January 17, 2025 • 37 mins
In this episode, I sit down with Jamie Mittelman, founder of Flame Bearers, the world’s first storytelling platform for elite women athletes. Jamie shares how her personal yoga journey helped her manage OCD and anxiety, deepening her understanding of the mind-body connection. She also discusses how Flame Bearers amplifies the voices of over 275 Olympians and Paralympians from 55 countries, with a focus on diverse representation through video, podcasts, and events.
Listeners will gain insights into:
Jamie’s transformative yoga journey, from high school to teaching in Southeast Asia. The powerful mental health practices used by athletes, including daily reflection, visualization, and positive self-talk. How yoga skills translate beyond the mat, enhancing public speaking, leadership, and professional performance. The evolution of women’s sports, from gender parity at the Olympics to breaking sponsorship records in soccer and basketball.Jamie and Flame Bearers are reshaping the narrative of elite female athletes and the role yoga plays in fostering mental and physical resilience. For more on Jamie’s work, lookup the Flame Bearers podcast, visit flamebearers.com or contact her at jamie@flamebearers.com
--
If you feel called to dive deeper into other topics of yoga philosophy, join the waitlist for my Quietmind Yoga Teacher Training at quietmind.yoga/ytt. That’s where I guide you through the ten core competencies of yoga, including philosophy, yoga history, mindfulness, anatomy, and teaching skills.
--
Follow on Instagram @quietmind.yoga
Follow Quietmind Astrology Podcast for free weekly horoscopes in Vedic Astrology (the sister science of yoga)
Follow @quietmindastrology on IG for more on astrology
Keywords: teacher training, certification, become a teacher, teaching tips, instructor training, teaching skills, anatomy, philosophy, practice, teaching classes, sequencing, poses, asanas, for beginners, advanced training, business, career, teacher podcast, teacher journey, mindfulness, meditation, pranayama, techniques, lifestyle, teacher community, resources, workshops, retreats, alignment, ethics, wellness, education, teaching online, teaching strategies, student engagement, class themes, training tips, teaching challenges, professional development.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
I'm so grateful today to be joined by Jamie Middleman of
Flame Bearers. And she works with elite female
athletes and we're going to talkabout her experience working
with them and her experience as a certified yoga teacher and
then bringing that out into the world in her life.
So thank you so much for being here, Jamie.
Thank you for having me, Jeremy.I'm I'm really excited to be
(00:30):
here. Yeah.
So I'd love to just hear a little bit about your story of
like your path with yoga and into where it's LED you today.
Sure. So growing up, I was a very
active child. I was a three sport athlete in
high school. I played a sport in college for
(00:51):
a little bit. But growing up I really realized
that I needed a way to ground myself.
I later found out that I have diagnosed OCD, didn't realize
that when I was little and was quite anxious and quite always
looking ahead and not as much inthe present, present moment if
(01:14):
you will. So my journey with with yoga and
meditation started. I actually did my senior project
in high school on it where I dida yoga class for every single
day for a month and did a deep dive on the history of yoga.
And that really changed my life because I realized how
beneficial it was and how much Ithink my body and my mind
(01:37):
benefited from that practice. I went on and practiced
throughout college, after college, became a certified yoga
instructor, taught a little bit after.
Afterwards, when I lived in Southeast Asia, I lived in
Bangladesh and have since then returned to the States, but have
(01:57):
continued to to practice a lot. But I'm no longer teaching.
I think what was really beneficial about the instructor
certification process and teaching was learning to take my
practice in a deeper way, to seeit from different vantage
points, to learn about alignment, to learn about pacing
(02:22):
and things like that. And it really helped me deepen
my practice on an individual basis.
So that's kind of where I am today in terms of my work with
elite female athletes. I realized that I had a
background in media and marketing communications and I
wanted to work with elite femaleathletes.
(02:43):
So in a lot of ways, I married my two passions and and Out
Flame Bearers came, which is theworld's first production
storytelling platform that specifically amplifies and
celebrates elite female athletes.
Very cool. So where did you go to school
that you were able to have access to yoga that much or.
(03:07):
I went to a small liberal arts school in Vermont.
It's called Middlebury College and I went to a lot of yoga
classes in town, actually. Nice.
Yeah. It's like I, I love that it's so
much more accessible now than itwas in the past.
And it's, I, I've worked with youth and, and teens and as well
(03:31):
in the past teaching classes. And I know sometimes with that
age group, like it can be eithernot cool or is cool or like it's
like so much more of this, like,how do that?
What do people think of me if I'm doing yoga?
And like, did you experience anyof that when you were doing
that, or was it more normal in your community?
No, I definitely did. I definitely got a lot of the
(03:56):
stereotypes around me being a little woo woo about being a
hippie, about me being out there, if you will.
And I remember in the beginning trying to position it more as
you know, this is a workout, this is good for injury
(04:17):
prevention. And thinking about it through
that lens as opposed to talking about it from a mental health
perspective, I think what we've seen now is a massive influx of
people talking about mental health, and therefore it's a lot
more socially acceptable from from that perspective.
But in the beginning I was really uncomfortable talking
(04:40):
about it from that lens, and I was talking more about it from a
injury prevention, physical activity perspective because
that felt more socially acceptable.
Right. And yoga has that too, and it
has all the other parts. And it's great how you can like
emphasize different parts of thepractice.
And so I imagine that has servedyou super well in this path
(05:05):
you've gone on to now work with athletes who may be more
concerned with like things that are going to just support their
performance and like get tangible results in their
performance. So you need to focus on those
elements of the practice. I imagine when you're like
sharing these things with them or when you have things you have
shared with them. And I'm curious like, which one
(05:27):
or what things have you found tobe like the most beneficial for
the athletes you work with? Sure.
I would say that that my practice has been helpful from
my perspective in terms of beinga good listener.
So one of the things that you learn and you, you know, you go
through and your teacher training is watching and taking
in the body language, the behavior of the people around
(05:49):
you. And that's one of the things
that I've tried really hard to respect and support in every
interview and every video and every podcast we do, is to
really be mindful and aware of how the athlete is acting and
what's going on for them. A couple of things that have
repetitively come up for me around how the athletes take
(06:13):
care of themselves and how the athletes ground and center
themselves. The first one is setting a
setting aside time for themselves.
So this is something that I've repetitively heard from athletes
from all over the world. So we've worked with athletes
from 55 different countries and we've worked with about 275
(06:36):
different Olympians and Paralympians.
A lot of them everyday take timefor themselves.
And it could be to journal, it could be to breathe, it could be
to take a walk. And what that space is depends
on the athlete. But I think the common theme
here is that they feel like it is time for themselves and it's
(06:58):
a time to nurture who they are. And it's a time of reflection.
