07:03):
Box and he couldn't stop thinking about like how long
it took him to get there, and like did he
deserve to be there? All these things, and he was
his knees were shaking, and he looked out to the
outfield and he looked at the picture, and he said,
every legend before me has the same footsteps into the
batter's box that I do, and when we get there,
we have the same job.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Hit the ball.

Speaker 5 (07:25):
It doesn't matter how long it took me to get
there or it took them, whether it was this long
or in and out for years. I'm here and when
we both step into the batter's box, the same job applies.
You earned your spot to get into the batter's box.
He's like, take it and hit the ball. That's all
you can do. And I was like, you're right, It

(07:46):
doesn't matter how long it took me, if it was
less time or more time than someone else, Like I
have the opportunity.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
So wow, yeah.

Speaker 4 (07:55):
I mean, how could that not stick with you?

Speaker 1 (07:57):
That is an absolutely incredible story and I'm glad you
touched on it early because being an Olympian one time
is incredible. Being at two, three, four, five times is incredible.
And then you add in that at forty years old,
you are redefining what is possible and also like what
is aged out of an Olympian right, because I think

(08:17):
oftentimes when people were like, oh, at forty right, like
I was, I was a competitive gymnast, and so I
was aged out at like sixteen, girl, you know, like
that's how long, Like that's you. If you weren't on
the Olympic track at sixteen, you weren't going. And so
to think that there's a sport that you're redefining what
is possible, you're changing the way that people view forty

(08:39):
is incredible. I mean it's incredible from the outside, But
for you, does it just feel like, yeah, this is
just another day because I'm trying to go to another Olympics.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
It's surreal.

Speaker 5 (08:49):
Honestly, there are a lot of challenges as a woman,
as you know at this age, like and pressures that
society puts on you.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
But I'm looking around at the women.

Speaker 5 (08:59):
In sport right now and I think there are a
lot of us that are pushing boundaries. You know, you
have a lot of Myers, you have Kaylee Humphreys there.
I know there's a figure skater that just won some
medals and she's forty.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
Lindsay Vond just came back, you know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (09:17):
So it's I think it's a great time to be
a woman in sport and be a part of this.
I also just am so grateful for being able to
look to others and say, Okay, like I'm not alone,
and I want to help spread the news that hey,
like it's never too late to chase your dreams and

(09:37):
there are more than there is more than one.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
Path to creating life you want.

Speaker 5 (09:42):
And it's uncomfortable, though, I'm not gonna lie, like I'm
going back to college, like I got into at Columbia
University and I've been taking classes to finish my college degree,
thank you. But yeah, it's so intimidating to like go
hang out with twenty year olds and all these and
they're so intelligent.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
And I shoot, totally different crowd from athletes. Let me
tell you.

Speaker 5 (10:04):
If I start bringing up sports in that crowd, they're
like what that? Then you know, they start talking politics,
and it's that's what I'm supposed to know in that arena.

Speaker 2 (10:12):
So it's just it's been.

Speaker 5 (10:14):
Great to like broaden my social circles and push myself
beyond what I think most people do. So, yeah, I
too a long winded answer to your question. I just
I'm grateful to be have the opportunity.

Speaker 1 (10:29):
And well, it's not just having the opportunity though, Katie,
You're creating the opportunity you're choosing day in and day
out to make a decision that says I'm going to
continue to do what might be deemed un conventional, but
it's working for me right now, regardless of the age,
regardless of the circumstances.

Speaker 4 (10:47):
What gives you.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
I had Elena Nichols on the podcast earlier this season,
and she talked a lot about the audacity to believe
in yourself and that that is what has driven her
to so many different achievements. For her, she was the
first American woman to win a gold medal in both
the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. And if she set
out like she set out to achieve big goals because

(11:12):
she had the audacity to believe in herself. And we
talked about where that came from, and I think for
everybody who has that audacious believe in themselves, it comes
from somewhere deep inside. So where is it coming from
for you? I?

Speaker 5 (11:25):
You know, That's something that I've been thinking a lot
about lately. And I have to admit that when I
was younger, it was easier. As you get older, you
and you face more and more challenges, sometimes I think
it becomes easier to start hearing the negative voices and like,
I want to answer it super cheesy and like the

(11:45):
classic like oh yeah, it's just something you know, my
parents have stilled me.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
And blah blah blah.

Speaker 5 (11:49):
But I think not a blah blah blah, it's very
good things to say. I just think that right now
is the time to be authentic, especially with chasing a
dreams so difficult, and I want people to know how
hard it is, that it isn't easy to believe in
yourself sometimes, and that there are a lot of statistics

(12:12):
and you know, prior examples that would point like hey,
like you haven't gotten your degree yet, like you're not
really set up for a career.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
You don't own a home, like.

Speaker 5 (12:21):
You might want to get it together, right, Like hearing
that and then I think back and I'm like, well, yeah,
except I went to five Olympics. I competed in Olympic
weightlifting in twenty twelve. At Olympic trials, I won nationals
and track cycling. I traveled to New Zealand for months
and competed it in freestyle skiing. I worked on Survivor

(12:41):
in Cook Islands, Palau and Fiji. I've traveled the world
and I've met some amazing people and there's no freaking
way I could have done any of those things if
I had chosen a conventional path.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
So it's easy what I'm trying to sa.

Speaker 5 (13:00):
It's easy to get stuck in one train of thought,
and where it comes from is choosing to have faith
in the path in front of you, kind of like
what my dad said, Like, I have an opportunity, and
once you're in the batter's box, the reality is the
odds are against everyone. Right, baseball one in three hits,

(13:22):
that's fantastic. That means you're striking out most of the time.
And that's the reality of life, to be honest, at least,
you know, in my experience, maybe I've had moments where
it just felt like I was winning everything, everything was
going great, but that's not forever.

Speaker 4 (13:37):
And yeah, and as.

Speaker 5 (13:39):
I get older, I feel like the bad moments can
pile up more and more in my memory than the
good ones. Because when you're constantly trying to achieve or
be better, or like you have that thing that you
just you want to be your best, it can be
really easy to focus on all bad or all good.
And the reason it's so important to me to say that,

(14:01):
to say that the belief in yourself doesn't have to
be there all the time. You need reminders that you
just have to have faith, like you can't put pressure
on yourself to do that is my Opinioneah. But and
mental health and sports a thing like it's something that
I'm very passionate about, and a.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
Lot of athletes go through the post Olympic blues.