Some athletes find journaling asa really helpful way to do that.
Some people find going for a walk is very meditative.
Other people, it's reading, listening to music.
But the theme here is setting a sign 5/10/15 minutes every day
(07:20):
for you. I would also say that something
that has repetitively come up isthis idea of community.
So being in community with like minded individuals who build you
up and who support you and beingreally intentional and aware
about the energy that you surround yourself with.
(07:43):
So as athletes at the highest level of sports, they are, you
know, inundated with comments with people chiming in on social
media about what they look and like in their past performances.
And I've heard repetitively fromathletes the importance to tune
(08:04):
out everyone else but to listen to the people in your own group.
So for example, I've worked withSue Bird, who is one of the most
iconic basketball players in theworld and she said I absolutely
do care about what people think,but it's only certain people and
everyone else I don't listen to.I had the opportunity to work
(08:26):
with Alexa Moreno, who is the most successful Olympic gymnast
in Mexican history, and she was cyber bullied.
And she said what I have to do on a daily basis is turn off a
lot of my comments on social media and just not even look at
them. And instead, I talked to my
(08:47):
friends and my family members who surround me with love and
support and the energy that fuels me.
So those would be the two thingsthat I have kind of repetitively
heard from athletes across the world in different disciplines,
but both of them kind of fuel and nurture each person.
(09:09):
So some time for yourself and then some supportive community
that you listen to more than thecritics.
Exactly. And that community can take a
lot of different forms. For some people, it's a partner,
it's a spouse, it's a brother and aunt and uncle.
Some people, it may be the family you choose.
(09:29):
It could be, you know, your friends from college, high
school, work, whatever it is. What's important is to be really
intentional about whose voices you let in and which voices you
don't. Yeah.
And that that works internally as well.
And just what thoughts that you choose to feed right?
(09:53):
Absolutely. And then there's a whole other
line of of I could go into that too, where so many athletes talk
about their self talk. So, so many athletes are very
intentional about the voices they live let in externally.
Another theme is also, what are the words of affirmation?
(10:14):
What are the things that you're actually telling to yourself
before a race, a match, a competition?
And a lot of that is around affirmation, around personal
beliefs, self motivation and really fueling things that build
confidence. So I think there's a time for
doubt that is not right before your competition.
(10:36):
So a lot of the the self talk that these athletes turn to
right before their competition is very much confidence
building, is very much reinforcing positive attributes
or things that they are really successful at.
Right. Is there a certain like way of
(11:00):
self talk or framework? I've heard different ideas about
this of like I am statements in the present tense, I am this way
or I'm that. Or maybe it's like I've heard
about like literally envisioninga certain outcome.
Like if it's a, let's say, if it's a tennis player, there's
like a certain sort of way of playing or technique that
(11:22):
they're envisioning. Or is it?
What have you found that's been helpful for women you've talked
to? It's such a good question.
What's really cool is there's somany different ways to do it
depending on how their minds work.
So a lot of athletes do have IM statements.
So before they go to bed, I've heard the night before a big
(11:45):
meet or a competition, it is lying in bed and saying I am the
best in the world or I am worthyof winning an Olympic gold
medal, or I have put in the workand the discipline to do this.
Visualization is also another fantastic technique.
I worked with Sophia Gogia of Italy, who just won her 25th
(12:09):
World Cup, and she said what shedoes is she visualizes herself
skiing down the course, crossingthe finish line and looking at
the clock and seeing a certain time.
And then also the visualization of the feelings she will have.
So the feelings of pride, the feelings of having given her
(12:32):
best effort and really leaning into that.
Other athletes are more find it really beneficial to journal and
that that is how they soak in these affirmations.
So there's been multiple athletes who've told me what I
do is I write down my affirmations and they have
almost mantras that they repeat on a daily basis in the morning
(12:56):
when they wake up and on the evening before they in the
evening before they go to bed. That is saying things along the
lines of, you know, I'm consistently doing my best,
another athlete said. You know, I can do my best, but
how other people perform is outside of my control.
So owning the things you can ownand then letting go of the
(13:19):
factors outside of your control.Yeah, very cool.
And it's interesting too, that you have this background trained
in yoga practice in yoga, but not focusing on just teaching
yoga and like studios, but you are using those skills in an
adjacent field essentially. And I think there's maybe
(13:43):
something people don't think about as much.
I, I always talk about it like, I think yoga training is like
one of the life skills that should be like in school.
Like it's just part of we learn how to do this.
When I learn math, we learn reading, we learn breath work if
you learn meditation and nervoussystem regulation.
So you're getting to use these skills in an adjacent field.
(14:07):
And I'm curious, like your experience with that of like
that might speak to other peoplewho maybe want to take a teacher
training or maybe in a teacher training, but like they don't
know if they see themselves actually teaching yoga, but they
they're a certified teacher now.So like, how was your journey
with that? Totally.
And I love talking about it because it has fundamentally
(14:30):
changed my life. I think I I mentioned that I
have OCD and growing up I didn'trealize that I didn't even know
that OCD was a thing. And I later when I was taking
psychology classes, I started reading about rituals and
obsessive thoughts and I realized that wow, the, you
(14:50):
know, 2 hour ritual I have before bed every night is not
something that everyone has. And I think what I found is that
OC yoga freed me in a certain way.
It gave me back my mind when I had previously felt enslaved by
my OCD. And I didn't even know that that
was a thing. But through breath work, through
(15:14):
meditation, through really desensitizing myself, I was able
to claim back my mind and, and what I perceived to be real.
In terms of people who are thinking about yoga teacher
training, but perhaps not not actually teaching, I would say
it definitely deepens your practice.
(15:36):
You know, just if you want to continue to do yoga on your own
because you understand how your body works, you understand the
alignment, you understand how your muscles and your bones and
etcetera all work together. So that was really helpful for
me. I also loved learning about the
history of it. So understanding how we got to
(15:56):
today and potentially where we're we're going in the future,
which I thought was really cool.And and more to your point, I
think it is an incredible lifelong skill to be able to, in
any situation, ground yourself. So, for example, I used to be
terrified of public speaking. I've now given speeches in front
(16:20):
of hundreds and thousands of people in my younger self would
have absolutely freaked out at that idea.
But you know, before I go on stage, before I go on, whatever
it is, I do my breathing, I do my breath work.
And that really centers and grounds me.
I had the opportunity to go to Business School and they do cold
calling. So you in front of a classroom
(16:42):
of hundreds of people, a professor will say, hey, Jamie,
what's the answer? And on the spot, you have to
give it. That is something where, you
know, my heart would be racing, pounding out of my chest and I'd
be able to slow it down and givean eloquent or somewhat eloquent
answer. That's a skill set that I
(17:03):
directly think for me comes fromyoga that I know helps me be a
better leader, a better professional that, you know,
people would not look at that and be like, oh, you're a yoga
practitioner. But that's my ability to slow
down my heart rate and speak eloquently directly comes from
my yoga practice. Yeah, the, the mental awareness,
(17:27):
the self-awareness, the body awareness.
Like I remember being a kid in like in gym and like my heart
was pounding like exercising andI thought something was wrong
with me and like I didn't, I didn't really understand, you
know, like, Oh yeah, that's normal.
I'm increasing my cardio right now.
You know, I was like, Oh my gosh, I can't breathe, you know,
(17:49):
like, but it's I just didn't have any of that awareness.
Nobody's telling me that when I was a kid.
And and then like things like more recently, I was doing acro
yoga with a friend who was like new to it.
I thought, I thought she had a lot of yoga experience.
And we started to lose our balance a little bit and I sit
(18:09):
tipped her over so she could land on like on her feet.
And she like did this crazy spill, like kind of rolled and
flipped and like landed on her ankle.
And it's like, Oh my God, she was OK.
Like it wasn't too bad. Like she just, it hurt a little
bit for a bit for that day. But, but it just really
(18:29):
highlighted to me, like in my mind of all the years of yoga
practice and training, like I amlike super aware of like where
my, where I'm going and where mybody's doing.
And, and I kind of take it for granted now.
And like, I was like, Oh my gosh, it should have gone way
slower with you there. I thought you, I thought we were
on the right spot there and you were going to land on your feet.
(18:50):
And, but reminded me too, like when I was younger, like I
didn't have any of that body awareness.
Like if I was in that position, I would have just been like, I
don't know what's happening. I'm falling.
And I think that's like one of the most valuable life skills,
especially as people get up there in age where it's like
falling can be a major issue. So just that like essential body
(19:13):
awareness. And then of course, for athletes
at the more extreme and that end, like it's so valuable to be
hyper aware of like every movement and every muscle in
your body, like when you're competing and performing in like
Olympic levels, I imagine. So it's, yeah, such a great
skill for like, like body awareness and proprioception of
(19:33):
space and interception of what'shappening inside. 100% and, and
so many athletes have talked about, you know, after starting
yoga, after starting breath workand meditation, that they are
able to prevent injuries that they have historically had from
happening again because they're able to feel in their bodies
(19:55):
when the same symptoms are starting to happen and to stop
pushing themselves. So I think that that is one of
the very clear ways that just body awareness of what's going
on now, what are you actually feeling in your body at any
moment helps people at the highest level of sports from an
injury prevention perspective orrepetition perspective.
(20:19):
So they they can make sure that you know, ways that they've been
sidelined in the past aren't going to take them out again.
Yeah. And then for like the mental
health side of it, people who might be going through
challenges, OCD or other things going on and personally like
they're working at even just patterns or behaviors or just
(20:42):
things that they would like to increase tools and resources
they have for nervous system regulation or ways to.
Absolutely no, 100%. And that was one of those things
that for me, I think I may have mentioned that yoga was one of
(21:06):
the ways that I able, I was ableto notice that my reality was
not actually real. So by slowing down my heart
rate, by grounding myself in thephysical world that actually is,
I was able to challenge narratives that I had in my mind
of what was actually going on inthe real world.
(21:26):
I had a lot of self doubt. I had a lot of things worth.
I was always thinking that I wasfailing.
And what this practice helped medo was actually take stock of
what's going on in the real world around me and not
necessarily always just blindly lean into these narratives that
(21:47):
I had created in my mind. Right.
And you know, one of those things too is like, I looked at
your social media and some of the cool things you're doing
just like this evolution of women's sports has been amazing.
And I think there's a lot of like the attitude that you have
(22:08):
and like the the people doing this work to with flame bearers
to like bring this like women's sports more into the spotlight.
And like the evolution from the Olympics, Like whenever 100 plus
years ago and there's no women'ssports and you have this cool
post on your social media that shows like a steady evolution
over the years. Now it's like 50% women
(22:29):
competing in the Olympics. And like, I think that sort of
yogic way of thinking of like, just let's just question the way
we're thinking about this or thelimitations we're perceiving or
the rules that we're setting in like what's actually possible
here. And, and just like this more
expansive kind of way of viewingeverything, but in this
(22:52):
particular in your case, workingwith women's sports and
athletes. And like, just imagine, like I,
I like to think of imagining a world where like more people are
just doing that and everywhere and government health and, you
know, every aspect of the world,like more of this yogic way of
thinking. Have there been any like big
(23:13):
hurdles or blocks or like challenges you've encountered on
your path with flame bearers? So like where your yoga kind of
way of thinking and expansive kind of thinking is expanded?
What's possible in that work? Well, thanks for pointing that
out. I really appreciate it.
Definitely. So one of the very concrete
(23:34):
visible ones is who we feature. So a lot of people think of an
elite female athlete generally and they imagine a white able
bodied woman who plays soccer, basketball.
And yes, that is awesome. Hey, I'm a white able bodied
(23:55):
woman who played soccer in college.
But there is a much broader definition of other types of
women who also play. So half the athletes we were
with are Paralympians. So those are athletes with
physical disabilities are from the global S where perhaps it
may not be getting the systemic support may place in Europe for
(24:21):
simple, we were with our black girls.
You hold different identities that are trying to be
expansively thinking about the type of woman and what a female
athlete looks like. I think when most people think
of a female athlete, they have apretty narrow definition of
(24:45):
that. And we view it as a yes and not
a either or. So it's a absolutely.
We support, you know, white ablebodied athletes who play soccer
and basketball. We also support South African
Paralympians and Brazilian Paralympians and we believe
their stories are are equally important and equally valuable
(25:07):
to your question. We have received some pushback
on that because a lot of people are expecting a very narrow
definition and storyline. I think what we have found is
there is a lot of interest and alot of excitement around these
expansive stories, but it catches people off guard.
(25:28):
A lot of people are coming in and they're like, oh, wait, this
is this isn't what I expected. So there's a little bit of a
dance in the beginning where people are trying to be like,
well, what are you? And it's this kind of attempt to
slot flame bearers into a certain, into a narrow
definition that I don't think wereally fit right now, if I'm
(25:52):
going to be honest. Yeah, how would you define what
it is? I would call us a storytelling
company, media production company for elite women in
sports, and we tell stories in three main ways.