Speaker 5 (14:25):
And the thing that I don't think is talked about
a lot is that it's not just by Olympians. There
are athletes that try to make the games for ten
years and don't make it and they kind of disappear.
And there's a lot of value to everyone that's participated
in my journey that have helped me believe in myself

(14:45):
and help me maintain my faith and that this is
the path I meant to be on.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
So that's where it comes from.

Speaker 4 (14:52):
What do you think in those moments?

Speaker 1 (14:55):
Because I think probably based on what you're saying at
this point, you've had a lot of them where you've
had a path in front of you. Right like after
your first Olympics, there was probably this path that said, Okay, cool,
guess what you became an Olympian check that box. Now
you could go to college. You know, you're still in
your early twenties. You could choose that path. You opted
to continue choosing the Olympic path. You keep doing it

(15:17):
over and over again. You come to these crossroads and
you make these decisions that stack up to define the
last twenty years of your life. When you find yourself
at those crossroads, how do you weigh those options? How
do you, Katie make the decision that you do.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
I don't know that I thought a lot about it, honestly.

Speaker 5 (15:37):
I just like I was like zoom boom boom boom go,
Like I guess I almost retired after retired, So funny
after two thousand and six Olympics and I won the
overall World Cup and I won a World Championship medal,
It's like, okay, like I've kind of checked these boxes,
and then I was looking at trying to go pro
skiing or maybe trying half pipe. Like the the fact

(16:00):
is that I still wanted to be an athlete, and
I was making decent money at the time doing it.
So I played around with doing skiing and I ended up, Yeah,
I don't even know how to I ended up blowing
out my knee, but it was fine.

Speaker 2 (16:17):
I came back the next year and was third in
the world.

Speaker 5 (16:19):
But then my father also passed away, and then I
shattered my kneecap all within the same six weeks, and
I needed the health insurance. My father was my security
at the time, and with him gone, it kind of
made me rely more on the resources.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
From the USOPC and the sport I was doing.

Speaker 5 (16:39):
And with a twice shatter kneecap, I couldn't work, you know,
I had to like try to get it. That was
like my last surgery was sixteen weeks before the Olympics,
so I just kind of put my head down, went
through the twenty ten Games, and then after the twenty
ten Games, I I guess I just kept training and

(17:00):
then I had another surgery for my hip because when
I crashed the snowmobile that shattered my kneecap, it damaged
my hip as well, which is actually what I'm still
dealing with to this day. But yeah, I don't know
that in my particular place or in my situation that
I had many choices or that's.

Speaker 4 (17:19):
Not how it felt.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
It felt like my dad died.

Speaker 5 (17:24):
This was my livelihood was basically provided by the Olympic committee.
So I had to keep doing that to keep it.
And yeah, I never felt like I had an option.
I just kept being an athlete. I think it was
twenty fifteen that I was like, Okay, no, I've got
to like step out because I had another injury. And

(17:45):
I was like, you know, I'm going to go work
at a functional neurology clinic in Dallas. And I worked
with combat veterans and like it helped them recover from TBI.
So it's not that I like restricted myself to just
that path. So I guess I'm and I'm thinking through
this as that question.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
It's not an easy one.

Speaker 5 (18:02):
No, I guess I just always tried to keep my
eyes open for opportunities. And I say the Olympic path was,
you know, it was providing my livelihood and had all
these resources and I felt kind of bound to it.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
But I also loved it. Obviously, I loved it. I
love it. I love it.

Speaker 5 (18:21):
It's not in past tense, and I tried to branch
out more so I think than other athletes in a
way that like some people criticize that it hurt my career.
You know, I did work on survivor I did go
work at a functional aurology clinic. I then later on
I took another job with Eco Challenge Fiji. It's on

(18:42):
Amazon Prime. You should check it out.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
Okay, yeah, so I don't know, like, yeah, sorry, I
got lost. I haven't eaten a lot.

Speaker 4 (18:50):
No, that's okay, that's okay.

Speaker 1 (18:52):
I think it's so revealing too, because I think, you know,
I mean, I'm in my mid thirties, and I think
as I start to compile these decisions, right, because I
hear you when you when you're in your twenties, it
feels like you're grinding, grinding, grinding, right, and you're just
taking the next thing. You're just trying to stay ahead,
trying to get ahead, trying to take the next job
that you think is going to be better, and you

(19:13):
move on, you move on. And then I've found myself
in the last few years being a lot more like, hey,
I want to be really intentional actually with like the
decisions that I'm making, and decisions that felt like they
you know, it's this is so cheesy, but I think
of I think of the sculptor who has this big
block of stone, right, and then he says he just

(19:33):
chisels away everything that wasn't David I think is who
he was sculpting Michaelangelo.

Speaker 4 (19:38):
And I think about like my whole life.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
Is like this brick of like this block of stone, right,
and like at every decision I try to just chip
something else away that doesn't feel true anymore, that doesn't
feel like it's a part of me that maybe feels
like it's not serving me anymore. And I'm curious, now,
at forty years old, you're going for your sixth Olympics

(20:01):
in twenty twenty six, which would be yet again another
history making opportunity. What are you chipping away at right
now that you feel like, you know, I've been working
at this dream in particular for a long time, but
you're still chipping because otherwise you would have found another
like part of the stone to start chipping away at.

Speaker 4 (20:18):
Like what do you still feel like there is here
for you in sport? In Yeah, in.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
Pursuing this this redefining of it's not just sport, you're
redefining what's possible. You're redefining what we view as as
aged out of an Olympics, Like it's not.

Speaker 2 (20:36):
Just, it's not just yet, we don't know anything can
happen sure.

Speaker 4 (20:39):
I mean, but you've already done the five.

Speaker 1 (20:41):
Like just the fact that you're going for it, you know,
I mean, what do you feel like is driving you now?
Compared to that eighteen year old who said, yeah, I
might as well go to the Olympics because you know,
it sounds a little bit better than going to college.