So video, podcast, events, all with the goal of centering these
(26:15):
bad ass women and what they caremost about.
That's awesome. You know, I'm, I love that I'm a
Vedic astrologer as well like a sister science of yoga and I
have one of the things I do is research.
I look at many charts from history as I can find find
(26:35):
patterns and one of the bigger challenges for me is finding
women like in history books are in it's like historical
references of like there's way more, it's way easier, way more
prevalent to find things about men throughout history.
(26:57):
But there are so many very important stories.
And I think this is part of evenin the word history of his
story. Of course, like we, we tend to
get more of the male perspectiveof this and for many reasons.
But basically it's something toothat I just, I love that there's
more attention, more visibility,more voice of these stories
(27:20):
because the stories have been happening the whole time, but
they just haven't been documented.
And it's great that you're doingthat work.
Well, thank you Our our entire ethos is based off the idea that
if you can see it or hear it, you can be it.
And to your point, these storieshave been happening for
(27:43):
millennia, but they haven't beendocumented.
And therefore it's hard for for young girls and boys to have
role models like that. So we believe that for, you
know, we want girls and boys from all all countries, all
corners of the world to have role models at the highest level
of sports who they can look up to, who look and sound like
(28:04):
them. And by amplifying and
celebrating their stories and their terms, we are actually
hopefully creating and amplifying these these models of
a resilience and people who can,who can be emulated across the
world. That's, that's beautiful and,
and the yogic tradition, it's like an interesting thing with
(28:26):
these aesthetics, these yogi's who would do kind of extreme
things like maybe like keep yourarm overhead for your entire
life and never lower it or neverlay down, always standing up
your whole life. And this is idea that it's this
form of tapas or, or effort or discipline.
(28:46):
And like there's a documentary Isaw with one of these modern day
people doing this. And he said, if I can do this,
what excuse do you have for whatever you're going through in
your life? So this idea of like a model of
like what we can push our body through.
And I think I can, if I don't lower my arm, I'm going to die
(29:08):
or something, my arm's going to fall off.
Or it's like, Nope, you're at, you can still live your life.
And you know, these things that you think you have to have or,
or these things like you think it has to be this way.
So it becomes a role model for like passion, discipline,
commitment. And I think we learned so much
through stories as like social creatures.
(29:30):
So I think having more access tothese stories and these examples
are role models is super valuable.
Thanks. Earlier today, to your point, I
was interviewing Saman Soltani. She is on the Olympic refugee
team. She is a K1 canoe kayaker in the
(29:52):
Olympics. So she talks about how she her
dream is to win an Olympic medal, but she says her real
goal is to be a role model and asource of inspiration for other
people who are thinking about giving up their sport.
She said she almost did that. And if she can reach one person
(30:13):
who can listen to her story and they decide to give it a go one
more day that she will feel successful, that's.
Beautiful. Yeah.
And in some ways you're a role model for people who might take
a teacher training and feel likemaybe some sense of guilt or
(30:33):
shame, like I should be a teacher now 'cause I took a
teacher training. But actually what's actually
aligned is something in your case, like very interesting and
new and different and like outside of any box of what
things it should, what people think it should be.
And you're still getting to use the things you learn for
yourself and in the work. But it's like, it's a great
(30:55):
example of like what you can do with the yogic skills outside of
the traditional yoga context. It's true and and who knows, I
may down the line want to circleback in and and teach again.
But to your point, the lessons that I learned in that, that
training live with me every day.And they, they make me a better
(31:18):
friend and a better partner and a Better Business person.
And it's not just on the mat that I'm employing those skills.
It's every single day when I, you know, sit down at my
computer and I take a step back or I'm angry at my partner and,
you know, I have to really focuson who I am and what I'm doing.
(31:40):
Right, yeah, that's been for me similar to like I used to just
teach all day every day and fulltime.
And I got more and more into other interests too, like
astrology and stuff. So I, I trained in yoga and that
was my main thing for a long time, but it became more of the
foundation of myself and what I eventually did in the world
(32:03):
rather than just all I do. And it's, it's such valuable
skills for, Yeah, relationships,work yourself, your own health,
Yeah. To your point of that this this
distancing of the individual, the self and what you do, this
is something that I have repetitively heard from world
(32:26):
class athletes, especially as they approach their retirement.
So a lot of athletes who have not done some of this work
really struggle from an identityperspective of realizing, you
know, I am so and so the swimmer.
I am so and so the soccer player, the basketball athlete.
And I think what I have found isthat there's immense value when
(32:51):
these athletes are able to say, Nope, this is a job.
This is something that I do. I am this person.
Yes, I've won an Olympic golden medalist, but I am also a
compassionate sister. I am also a an artist.
I live with these values and to be able to distance their
(33:12):
identity and self worth from thethings that they do.
So that's that's something that I have seen as well that I think
is really productive. Yeah, I've heard this too.
Especially for athletes who get injured and they're cut short of
their career. That's got to be.
Absolutely. Yeah.
And the frustration of a dream deferred or not being able to
(33:37):
happen and kind of the the pain that goes along with that.
Absolutely. Yeah.
And I think the more we get attached to these forms or these
roles or identities, and the more we suffer if we think it
has to be a certain way. Yeah, Yoga gives us that ability
to have perspective, to have tools to navigate the changes
(34:00):
and the challenges and, and it'sit's great that it's so much
more accessible now too, and that people like you are sharing
this with these people and theseathletes.
Like it's also cool too, like how much more just records keep
getting broken and more athletesare excelling and performing at
higher and higher levels over over time as well.
(34:23):
And I think these kind of tools are part of that reason.
Absolutely. You know, you mentioned it,
Tokyo or Paris was the first Olympics in modern day Olympic
history with gender parity, so equal numbers of male and female
athletes competing. Last year there, we broke
smashed all records for fresh soccer in the US, for
(34:45):
basketball, for sponsorship. We are breaking these barriers
and with that come more resources.
So athletes are talking about nutrition, they're talking about
mental health, they're talking about sleep, and they're asking
and doing this incredible work that perhaps previously wasn't
(35:06):
as accessible, wasn't as widespread, definitely perhaps
was more frowned upon culturallyor not celebrated.
So I definitely think we're seeing a movement that is really
benefiting both the athlete and the consumer.
And thank you for being part of that and thank you for being
(35:28):
here today, Jamie, to share about it.
It's really inspiring. Well, thank you for having me
Jeremy. I love I love what you do and
would love to be a part of your community however I can be.
Thank you. So if you wanted to stay in
touch with Jamie, check out Flame bearers.com, Flame bearers
on Instagram, YouTube, all the social medias.