Speaker 4 (20:56):
Right now.

Speaker 5 (20:57):
You know what's funny is that I I was gonna
say something different until you reminded me of my eighteen
year old self.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
And and honestly that's it.

Speaker 5 (21:07):
Like my most recent experience here at World Championships, I
was injured coming in and I was like, Okay, I
think it's over.

Speaker 2 (21:14):
Like I was.

Speaker 5 (21:15):
I went to Alana and Nick and I was like, hey,
is it more honorable for me to step down and
hand the spot over to someone younger or should I
try it and like make it through? And I was
really just looking for them to be like, yeah, you
should step down, and they were like Nope, Nope, nope,
you can't step down, Like like you're gonna do this, We're.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
Gonna help you.

Speaker 5 (21:37):
And Nick, you know, he's become a coach and therapist
and he like they took me on board, took me
and his family, and they were like, we're doing like
for the three weeks leading in, like got me so
I could my hit felt better, like reminded me who
I who the F I was, you know, and and
it was the best experience. Like I was projected to

(21:58):
be top six in metal and I got thirteenth, but
I came back from not being able to walk essentially
and like got to race in my last World Championships
and I think that was pretty good. But anyway, beyond
the results, I got to watch someone that I had
competed with for the over ten years that I watched

(22:20):
her start skeleton when she was twenty and we traveled together.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
We'd been great friends. She won, and I was.

Speaker 5 (22:27):
Just it was so cool to see, Like I cannot
articulate how cool it was to see that. And then
the woman that got bronze was on a fair instead.
Also another woman that I had watched when she was
nineteen when I met her.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
And now she's like thirty.

Speaker 5 (22:44):
I'm like, this is crazy, but again she did amazing
and I was just so proud of them and mystique
as well. And I just haven't known mystque as long
as those two. But I walked up to Kim and
I said, Kim Boss won, She's world champion.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
And I said, I'm really proud of you. Congratulations.

Speaker 5 (23:05):
She gave me a hug and she said, I'm just
trying to be like you, and I almost started crying
and I was like, holy cow. And the next thing
I knew, more and more women were coming up to
me and telling me that they saw how hard it
was for me and that they were amazed at what
I could do and they were proud of me and
that I couldn't quit. And you know, Jeanine Flock, someone

(23:27):
I've watched, also competes and she was like seventeen. She
was like, I want you at the next Olympics with me,
and I just was so touched, and it like didn't
occur to me that my own competitors might also be
rooting for me. And it came full circle when I
went to the Hall of Fame induction and I saw
LIAMN Parsley, who's the Olympic silver medalist from two thousand

(23:48):
and two. And she was my first roommate when I
was twenty, and I remember thinking.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
She was amazing. I was like, she knows everything.

Speaker 5 (23:57):
I want to like figure out how she does what
she does on a slow like I had so.

Speaker 2 (24:01):
Much awe and respect for her.

Speaker 5 (24:05):
And to watch her getting back to the Hall of Fame,
and then it like shot me back to those moments,
and I was like, holy cow, is it possible maybe
that some of these girls that came up to me
felt that way about me at one time? And I
just thought, would I ever have wanted to see lean quit?
Like we competed against each other to go to the
Six Games, and when she didn't make it, I asked

(24:26):
her to come as my coach, and I just was
telling her, like I started kind of, I was just like,
you have no idea how amazing I thought you were,
And I easily thought you knew everything.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
And she did it like I don't.

Speaker 5 (24:40):
So what keeps me going is this is a rare
opportunity to really not only inspire new people, but the
ones I already have. And I owe it to the
little girl inside that started at eighteen, and I owe
it to the other girls that started at eighteen and
watched me. You know, It's like I owe it to

(25:01):
myself to finish that dream and to not give up.
So I just I feel better, I feel more at peace,
Like no matter what happens, I think the journey is
what's gonna matter most. And I just I couldn't let
down that little girl inside you know that watched Leanne.
If if Leanne had quit when I was competing against her,

(25:22):
I would have been so sad, like, yeah, I wanted
to beat her, and I did, But I just I
don't know, can you relate to that, like you don't
want to see one of your Yeah?

Speaker 1 (25:34):
No, And I think that I think it's such a
powerful reminder of the community that we have within the sport,
because I think so often right we're seen as competing
against each other, but then when you get to the games,
your team. I think one of the things that at
least I feel is sort of the way that I
relate to it is when I was growing up in

(25:55):
sports broadcasting right like ten fifteen years ago, I was
always told that if there's a seat at the table
for a woman, it's a singular woman, that's it.

Speaker 4 (26:05):
And so there was almost this like designed.

Speaker 1 (26:09):
Competition to view other women and to view your peers
as your competition. And so when I was coming up,
it was really easy to kind of put up guardrails
and say this is what I'm doing. This is what
I'm focusing on, and I'm not going to tell you
what I'm working on, because otherwise you're gonna, you know, like,
this is my seat.

Speaker 4 (26:27):
I got hold onto my seat. And now through some incredible.

Speaker 1 (26:32):
Women really and finally opening up sort of the decision
making and who makes the hiring decisions within a lot
of networks, or creating new platforms like you know, the
powerful like together, like all these other you know on
her turf, all these other women's sports brands.

Speaker 4 (26:48):
They're all saying, actually, we're gonna build our.

Speaker 1 (26:50):
Own table, you know, like we don't need we don't
need a seat at yours if you're gonna make us
compete with one another. And I think that as I've
gotten older, it is so much easier for me to
root for my friends. And some of my best friends
are women that realistically I've probably been competing for a
job with right at some point or another. We've probably

(27:11):
gone for the same job because we're the same type
of person, you know, like we like covering sports, we
like doing it in a certain area of the country
or whatever it is, and so I totally relate. But
at the same time, I want to compete against the best.
I want to go against the best because I want
to be If you want to be the best, you
get to beat the best. And I think that some

(27:31):
of the women that I know in this industry are
the best there are, and so to me as a
competitor still, even though I haven't done it athletically in
a long time, I want to be the best, and
I also want to be the best teammate. And that's
the dichotomy that I don't think is like easily. I
think it's kind of exactly what you're talking about. It's like,
you want to be the best, and also you want

(27:52):
to be the best teammate on once you're all there.