(35:52):
Is that the best place for people to stay connected with
you? Exactly.
So we have a contact form on ourwebsite.
If anything I said today resonates or if you want to find
a way to work together, you can also just e-mail me directly.
It's Jamie at flamebears.com andI'll get back to you.
So I'd say check out our website, our socials, or shoot
(36:14):
me a note directly. And I guess women don't have to
be already elite athletes necessarily to work with you.
And maybe they're on the path orwanting to go in that path.
They could reach out. Absolutely.
Or you can be a an individual who works for the corporation
who wants to help give voice to these people who you could be
(36:37):
someone who say, hey, I work in an office and I would love to
help Createspace to celebrate these.
I would love to hear from you too.
Or you could just say, hey, whatyou're doing is really cool.
I don't know how I want to work with you, but I want to be in
community with you. Beautiful.
Well, thank you, Jamie, and lookforward to seeing how this
(37:00):
continues to grow and evolve from here.
Yeah. Thanks for having me, Jeremy.
Appreciate it.
I'm so grateful today to be joined by Jamie Middleman of
Flame Bearers. And she works with elite female
athletes and we're going to talkabout her experience working
with them and her experience as a certified yoga teacher and
then bringing that out into the world in her life.
So thank you so much for being here, Jamie.
Thank you for having me, Jeremy.I'm I'm really excited to be
(00:30):
here. Yeah.
So I'd love to just hear a little bit about your story of
like your path with yoga and into where it's LED you today.
Sure. So growing up, I was a very
active child. I was a three sport athlete in
high school. I played a sport in college for
(00:51):
a little bit. But growing up I really realized
that I needed a way to ground myself.
I later found out that I have diagnosed OCD, didn't realize
that when I was little and was quite anxious and quite always
looking ahead and not as much inthe present, present moment if
(01:14):
you will. So my journey with with yoga and
meditation started. I actually did my senior project
in high school on it where I dida yoga class for every single
day for a month and did a deep dive on the history of yoga.
And that really changed my life because I realized how
beneficial it was and how much Ithink my body and my mind
(01:37):
benefited from that practice. I went on and practiced
throughout college, after college, became a certified yoga
instructor, taught a little bit after.
Afterwards, when I lived in Southeast Asia, I lived in
Bangladesh and have since then returned to the States, but have
(01:57):
continued to to practice a lot. But I'm no longer teaching.
I think what was really beneficial about the instructor
certification process and teaching was learning to take my
practice in a deeper way, to seeit from different vantage
points, to learn about alignment, to learn about pacing
(02:22):
and things like that. And it really helped me deepen
my practice on an individual basis.
So that's kind of where I am today in terms of my work with
elite female athletes. I realized that I had a
background in media and marketing communications and I
wanted to work with elite femaleathletes.
(02:43):
So in a lot of ways, I married my two passions and and Out
Flame Bearers came, which is theworld's first production
storytelling platform that specifically amplifies and
celebrates elite female athletes.
Very cool. So where did you go to school
that you were able to have access to yoga that much or.
(03:07):
I went to a small liberal arts school in Vermont.
It's called Middlebury College and I went to a lot of yoga
classes in town, actually. Nice.
Yeah. It's like I, I love that it's so
much more accessible now than itwas in the past.
And it's, I, I've worked with youth and, and teens and as well
(03:31):
in the past teaching classes. And I know sometimes with that
age group, like it can be eithernot cool or is cool or like it's
like so much more of this, like,how do that?
What do people think of me if I'm doing yoga?
And like, did you experience anyof that when you were doing
that, or was it more normal in your community?
No, I definitely did. I definitely got a lot of the
(03:56):
stereotypes around me being a little woo woo about being a
hippie, about me being out there, if you will.
And I remember in the beginning trying to position it more as
you know, this is a workout, this is good for injury
(04:17):
prevention. And thinking about it through
that lens as opposed to talking about it from a mental health
perspective, I think what we've seen now is a massive influx of
people talking about mental health, and therefore it's a lot
more socially acceptable from from that perspective.
But in the beginning I was really uncomfortable talking
(04:40):
about it from that lens, and I was talking more about it from a
injury prevention, physical activity perspective because
that felt more socially acceptable.
Right. And yoga has that too, and it
has all the other parts. And it's great how you can like
emphasize different parts of thepractice.
And so I imagine that has servedyou super well in this path
(05:05):
you've gone on to now work with athletes who may be more
concerned with like things that are going to just support their
performance and like get tangible results in their
performance. So you need to focus on those
elements of the practice. I imagine when you're like
sharing these things with them or when you have things you have
shared with them. And I'm curious like, which one
(05:27):
or what things have you found tobe like the most beneficial for
the athletes you work with? Sure.
I would say that that my practice has been helpful from
my perspective in terms of beinga good listener.
So one of the things that you learn and you, you know, you go
through and your teacher training is watching and taking
in the body language, the behavior of the people around
(05:49):
you. And that's one of the things
that I've tried really hard to respect and support in every
interview and every video and every podcast we do, is to
really be mindful and aware of how the athlete is acting and
what's going on for them. A couple of things that have
repetitively come up for me around how the athletes take
(06:13):
care of themselves and how the athletes ground and center
themselves. The first one is setting a
setting aside time for themselves.
So this is something that I've repetitively heard from athletes
from all over the world. So we've worked with athletes
from 55 different countries and we've worked with about 275
(06:36):
different Olympians and Paralympians.
A lot of them everyday take timefor themselves.
And it could be to journal, it could be to breathe, it could be
to take a walk. And what that space is depends
on the athlete. But I think the common theme
here is that they feel like it is time for themselves and it's
(06:58):
a time to nurture who they are. And it's a time of reflection.
Some athletes find journaling asa really helpful way to do that.
Some people find going for a walk is very meditative.
Other people, it's reading, listening to music.
But the theme here is setting a sign 5/10/15 minutes every day
(07:20):
for you. I would also say that something
that has repetitively come up isthis idea of community.
So being in community with like minded individuals who build you
up and who support you and beingreally intentional and aware
about the energy that you surround yourself with.
(07:43):
So as athletes at the highest level of sports, they are, you
know, inundated with comments with people chiming in on social
media about what they look and like in their past performances.
And I've heard repetitively fromathletes the importance to tune
(08:04):
out everyone else but to listen to the people in your own group.
So for example, I've worked withSue Bird, who is one of the most
iconic basketball players in theworld and she said I absolutely
do care about what people think,but it's only certain people and
everyone else I don't listen to.I had the opportunity to work
(08:26):
with Alexa Moreno, who is the most successful Olympic gymnast
in Mexican history, and she was cyber bullied.