Speaker 5 (27:55):
But I mean, that's the special thing about the Olympics
because most of those women weren't on my team. They
weren't from the US, they were from the Netherlands, Italy, China,
like so many countries. I'm still just grateful for graeful
as the word that they like in shock. I had

(28:16):
no idea. Sometimes you don't realize how many people might
be rooting for you. But that's what I'm saying, is
the unique thing about the Olympics is that it's meant
to create world peace. Right, It's meant to bring you
in an environment that you discover and more about yourself.

(28:36):
You pursue excellence and you're like, holy cow, I didn't
know that's what I was capable of. And that's exactly
what I've embodying in trying to accomplish this goal.

Speaker 2 (28:45):
Not only that, but the Olympic spirit was fresh at
the World Champs.

Speaker 5 (28:50):
You know, people that were my competitors, they weren't worried
about Like we're all worried about winning, but not at
the expense of someone else. We all want to see
each other at our best. And yeah, not to say
the Olympics are all like sparkles and rainbows, because it
can also bring up the worst in people, just like
reality TV and Survivor.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
Yes we're speaking of which, Yeah, thank you for the segway,
because there's not a yance that me as a diehard
Survivor fan who yes, has.

Speaker 4 (29:18):
Applied for the show multiple times, I don't want to
talk about it. What did you get on? It's a
great question.

Speaker 2 (29:23):
I don't audition tapes.

Speaker 4 (29:26):
Okay, done done.

Speaker 1 (29:27):
After this podcast, we're gonna go ahead and redo my
audition days because I think that that show is so
much fun and you want to talk about, my gosh,
redefining what's possible. I want to know what your experience
was like as a crew member on that show, because
you weren't just there for one six seasons you were
on Survivor.

Speaker 4 (29:44):
We're some of the most beautiful, iconic.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
I think I did seven seasons. I'm not sure.

Speaker 4 (29:48):
Okay, seven seasons. So doing.

Speaker 1 (29:52):
Getting a chance to compete or to not compete, but
to be around that kind of competition, be a member
of a TV crew?

Speaker 4 (29:58):
Ay, how did you get gig? And then? B what
was it like?

Speaker 2 (30:03):
I was dating someone that worked on the show.

Speaker 5 (30:06):
We were together a long time, and he when initially
the show was like like they'd go film for like
three to six months and get and do two when
it was the thirty nine days format yep, And.

Speaker 2 (30:18):
I was like, oh, go, Like, I don't need to
go with you.

Speaker 5 (30:21):
And then eventually after the Olympics, he was like, Nope,
you don't have the Olympics anymore. You've got to come
with me, And so reluctantly I went with him to
work on Survivor and it was one of the best
experiences I've ever had.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
I loved like testing.

Speaker 5 (30:34):
I started out as like a PA testing the challenges,
which I think they have back behind the scenes and
all that stuff now.

Speaker 4 (30:39):
Amazing, Yes I was.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
I always ask because they always do the like here's
how you do the challenge, and I'm like, who is that.

Speaker 4 (30:45):
I'll take that job actually if you need.

Speaker 5 (30:49):
Like I like went back to like, I'll test it again,
want me to get it. They banned me from it
because I was like having way too much fun.

Speaker 4 (30:56):
But I like, no, this is not your own personal
obficacle court, Yes it is.

Speaker 5 (30:59):
No, I'm i'mlike way competitive and intents I can't help it, but.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
Yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 5 (31:05):
It was the best, Like the crew. Everyone on the
crew is like super positive. Everyone's really efficient, communicative, like
talk about a dream job. Like everyone just like as
someone as confident and intelligent as you feel like you
are or more so.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
Those were the people I was working with.

Speaker 5 (31:23):
And they had these crazy creative skills that were like
so variant. You know, you had people that were doing
carpentry like art, like all kinds of artwork.

Speaker 2 (31:33):
Then you had all the camera crews and everyone had their.

Speaker 5 (31:36):
Own niche and personalities, and it was an international crew,
so like I was meeting people from South Africa, Australia, Philippines, China,
Like I think I made this. I helped make this
flag for Jeff one of the shows, and I think
it was thirty six countries. We found out there were
thirty six countries, like people that worked for the crew,

(31:58):
and we had everyone sign it honestly, Like I still
have to pinch myself because I can't believe I worked
for the show, like and how cool it was, Like
I had so much fun. I've made friends for life,
life lessons too, because running through the jungle is not
easy work.

Speaker 2 (32:15):
But uh yeah, I have zero regrets and that show
is so cool.

Speaker 1 (32:22):
What do you think is the thing that you learned
about yourself? Or like, actually, wait before we get deep,
what was like your favorite memory? Give me like the
best the best survivor memory that you don't that is
like outside of what you can't tell us.

Speaker 5 (32:35):
I mean, honestly, all of the memories that just flashed
through my mind were working with the crew like my
like you get teams like I have a camera guy
an audio guy, and they're like the two I most
recently worked with where Dirk and Brendan and Brendan and
I thought all the time like we were just like
and I felt really bad about it.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
But then I look back on it, and we.

Speaker 5 (32:56):
Had so much fun and they were so funny. I
just when you're in an intense situation with someone like skeleton.

Speaker 2 (33:06):
I by myself.

Speaker 5 (33:07):
This was a challenge for me because I had to
work with a team, and I had to work not
just with my team, but my team amongst other teams,
and we're all trying to get the same thing done.
And that was definitely a challenge for me at times
because I was so used to being like it's all
about me, so what I got to do. And I
think that's partially why I kept wanting to go back,
because it would take me out of my like Olympic world,

(33:29):
and I was a grunt on the show essentially, like
I had no status. I had no like no one
gave a poop about the Olympics. They cared about getting
these shots. How are we gonna get these shots?

Speaker 4 (33:40):
You're like, wave up my medals?

Speaker 2 (33:41):
Remember, They didn't care.

Speaker 5 (33:43):
I was like okay, cool, Like like if I trained,
I had to get up, Like if I had a
call time at four am, then I had or four
thirty am call time.

Speaker 2 (33:52):
Then I would get up at two am and go
run sprints.

Speaker 5 (33:56):
Yeah. So that's one of my favorite memories is that
I caught the attention of some of the other crew
workers that worked on I can't remember that. They were
Marine and Grips and they were these fitness buffs and
they were like, can we train with you? So I
found a crew of people that I still love and
I talked to almost like weekly, we have a group chat.

(34:19):
They were working out with me, they were doing my
Olympic workouts. They would show up at like two in
the morning, at four in the morning or five in
the morning or whenever, like and come work out with me.
And one of the most funny memories is two am
we all met up to go do sprints and people
were out partying and so they were like passing us
going to workout and then like and these people were

(34:41):
like we were.

Speaker 6 (34:42):
Like, yeah, that's incredible, just the fact that I could
find people that had that like fire in them and
they weren't training for the Olympics.

Speaker 2 (34:52):
They were like, no, this is an Olympian. This is cool.
Like let's go work out.

Speaker 4 (34:56):
So sick, what do you think is the thing?

Speaker 1 (35:00):
Because you were doing that kind of in between. Obviously
EVE been competing in the Olympics since two thousand and six,
right was your first one? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (35:08):
So six, I went two thousand and six.

Speaker 1 (35:10):
So you were going in between sort of training and
competing for Olympics and then balancing that with working and
training at Survivor.

Speaker 4 (35:20):
What do you think you what? Like?

Speaker 1 (35:23):
How did those two things make sense together for you
as a person?

Speaker 4 (35:27):
How did they both fit you? Katie?

Speaker 5 (35:30):
So, I think for me, I just started, and this
is different, I think for I don't know. Actually I
can't speak for other people, but I looked at sport
as like a very serious extracurricular right, like it was
my career for sure. But yeah, but I wanted to
branch out, and I think I was better at that
when I was younger, Like now I'm like, okay, shoot,

(35:51):
now I actually have to branch out, Like I can't
do this anymore.

Speaker 2 (35:56):
But I initially was trying to set myself up for
other things. So there was a time I went to
work on Survivor.

Speaker 5 (36:03):
In October, I went to Palau, I think it was eight,
two thousand and eight, and I was gonna miss team trials,
like our selection team selections. So I just called the
team and like I was first in the world the
year before though, so that's like whatever.

Speaker 2 (36:20):
And then it isn't cool. But like at the same time.

Speaker 5 (36:23):
Like I was just this is what I mean, there
was there was me in this mentality, like I didn't
care what anyone thought. I would just made the most
logical decision that made sense for me. And as I
say this, I'm like, dude, I need to get back
to that. I need to get back to just having
no question, no doubt, not guessing, not some second guessing.
I just did things not thinking through like I thought

(36:45):
through it in terms of logic and not in terms
of how people would take it or how.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
It would make them feel and interesting.

Speaker 5 (36:52):
Yeah, So like the coaches, I was like, hey, I'm
taking this job. Just want to let you know, probably
I won't be able to make trials and they're like
and Noel was having a baby, so she said I
could have the buy and I was like, okay, cool,
So we made this decision on our own, like with
my other teammate and uh and I was like, yeah,
so I'll just take the buy and like I'll meet
you and Calgary and they were like you can't do that.

(37:15):
You can't just take a bye. And I was like, okay, cool,
well just tell me what who are I'm racing on?

Speaker 4 (37:18):
Then? But I took the job, hung up, Oh my gosh.

Speaker 5 (37:24):
So it's like if I'm not a World Cup, that's cool,
like send me to a America's Cup whatever, Like I'm
doing the job.

Speaker 2 (37:32):
And yeah, it was the best.

Speaker 4 (37:34):
It was the best.

Speaker 2 (37:35):
Like going out to Plow was amazing.

Speaker 5 (37:37):
Getting back on tour was crazy, Like flying to to
Calgary only four days before the World Cup from Polau.

Speaker 2 (37:45):
And I was just so jet lagged, Like it was
so hard. I was so tired yea, And I ended
up getting in the race and everyone was so mad
at me. It's crazy. They were like, well that's what
you get. But then I pulled together.

Speaker 5 (38:00):
I ended up winning the overall World Cup that year
and a silver medal at World Champs.

Speaker 2 (38:04):
I think so.

Speaker 5 (38:05):
And there are a couple of times that's happened to
me where I've made choices that people were like, that's crazy,
you shouldn't do that, like that makes no sense.

Speaker 2 (38:13):
Like training for Olympic weightlifting in twenty twelve.

Speaker 5 (38:17):
Yeah, I was doing weightlifting competitions during my World Cup
season and skipping World Cups so I could go qualify.
I qualified, and everyone thought that I was going to
get my butt kicked in skeleton, and then I won
World Championships.

Speaker 4 (38:32):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (38:33):
Not only did I win, but then I went to
Olympic Trials eight days later. And the difference I think
when right like right now, when you ask about how
do I make these decisions? The times that I do
my best are when I just know that's what I'm
doing and I don't.

Speaker 2 (38:50):
Let anyone influence that.

Speaker 5 (38:53):
And there are times that like like right now, I
was like, ooh, I don't know, like maybe I should retire,
Like what do I do? And I'm like waiting to
get to that point where I'm like, no, this is
a this is what I'm doing, this is my plan,
this is I'm executing it. But you have to take
time to do that. Sometimes sometimes you have to like
all right, I'm gonna think through this. But then when
I when I commit, I'm committed.

Speaker 4 (39:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:14):
So I love that, And I think that that speaks
sort of like to what I was talking about earlier,
where there's like you're it's not that you're not still
making decisions, it's that you're giving them the intention and
the time that they deserve. And it's something that I think, Yeah,
when you're when you're just chasing, chasing, chasing, and not

(39:34):
really looking at the direction you're going, it's kind of like, yeah,
of course I'm going to take the job, and it's
gonna like, you know, consequences be damned.

Speaker 4 (39:41):
And now it's kind of like, yeah, the consequences be damned.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
And also, you know, you've had what fourteen surgeries, and
you're trying to achieve something that no one has ever done,
which is compete in six Olympics in skeleton, and so
to achieve that is going to cost something somewhere else, right,
And so it's cool to almost like as you're describing,
and it's like I hear your mindset, like growing up

(40:06):
feels like the wrong way to say it, but it
almost feels like you're you're hearing yourself realize that, like, oh, yeah,
this is exactly.