And she said what I have to do on a daily basis is turn off a
lot of my comments on social media and just not even look at
them. And instead, I talked to my
(08:47):
friends and my family members who surround me with love and
support and the energy that fuels me.
So those would be the two thingsthat I have kind of repetitively
heard from athletes across the world in different disciplines,
but both of them kind of fuel and nurture each person.
(09:09):
So some time for yourself and then some supportive community
that you listen to more than thecritics.
Exactly. And that community can take a
lot of different forms. For some people, it's a partner,
it's a spouse, it's a brother and aunt and uncle.
Some people, it may be the family you choose.
(09:29):
It could be, you know, your friends from college, high
school, work, whatever it is. What's important is to be really
intentional about whose voices you let in and which voices you
don't. Yeah.
And that that works internally as well.
And just what thoughts that you choose to feed right?
(09:53):
Absolutely. And then there's a whole other
line of of I could go into that too, where so many athletes talk
about their self talk. So, so many athletes are very
intentional about the voices they live let in externally.
Another theme is also, what are the words of affirmation?
(10:14):
What are the things that you're actually telling to yourself
before a race, a match, a competition?
And a lot of that is around affirmation, around personal
beliefs, self motivation and really fueling things that build
confidence. So I think there's a time for
doubt that is not right before your competition.
(10:36):
So a lot of the the self talk that these athletes turn to
right before their competition is very much confidence
building, is very much reinforcing positive attributes
or things that they are really successful at.
Right. Is there a certain like way of
(11:00):
self talk or framework? I've heard different ideas about
this of like I am statements in the present tense, I am this way
or I'm that. Or maybe it's like I've heard
about like literally envisioninga certain outcome.
Like if it's a, let's say, if it's a tennis player, there's
like a certain sort of way of playing or technique that
(11:22):
they're envisioning. Or is it?
What have you found that's been helpful for women you've talked
to? It's such a good question.
What's really cool is there's somany different ways to do it
depending on how their minds work.
So a lot of athletes do have IM statements.
So before they go to bed, I've heard the night before a big
(11:45):
meet or a competition, it is lying in bed and saying I am the
best in the world or I am worthyof winning an Olympic gold
medal, or I have put in the workand the discipline to do this.
Visualization is also another fantastic technique.
I worked with Sophia Gogia of Italy, who just won her 25th
(12:09):
World Cup, and she said what shedoes is she visualizes herself
skiing down the course, crossingthe finish line and looking at
the clock and seeing a certain time.
And then also the visualization of the feelings she will have.
So the feelings of pride, the feelings of having given her
(12:32):
best effort and really leaning into that.
Other athletes are more find it really beneficial to journal and
that that is how they soak in these affirmations.
So there's been multiple athletes who've told me what I
do is I write down my affirmations and they have
almost mantras that they repeat on a daily basis in the morning
(12:56):
when they wake up and on the evening before they in the
evening before they go to bed. That is saying things along the
lines of, you know, I'm consistently doing my best,
another athlete said. You know, I can do my best, but
how other people perform is outside of my control.
So owning the things you can ownand then letting go of the
(13:19):
factors outside of your control.Yeah, very cool.
And it's interesting too, that you have this background trained
in yoga practice in yoga, but not focusing on just teaching
yoga and like studios, but you are using those skills in an
adjacent field essentially. And I think there's maybe
(13:43):
something people don't think about as much.
I, I always talk about it like, I think yoga training is like
one of the life skills that should be like in school.
Like it's just part of we learn how to do this.
When I learn math, we learn reading, we learn breath work if
you learn meditation and nervoussystem regulation.
So you're getting to use these skills in an adjacent field.
(14:07):
And I'm curious, like your experience with that of like
that might speak to other peoplewho maybe want to take a teacher
training or maybe in a teacher training, but like they don't
know if they see themselves actually teaching yoga, but they
they're a certified teacher now.So like, how was your journey
with that? Totally.
And I love talking about it because it has fundamentally
(14:30):
changed my life. I think I I mentioned that I
have OCD and growing up I didn'trealize that I didn't even know
that OCD was a thing. And I later when I was taking
psychology classes, I started reading about rituals and
obsessive thoughts and I realized that wow, the, you
(14:50):
know, 2 hour ritual I have before bed every night is not
something that everyone has. And I think what I found is that
OC yoga freed me in a certain way.
It gave me back my mind when I had previously felt enslaved by
my OCD. And I didn't even know that that
was a thing. But through breath work, through
(15:14):
meditation, through really desensitizing myself, I was able
to claim back my mind and, and what I perceived to be real.
In terms of people who are thinking about yoga teacher
training, but perhaps not not actually teaching, I would say
it definitely deepens your practice.
(15:36):
You know, just if you want to continue to do yoga on your own
because you understand how your body works, you understand the
alignment, you understand how your muscles and your bones and
etcetera all work together. So that was really helpful for
me. I also loved learning about the
history of it. So understanding how we got to
(15:56):
today and potentially where we're we're going in the future,
which I thought was really cool.And and more to your point, I
think it is an incredible lifelong skill to be able to, in
any situation, ground yourself. So, for example, I used to be
terrified of public speaking. I've now given speeches in front
(16:20):
of hundreds and thousands of people in my younger self would
have absolutely freaked out at that idea.
But you know, before I go on stage, before I go on, whatever
it is, I do my breathing, I do my breath work.
And that really centers and grounds me.
I had the opportunity to go to Business School and they do cold
calling. So you in front of a classroom
(16:42):
of hundreds of people, a professor will say, hey, Jamie,
what's the answer? And on the spot, you have to
give it. That is something where, you
know, my heart would be racing, pounding out of my chest and I'd
be able to slow it down and givean eloquent or somewhat eloquent
answer. That's a skill set that I
(17:03):
directly think for me comes fromyoga that I know helps me be a
better leader, a better professional that, you know,
people would not look at that and be like, oh, you're a yoga
practitioner. But that's my ability to slow
down my heart rate and speak eloquently directly comes from
my yoga practice. Yeah, the, the mental awareness,
(17:27):
the self-awareness, the body awareness.
Like I remember being a kid in like in gym and like my heart
was pounding like exercising andI thought something was wrong
with me and like I didn't, I didn't really understand, you
know, like, Oh yeah, that's normal.
I'm increasing my cardio right now.
You know, I was like, Oh my gosh, I can't breathe, you know,
(17:49):
like, but it's I just didn't have any of that awareness.
Nobody's telling me that when I was a kid.
And and then like things like more recently, I was doing acro
yoga with a friend who was like new to it.