Speaker 4 (40:13):
How I'm supposed to make this decision now, you know.

Speaker 1 (40:15):
Like it's I hope it feels like it's I feel
like I hear you build in confidence.

Speaker 5 (40:20):
So you could like, you know, you think you don't
know anything when you're a kid, you think you don't
understand things, and then yeah, and that's true, absolutely true.
You start to realize you don't know anything as you
get older, but that can also be become a weakness
because then you're like, oh, crap, I really don't know anything,
Like I need to check with these people, I need
to make sure this happens, like all these other responsibilities

(40:42):
come in play, and I'm realizing, like, no, there are
times that you can be a little bit more tunnel
visioned and confident, Like I could have talked to my
coaches and worked it out with them, but that would
have been a waste of energy.

Speaker 2 (40:55):
I know now, like I know now like I did then,
like and now.

Speaker 5 (41:00):
Like I'm attempting to spend more time sometimes explaining myself
or what I'm doing, and it just makes it worse.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
So I'm not saying I'm not.

Speaker 5 (41:07):
Havocating for not communication, but what I do advocate for
sure is if you have people you do that with,
make sure it's the right circle. Like Nick and Almana
were the right circle for me. They you know, they
weren't beating me down, they weren't telling me everything I
did wrong, or they would draw attention to it and say,
but this is how we do it better, or like,
what about this.

Speaker 2 (41:28):
Like there's a type of help or support.

Speaker 5 (41:32):
You get from friends and family that is empowering, and
then there's a type of advice and guidance that can
be the opposite. And for me, what I'm realizing now
is that or even then, I think it was very selective.
But I did it naturally. I didn't think about it.
Now I'm intentional about it. Right, We're talking about intention

(41:52):
As you get older, you rely less so on your
instincts and more so on your intention I think, like
I just was lucky that my instincts and my natural
ability to make decisions really fast to.

Speaker 2 (42:04):
Do stuff was on point.

Speaker 5 (42:08):
But when you start to become more intentional, it can
slow that down a little bit.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
Right, Yeah, And I think I always think of that
as I had a one point in particular, I'd had
this like argument with my boss and it had left
me just reeling because I was like, dang, I like,
you know, he'd he'd said some things in the conversation,
and it left me feeling like whoa am I that?

Speaker 2 (42:32):
Like?

Speaker 4 (42:32):
Am I is that how I am?

Speaker 1 (42:34):
And I like being perceived that way and I had
this conversation with one of my best friends who to
know when Surprise as a mental performance coach, and so
no wonder she gave me such good advice. But she
told me to picture the voices that are weighing into
my life as radio diet, like almost like volume knobs
on an old radio, and to go ahead and like

(42:56):
visualize the one that had that boss's name on it
and turn it down and instead to look at here's,
you know, my team that is like really rooting for
me to get the best next job. And here is
my partner, and here is my circle of girlfriends in
the industry, and like what turn those dials up and
turn that one down. Just because it has the word

(43:18):
boss on it doesn't mean that it has to be
the loudest. Yeah, no, that's a and it was life changing.
I think about it all the time.

Speaker 2 (43:26):
I love that. I love that friend. I love that story.

Speaker 4 (43:29):
Yeah I did too, Lauren Johnson.

Speaker 1 (43:30):
I know she listens to the podcast because she's like
one of my best friends. So thank you, Lauren for
that advice, because it really it's but it's so hard
to unlearn. It's so hard to unlearn this this sort
of you know the natural authority or the position of power,
and to trust that inner voice again. And it sounds like,
you know, when we're in our twenties, when we're early on,

(43:51):
we have the audacity and the hubrist to like believe
that of course, like why why wouldn't I do this?
Because I'm so confident? And then as you get older,
it's like these other voices come that you start to
question that in your voice, and you're like, no, wait
a minute, actually, like, as I get older.

Speaker 4 (44:05):
I should be getting more confident.

Speaker 1 (44:06):
I should be more certain of the decisions that I'm making,
because I know.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
That's how you think happens exactly.

Speaker 1 (44:12):
And it's like so, and like here we are in
the middle of this podcast processing like how to go
back to that almost again audacious belief in yourself that
you had at eighteen, and now you just are translating
it twenty two years later, the audacious belief that you
can become the woman who makes it to six Olympics
as a skeleton athlete.

Speaker 5 (44:33):
But that's why this is so important, because I think
as you get older, it gets so much easier to
be like, no, I have too many responsibilities, I have
too many things, like I have all these people d
D D DA, all of it. But the reality is,
like those dials on that radio you're talking about, you
can turn them up or down, and we all have
the opportunity to step into the batter's box and believe

(44:55):
in ourselves and chase the dreams like it's never too late.
It's never too late. And I know that sounds cheesy
and so easy, but it takes that audacious belief in
yourself to take those steps and go for it and
believe it's.

Speaker 2 (45:10):
Going to be okay.

Speaker 5 (45:11):
I might fail, I might not accomplish it, like that's
one hundred percent true, and honestly, the odds are against me.
But do you know how much fun it's going to
be to try and how many people I might inspire
along the way, And not only the people around me,
but that little girl inside that had that belief when
I was a kid.

Speaker 2 (45:30):
Reviving that is so worth it.

Speaker 4 (45:32):
Oh wow, that's oh no, did you get I got
all of that. I heard every single word of that.

Speaker 1 (45:39):
And I think you're already inspiring people just the fact
that you're saying, Hey, I'm scared, I don't know how
this is going to work out. But if there's one
thing that I've developed. It's not even a confidence in
achieving your goal. It's a confidence that you're going to
be okay, that you're going to land on your fricking feet,
no matter what that looks like. And that is the

(46:00):
audacious belief that at late thirties, early forties, mid fifties,
late sixties.

Speaker 4 (46:05):
It doesn't matter, you're gonna land on your fees. And
that is gosh. I freaking love that.