I thought, I thought she had a lot of yoga experience.
And we started to lose our balance a little bit and I sit
(18:09):
tipped her over so she could land on like on her feet.
And she like did this crazy spill, like kind of rolled and
flipped and like landed on her ankle.
And it's like, Oh my God, she was OK.
Like it wasn't too bad. Like she just, it hurt a little
bit for a bit for that day. But, but it just really
(18:29):
highlighted to me, like in my mind of all the years of yoga
practice and training, like I amlike super aware of like where
my, where I'm going and where mybody's doing.
And, and I kind of take it for granted now.
And like, I was like, Oh my gosh, it should have gone way
slower with you there. I thought you, I thought we were
on the right spot there and you were going to land on your feet.
(18:50):
And, but reminded me too, like when I was younger, like I
didn't have any of that body awareness.
Like if I was in that position, I would have just been like, I
don't know what's happening. I'm falling.
And I think that's like one of the most valuable life skills,
especially as people get up there in age where it's like
falling can be a major issue. So just that like essential body
(19:13):
awareness. And then of course, for athletes
at the more extreme and that end, like it's so valuable to be
hyper aware of like every movement and every muscle in
your body, like when you're competing and performing in like
Olympic levels, I imagine. So it's, yeah, such a great
skill for like, like body awareness and proprioception of
(19:33):
space and interception of what'shappening inside. 100% and, and
so many athletes have talked about, you know, after starting
yoga, after starting breath workand meditation, that they are
able to prevent injuries that they have historically had from
happening again because they're able to feel in their bodies
(19:55):
when the same symptoms are starting to happen and to stop
pushing themselves. So I think that that is one of
the very clear ways that just body awareness of what's going
on now, what are you actually feeling in your body at any
moment helps people at the highest level of sports from an
injury prevention perspective orrepetition perspective.
(20:19):
So they they can make sure that you know, ways that they've been
sidelined in the past aren't going to take them out again.
Yeah. And then for like the mental
health side of it, people who might be going through
challenges, OCD or other things going on and personally like
they're working at even just patterns or behaviors or just
(20:42):
things that they would like to increase tools and resources
they have for nervous system regulation or ways to.
Absolutely no, 100%. And that was one of those things
that for me, I think I may have mentioned that yoga was one of
(21:06):
the ways that I able, I was ableto notice that my reality was
not actually real. So by slowing down my heart
rate, by grounding myself in thephysical world that actually is,
I was able to challenge narratives that I had in my mind
of what was actually going on inthe real world.
(21:26):
I had a lot of self doubt. I had a lot of things worth.
I was always thinking that I wasfailing.
And what this practice helped medo was actually take stock of
what's going on in the real world around me and not
necessarily always just blindly lean into these narratives that
(21:47):
I had created in my mind. Right.
And you know, one of those things too is like, I looked at
your social media and some of the cool things you're doing
just like this evolution of women's sports has been amazing.
And I think there's a lot of like the attitude that you have
(22:08):
and like the the people doing this work to with flame bearers
to like bring this like women's sports more into the spotlight.
And like the evolution from the Olympics, Like whenever 100 plus
years ago and there's no women'ssports and you have this cool
post on your social media that shows like a steady evolution
over the years. Now it's like 50% women
(22:29):
competing in the Olympics. And like, I think that sort of
yogic way of thinking of like, just let's just question the way
we're thinking about this or thelimitations we're perceiving or
the rules that we're setting in like what's actually possible
here. And, and just like this more
expansive kind of way of viewingeverything, but in this
(22:52):
particular in your case, workingwith women's sports and
athletes. And like, just imagine, like I,
I like to think of imagining a world where like more people are
just doing that and everywhere and government health and, you
know, every aspect of the world,like more of this yogic way of
thinking. Have there been any like big
(23:13):
hurdles or blocks or like challenges you've encountered on
your path with flame bearers? So like where your yoga kind of
way of thinking and expansive kind of thinking is expanded?
What's possible in that work? Well, thanks for pointing that
out. I really appreciate it.
Definitely. So one of the very concrete
(23:34):
visible ones is who we feature. So a lot of people think of an
elite female athlete generally and they imagine a white able
bodied woman who plays soccer, basketball.
And yes, that is awesome. Hey, I'm a white able bodied
(23:55):
woman who played soccer in college.
But there is a much broader definition of other types of
women who also play. So half the athletes we were
with are Paralympians. So those are athletes with
physical disabilities are from the global S where perhaps it
may not be getting the systemic support may place in Europe for
(24:21):
simple, we were with our black girls.
You hold different identities that are trying to be
expansively thinking about the type of woman and what a female
athlete looks like. I think when most people think
of a female athlete, they have apretty narrow definition of
(24:45):
that. And we view it as a yes and not
a either or. So it's a absolutely.
We support, you know, white ablebodied athletes who play soccer
and basketball. We also support South African
Paralympians and Brazilian Paralympians and we believe
their stories are are equally important and equally valuable
(25:07):
to your question. We have received some pushback
on that because a lot of people are expecting a very narrow
definition and storyline. I think what we have found is
there is a lot of interest and alot of excitement around these
expansive stories, but it catches people off guard.
(25:28):
A lot of people are coming in and they're like, oh, wait, this
is this isn't what I expected. So there's a little bit of a
dance in the beginning where people are trying to be like,
well, what are you? And it's this kind of attempt to
slot flame bearers into a certain, into a narrow
definition that I don't think wereally fit right now, if I'm
(25:52):
going to be honest. Yeah, how would you define what
it is? I would call us a storytelling
company, media production company for elite women in
sports, and we tell stories in three main ways.
So video, podcast, events, all with the goal of centering these
(26:15):
bad ass women and what they caremost about.
That's awesome. You know, I'm, I love that I'm a
Vedic astrologer as well like a sister science of yoga and I
have one of the things I do is research.
I look at many charts from history as I can find find
(26:35):
patterns and one of the bigger challenges for me is finding
women like in history books are in it's like historical
references of like there's way more, it's way easier, way more
prevalent to find things about men throughout history.
(26:57):
But there are so many very important stories.
And I think this is part of evenin the word history of his
story. Of course, like we, we tend to
get more of the male perspectiveof this and for many reasons.
But basically it's something toothat I just, I love that there's
more attention, more visibility,more voice of these stories
(27:20):
because the stories have been happening the whole time, but
they just haven't been documented.
And it's great that you're doingthat work.
Well, thank you Our our entire ethos is based off the idea that
if you can see it or hear it, you can be it.
And to your point, these storieshave been happening for
(27:43):
millennia, but they haven't beendocumented.