Speaker 1 (46:11):
So, Katie, I just am so grateful that you are
stepping into the batter's box, that you're turning up the
right dials because a lot of us are watching, a
lot of us inspired and regardless of whether or not
we see you in twenty twenty six in Italy, the
inspiration is happening right now.

Speaker 4 (46:28):
It is not the results, it's the process.

Speaker 5 (46:31):
Thank you for giving me a platform to share the story,
because I think that's that's the important part.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
So I love what you do. I love like having
you share these stories with.

Speaker 5 (46:38):
Me about Elena and like your best friend who's I
forgot her name.

Speaker 2 (46:43):
I'm sorry, but Lauren, no, it's okay. I won't forget
the radio dial story.

Speaker 5 (46:47):
Like these moments are important and I just I just
want to say thank you for letting me like come
on the show.

Speaker 2 (46:52):
And share all this.

Speaker 1 (46:53):
Oh my gosh, it is it is. Yeah, no, it's
my honor. It's my honor to have you. And it's
just it's so you know, like it's it's so validating
because this is this is my sort of sixth Olympics,
if you will.

Speaker 4 (47:06):
It's like starting something completely new, completely on my own.

Speaker 1 (47:10):
And hoping that it makes a difference and hoping that
even if it doesn't, my gosh, if it was just
a conversation between the two of us today, I had
a fucking great time.

Speaker 6 (47:18):
It works for me, Katie Man, I love the fuck
I love it.

Speaker 5 (47:22):
Keep it going, Like I just so like, please stay
in touch because anytime I meet another woman with that
same kind of like vibea the same cloth, like even
if it's a different color, like you're my people. So yeah,
and I want to do anything I can to help
and like, but you help me too, Like this is
almost like a therapy session.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
I was like, oh, I know, I feel like we.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
Just we just had a forty five minute therapy session
into our podcast, our powerful podcast.

Speaker 4 (47:47):
People. I hope you enjoyed it. You should maybe put
like a warning on this.

Speaker 1 (47:50):
Hey, this is going to be inspiring and maybe a
little bit of therapy, so come in the right mindset.
But before we let you go, Katie, we have to
move on to our next segment, which is something to
sip on and you want to talk about being cut
from the same cloth.

Speaker 4 (48:01):
Gennywaine of the sports Bra in Portland, Oregon.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
It's the very first women's sports bar in the entire world,
and they are the sponsors to this segment. The week
that your episode comes out, we are going to have
a drink called the Katie at the sports Bra. So
I want to know what are we sipping on. It
is a cocktail, it is a mocktail. It is whatever
you're sipping on.

Speaker 5 (48:20):
Okay, Well, I made up a drink and it was
really fun because I lived in La Firmanent and I
called it the Merito and I would be like, hey,
can I have a Merino? And They're like, what's that?
I was like, you don't know what that is?

Speaker 2 (48:34):
Like you like, you know what I mean?

Speaker 4 (48:36):
Yeah, which is so la.

Speaker 1 (48:38):
And by the way, that is so la to be
like I'm gonna make something up and then act like
you're ridiculous for not knowing what it is.

Speaker 4 (48:45):
But that's how try and start, miss ma'am. That's how
it started.

Speaker 2 (48:47):
I don't know if it kicked off. We go, we'll
have to wait and see if it got the on
the menu.

Speaker 4 (48:51):
But it's nice time in La. We'll go to a
bar and we'll see.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
I was like, it's basically a merito, but like a margarita.

Speaker 5 (48:56):
I was like, instead you use I was like, use
the throne silver or Don Julio silver, muddled mint, you know,
make it like a merito or mohito, but no sugar.
So it's just like basically lime juice, muddled mint and
the soda. And then if they want add a little

(49:17):
flavor a cucumber, they can do that.

Speaker 2 (49:18):
But just order merito and see what a merito.

Speaker 1 (49:22):
Okay, Well, we're gonna we may have to rebrand it
to the KD for the week, but we'll move on.
We'll bring it back to the merito and then as
we move forward, I guess.

Speaker 5 (49:30):
If you want to make it non alcoholic, you just like,
make a juice, you know, make it like a refresher exactly.

Speaker 4 (49:36):
Oh I love a good refresher. Okay.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
And then Our last segment is our Powered Up segment.
This is just a little Q and a fun things
to get to know your routines, your habits, because you know,
maybe I want to go out and try to become
the sixth time Olympian and something, and this is how
I'm gonna do it.

Speaker 4 (49:51):
Coffee or tea.

Speaker 5 (49:52):
Ooh, coffee in the morning, tea at night. Good Unlet's
just like a super jet lug moment. And then I
might do tea both times. But it's like, what's the vibe?

Speaker 4 (50:02):
Basically, yeah, yeah, I got that. What is your favorite
ice cream flavor?

Speaker 2 (50:06):
Ohs or pecan and prailings. I think it's a bluebell flavor.

Speaker 5 (50:11):
Like my brain went straight back to when I was
a kid and blue bell, blue blue bonnet, blue bell,
bluebellt ice cream.

Speaker 4 (50:18):
Yeah yeah, yeah from this it's a Southern Southern ice
cream flavor.

Speaker 5 (50:21):
And I was like pecan prailing and pecans or something
like that, Like, yeah, I think that was my favorite.
So good.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (50:27):
What is your go to meal after a skeleton race?

Speaker 2 (50:31):
Burger?

Speaker 5 (50:32):
Like, Okay, I have this thing where I travel around
the world and I have to try all the burgers,
like I'm I love them. I'm such a snob about it.
So like I have this like internal list about where
the best burgers are in whatever town I'm in and
whatever like country I've been to. So yeah, I will
I like scope out like burger spots.

Speaker 1 (50:53):
So I'm going to petition that you make that list
public as somebody who travels all the time and is
always on the hunt for good burger. So I'm just
gonna hit you up and be like, Katie, I'm in
this city, what's my burger wreck for the week?

Speaker 2 (51:04):
Like here in Lake Placid, I went straight to.

Speaker 5 (51:08):
Redneck Bistro and that is I get the Swiss burger
with caramelized onions and honey John, It's like it's it's mint.

Speaker 2 (51:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:19):
Oh that sounds so good. What is the favorite place
that your sport has taken you?

Speaker 2 (51:24):
Oh, my gosh, skeleton specifically.

Speaker 4 (51:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:27):
Well, I mean, actually no, I'm not going to confine
you to one of your sports.

Speaker 5 (51:32):
I mean one of my favorite places has been New
Zealand for skiing, Like it is the if I could
retire somewhere, I think, like I'm debating, like what if
I just pick up my life and try to convince
them to let me live there because it's just the
biggest playground ever. Like, it's beautiful, they're all the sports,
the people are so nice, and they have the best burgers.

Speaker 4 (51:52):
I love New Zealand.

Speaker 1 (51:53):
I actually had a really good burger in Wanica, New Zealand.

Speaker 4 (51:59):
So oh girl. I don't know that I'm an, I
don't know that I'm remember the name. But it was
delicious and it was after a.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
Really hard, like twenty two mile hike overnight to one
of the huts. And nothing tastes better after a hard
workout than a burger.

Speaker 2 (52:16):
I'm telling you. I'm like I found out too my dad.

Speaker 5 (52:19):
I found his journals from when he was an athlete,
and he would write down anytime he had a really
good burger.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
And I was like, it's genetic.

Speaker 4 (52:26):
Oh my gosh, that's incredible. Oh that's so fun.

Speaker 1 (52:31):
And I bet in all the Major League Baseball cities
there's probably so many good burger joints.

Speaker 2 (52:36):
But I never knew that until after he passed away.

Speaker 5 (52:38):
And like after World Championships in two thousand and eight,
we were in Prague together and he was like, he's like,
what do you want.

Speaker 2 (52:45):
I was like, I want a burger and he just
started giggling, and I.

Speaker 5 (52:48):
Was like, why are you laughing? Now I know why,
because that's what he.

Speaker 2 (52:52):
Used to do.

Speaker 4 (52:53):
He's going to like father like daughter, I got you girl.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
Oh that's so sweet. Okay, so you don't even have
to pick one of the sports that you tried. But
if you weren't an Olympic skeleton athlete, what would you
want to be an Olympian in?

Speaker 2 (53:07):
Ooh?

Speaker 5 (53:08):
For sure, something like golf or tennis because you make
a lot of money doing that.

Speaker 2 (53:13):
Also potentially surfing.

Speaker 4 (53:16):
Okay, that's my bread and butter.

Speaker 2 (53:20):
I just I love the beach and I love the ocean.

Speaker 5 (53:22):
Like if I wasn't in a winter snow baby, I
would have been an ocean baby.

Speaker 4 (53:26):
Like promise.

Speaker 5 (53:27):
I can't read water for the life of me. Like
I can read snow. I can get snow. Nice you
put me in the water and I'm.

Speaker 2 (53:33):
Like, eh, wait, I don't know.

Speaker 4 (53:35):
I can't read. We teach you. I can.

Speaker 1 (53:38):
I'll teach you how to read the waves. You teach
me how to read the snow. Because I came to
the snow late, but I grew up in the ocean.
I was a white water rafting guide in your home
state of Colorado for many years, and so I got
you on the water reading if you helped me with this,
with the whole like getting comfortable going seventy miles an
hour down, nice tracking.

Speaker 5 (53:56):
But to answer the question, after thinking about it more,
I'm gonna go with tennis because I went to my
first pro tennis match last summer and it was so cool,
like I had no idea incredible.

Speaker 4 (54:06):
Yeah, yeah, Tis, I like that. What is the best
piece of advice you have ever gotten?

Speaker 2 (54:11):
I mean we went over it early, I know. Let
me think there's more.

Speaker 5 (54:16):
There's tons of Carl Lewis in twenty ten told me
once that because my dad had passed away going into
that Olympics, and he had the similar experience with his
father passing, and he told me that my father had
given me all the tools I needed to continue on
without him, and that just to hold on to that

(54:40):
and to remember because he's a dial. My dad's a
dial on the radio. I can turn up at any
time and just think back to like the advice or
his examples. And I think that was a great piece
of advice. And I'm just going to stick to that
dial radio thing too.

Speaker 2 (54:54):
That's gonna be Yeah. In my bucket now as well.

Speaker 4 (54:58):
But I know it's so good.

Speaker 5 (55:00):
Yeah. The other thing he said, though, is that you
need to really really pay attention to your your inner circle,
Like you have to create your own support group in
your inner circle. He's like, now that your dad's not there,
be care you know, it's like, be careful what voices
you do.

Speaker 2 (55:12):
Turn up and listen to.

Speaker 5 (55:14):
So yeah, I think Carlos that was that was kind
of brilliant and really great at the time to hear
of that him.

Speaker 4 (55:20):
Yeah, yeah, that's that's that's uh, that is one of
those ones that sticks with you for a long time.

Speaker 1 (55:27):
And then the last question I have for you, Katie
is I am so grateful that you came on the
Powerful podcast. We were all about highlighting powerful women like yourself.
So what does powerful mean to you?

Speaker 5 (55:39):
Having the audacity and not give up? Like, Honestly, the
more like the older you get, the longer you go
there's I'm just finding so much more honor and empowerment.
Like powerful means empowerment like in not giving up, like
not necessarily on whatever you're after, but yourself, Because to me,

(56:00):
being successful is not.

Speaker 2 (56:03):
Objective, it's subjective. And like in this journey I'm about
to do like I'm gonna go for it, like I'm
pretty sure I'm to make it. But if I don't, like,
all the things I did leading up to that are
gonna be success. And that's powerful.

Speaker 4 (56:16):
Absolutely absolutely.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
Oh well, I am so grateful for the fire, for
the therapy session, for this episode of the Powerful Podcast, Katie,
I am rooting for you every small success along the way,
all of the big ones that are coming your way
and wherever that takes you.

Speaker 4 (56:33):
Thank you so much for me, No, thank.

Speaker 2 (56:35):
You really, I'm like, really, I'm so grateful.

Speaker 1 (56:38):
Yeah, well, I'm overwhelmed. It's gonna take me a second
to process this one. Have to listen back to it
a few times. So Powerful Pod Squad, I hope you
all enjoyed this one. We're so grateful you're here and
we'll catch you next time. 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 it