And therefore it's hard for for young girls and boys to have
role models like that. So we believe that for, you
know, we want girls and boys from all all countries, all
corners of the world to have role models at the highest level
of sports who they can look up to, who look and sound like
(28:04):
them. And by amplifying and
celebrating their stories and their terms, we are actually
hopefully creating and amplifying these these models of
a resilience and people who can,who can be emulated across the
world. That's, that's beautiful and,
and the yogic tradition, it's like an interesting thing with
(28:26):
these aesthetics, these yogi's who would do kind of extreme
things like maybe like keep yourarm overhead for your entire
life and never lower it or neverlay down, always standing up
your whole life. And this is idea that it's this
form of tapas or, or effort or discipline.
(28:46):
And like there's a documentary Isaw with one of these modern day
people doing this. And he said, if I can do this,
what excuse do you have for whatever you're going through in
your life? So this idea of like a model of
like what we can push our body through.
And I think I can, if I don't lower my arm, I'm going to die
(29:08):
or something, my arm's going to fall off.
Or it's like, Nope, you're at, you can still live your life.
And you know, these things that you think you have to have or,
or these things like you think it has to be this way.
So it becomes a role model for like passion, discipline,
commitment. And I think we learned so much
through stories as like social creatures.
(29:30):
So I think having more access tothese stories and these examples
are role models is super valuable.
Thanks. Earlier today, to your point, I
was interviewing Saman Soltani. She is on the Olympic refugee
team. She is a K1 canoe kayaker in the
(29:52):
Olympics. So she talks about how she her
dream is to win an Olympic medal, but she says her real
goal is to be a role model and asource of inspiration for other
people who are thinking about giving up their sport.
She said she almost did that. And if she can reach one person
(30:13):
who can listen to her story and they decide to give it a go one
more day that she will feel successful, that's.
Beautiful. Yeah.
And in some ways you're a role model for people who might take
a teacher training and feel likemaybe some sense of guilt or
(30:33):
shame, like I should be a teacher now 'cause I took a
teacher training. But actually what's actually
aligned is something in your case, like very interesting and
new and different and like outside of any box of what
things it should, what people think it should be.
And you're still getting to use the things you learn for
yourself and in the work. But it's like, it's a great
(30:55):
example of like what you can do with the yogic skills outside of
the traditional yoga context. It's true and and who knows, I
may down the line want to circleback in and and teach again.
But to your point, the lessons that I learned in that, that
training live with me every day.And they, they make me a better
(31:18):
friend and a better partner and a Better Business person.
And it's not just on the mat that I'm employing those skills.
It's every single day when I, you know, sit down at my
computer and I take a step back or I'm angry at my partner and,
you know, I have to really focuson who I am and what I'm doing.
(31:40):
Right, yeah, that's been for me similar to like I used to just
teach all day every day and fulltime.
And I got more and more into other interests too, like
astrology and stuff. So I, I trained in yoga and that
was my main thing for a long time, but it became more of the
foundation of myself and what I eventually did in the world
(32:03):
rather than just all I do. And it's, it's such valuable
skills for, Yeah, relationships,work yourself, your own health,
Yeah. To your point of that this this
distancing of the individual, the self and what you do, this
is something that I have repetitively heard from world
(32:26):
class athletes, especially as they approach their retirement.
So a lot of athletes who have not done some of this work
really struggle from an identityperspective of realizing, you
know, I am so and so the swimmer.
I am so and so the soccer player, the basketball athlete.
And I think what I have found isthat there's immense value when
(32:51):
these athletes are able to say, Nope, this is a job.
This is something that I do. I am this person.
Yes, I've won an Olympic golden medalist, but I am also a
compassionate sister. I am also a an artist.
I live with these values and to be able to distance their
(33:12):
identity and self worth from thethings that they do.
So that's that's something that I have seen as well that I think
is really productive. Yeah, I've heard this too.
Especially for athletes who get injured and they're cut short of
their career. That's got to be.
Absolutely. Yeah.
And the frustration of a dream deferred or not being able to
(33:37):
happen and kind of the the pain that goes along with that.
Absolutely. Yeah.
And I think the more we get attached to these forms or these
roles or identities, and the more we suffer if we think it
has to be a certain way. Yeah, Yoga gives us that ability
to have perspective, to have tools to navigate the changes
(34:00):
and the challenges and, and it'sit's great that it's so much
more accessible now too, and that people like you are sharing
this with these people and theseathletes.
Like it's also cool too, like how much more just records keep
getting broken and more athletesare excelling and performing at
higher and higher levels over over time as well.
(34:23):
And I think these kind of tools are part of that reason.
Absolutely. You know, you mentioned it,
Tokyo or Paris was the first Olympics in modern day Olympic
history with gender parity, so equal numbers of male and female
athletes competing. Last year there, we broke
smashed all records for fresh soccer in the US, for
(34:45):
basketball, for sponsorship. We are breaking these barriers
and with that come more resources.
So athletes are talking about nutrition, they're talking about
mental health, they're talking about sleep, and they're asking
and doing this incredible work that perhaps previously wasn't
(35:06):
as accessible, wasn't as widespread, definitely perhaps
was more frowned upon culturallyor not celebrated.
So I definitely think we're seeing a movement that is really
benefiting both the athlete and the consumer.
And thank you for being part of that and thank you for being
(35:28):
here today, Jamie, to share about it.
It's really inspiring. Well, thank you for having me
Jeremy. I love I love what you do and
would love to be a part of your community however I can be.
Thank you. So if you wanted to stay in
touch with Jamie, check out Flame bearers.com, Flame bearers
on Instagram, YouTube, all the social medias.
(35:52):
Is that the best place for people to stay connected with
you? Exactly.
So we have a contact form on ourwebsite.
If anything I said today resonates or if you want to find
a way to work together, you can also just e-mail me directly.
It's Jamie at flamebears.com andI'll get back to you.
So I'd say check out our website, our socials, or shoot
(36:14):
me a note directly. And I guess women don't have to
be already elite athletes necessarily to work with you.
And maybe they're on the path orwanting to go in that path.
They could reach out. Absolutely.
Or you can be a an individual who works for the corporation
who wants to help give voice to these people who you could be
(36:37):
someone who say, hey, I work in an office and I would love to
help Createspace to celebrate these.
I would love to hear from you too.
Or you could just say, hey, whatyou're doing is really cool.
I don't know how I want to work with you, but I want to be in
community with you. Beautiful.
Well, thank you, Jamie, and lookforward to seeing how this
(37:00):
continues to grow and evolve from here.
Yeah. Thanks for having me, Jeremy.
Appreciate it.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.