September 23, 2025 • 42 mins
🟪 Join 500+ Smart Entrepreneurs ➤ https://www.gabemarusca.com and learn each week for free, how to stop chasing leads, serve clients longer & enjoy freedom doing what you love, without burning out or breaking down.
In this episode of 'Authority in the Wild,' I interviewed Alison Tetrick, a professional cyclist, entrepreneur, and biochemist.
Alison shares her unique path from growing up on a ranch in California to becoming a three-time gravel world champion and a survivor of a traumatic brain injury.
The discussion explores the parallels between sports and entrepreneurship, highlighting resilience, adaptability, and the importance of community.
Alison highlights her passion for creating opportunities for women in sports through scholarships and community engagement, and how her experiences in cycling have shaped her leadership and advocacy roles.
🟪 Timestamps
(00:00) Introducing Alison Tetrick
(02:02) Alison's Early Life and Diverse Career Path
(05:42) The Power of Sports and Resilience
(11:57) Overcoming Traumatic Brain Injury
(19:30) Recovery in Sports and Life
(24:58) The Link between Sports and Entrepreneurship
(28:54) Encouraging Women in Sports
(35:18) Balancing Purpose and Impact
(39:40) Connect with Alison Tetrick
🟪 Connect with Alison Tetrick
- Website: https://www.alisontetrick.com
- Shop: https://saga-ventures.myshopify.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amtetrick/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amtetrick/
🟪 Connect with Gabe Marusca
- Website: https://www.gabemarusca.com
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gabemarusca
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabemarusca/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabemarusca/
- X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gabemarusca
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maruscagabe/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabemarusca
Until Next Week,
Pura Vida!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
To hit that top level, you got to be ready to be falling,
failing, crying, questioning your life choices.
Meet Alison Tetrick. She was born and raised on a
ranch in California. Then she became an NCA tennis
player turned biochemist, turnedprofessional cyclist and
storyteller and free range entrepreneur.
(00:20):
Sports, they don't just teach competition, they teach you to
adapt, to listen and lead, and they teach you also to push
through those setbacks. Then your story, it starts
becoming a story that can guide others and it's just so much
more than just sport. In today's episode, we draw
parallel between sports and entrepreneurship to truly see
the impact that doing the sport has on your life and business in
(00:44):
general. Ellie is a three time grave
World Champion, unbound to hunt a winner representing the USC
initial team at the Pan AmericanGames and has medaled at the UCI
Rd. World Championships in the team
time trial. Sports just really do change
lives and they definitely changemy life.
She's a traumatic brain injury survivor after crashing a
professional race, and even thatthe bike almost took her life.
(01:06):
It also saved her life. Allison served on the board of
directors for USC Cycling for 10years and is on the Team USA
Athletes Commission Leadership team.
Visibility is viability. The more we watch women in
sports, the more women win, and we're inspiring the next
generation. She's passionate about creating
opportunities, education and access to cycling, to
scholarships and community engagement.
(01:27):
Alison believes sports can make a powerful difference.
To change the world and continueto do the work to make a
difference, Alison and her husband Blaze Beharns founded
Saga Ventures in order to followtheir creative energy and
professional expertise in the purpose driven projects.
Start lines deserve more celebration than finish lines.
Ali, welcome to authority in theWild.
(01:50):
Wow, thank you for having me. Spent a couple months.
We've been trying to get this sorted out so it's exciting to
be here. Yeah, indeed, but super happy
that you make it happen and that's I shared with you earlier
is the first time to talk with the world champion.
Well, cycling has has been in mylife for a little while, but
didn't always start that way. Yeah, I know you grew up at a
range and from that you become atennis player, then scientist
(02:13):
and then a cyclist. Can you share a bit of that
background? Yeah, So I'm calling you from
Petaluma, CA. It's in Northern California, a
little north of San Francisco. And I was born and raised in
California on a cattle ranch. So I actually knew how to ride a
horse before I ever rode a bike.And I think that's very
interesting because especially in female sports, the trajectory
(02:38):
to becoming professional or the best in the world of what you're
doing in a sport, it often isn'tlinear or traditional.
So I didn't play a lot of organized sports.
That's growing up because we lived in the middle of nowhere.
My parents aren't driving me in to go play soccer or anything
like that. So I didn't pick up tennis till
high school and then ended up playing NCAA tennis, getting a
(02:59):
scholarship to go play tennis and I became a biochemist.
And when I actually got injured in college, so I graduated in
three years because I tore my NCL and I couldn't play.
So I just graduated and went straight into chemistry research
and drug discovery. But it was super frustrating to
play a sport to its entirety. And I knew I was never going to
(03:22):
be the best in the world at tennis.
And tennis is such a skill sportthat requires so much time.
You need to start at this young age.
And it's just like skill and skill.
And I'm there and I'm just frustrated and still a little
competitive working there in thelab.
And my grandfather raced bikes. And he didn't start racing till
after maybe like 55 years old. He served as a veteran.
(03:45):
So he missed a lot of his childhood and didn't play sports
until he retired. And he told me I could go to the
Olympics and cycling. And I was like, that's so dorky.
You know, cycling, you have those like tight, bright
clothing. You're like going around on bike
paths. I was like, I play tennis.
So I ended up picking up the sport and before you know it I
(04:05):
was racy in Europe on the USA national team.
I got to do my first bike race with my grandfather.
It's very fun story, you know, I'm wearing one of his old
jerseys. I got my number upside down and
he was a tough guy. But it was a way that got me in
the sport and then also became avery special part of our
relationship because he didn't always tell me he loved me.
(04:29):
He just, he had a hard life and then psychically became just our
love language in a way where we got to share this experience
together. He since passed away, but it was
really special to be able to share some of these wins and
losses with him. So that's how I kind of got into
the sport. It was a very quick trajectory
but worth it for sure. Yeah, that's you end up becoming
(04:52):
three times gravel world champion and from where like
fast trajectory and especially since you didn't start it that
way and have that more sit back when it comes to your injury and
such. And it's always intrigued me,
apart from this special bond that sports can bring people
together and family members likewas your case, in which indeed
(05:12):
certain individuals, they are not able to share emotions other
than introducing you to a sport or playing with you or cycling
your case with you to putting these seeds that turn Ali into
world champion. And what makes the world
champion is always it's the first time I am happy to be able
to answer this question. And I have no idea if it's the
(05:36):
talent itself is the work, It's a combination of things.
It's, it's something else. Please tell me.
Yeah, I think that that you're so true, though, that the sports
just hold such a powerful vesselto tell stories, to build
connections, to help brands market, create advocacy.
Sports just really do change lives and they've definitely
(05:56):
changed my life. And he just asked me that
question about a path to becoming winning races, becoming
a gravel world champion. And I don't look at those and
think that that was it, that wasthe pinnacle.
Like I look at it and it sounds so cliche as this, this journey,
because especially in bike racing, you lose so many more
(06:19):
races than you win. So to hit that top level, you
got to be ready to be like falling, failing, crying,
questioning your life choices. So I think it takes a lot of
resilience because you have to figure out you have to enjoy
that process to your goal. So first of all, your goal
doesn't have to be a world champion.
(06:39):
It's just a goal that inspires you, that makes you want to get
up in the morning and makes yourheart flutter.
Because when you look back at it, you're going to remember
every single day leading up to that moment much more than
you're going to remember that moment.
And then you have to be ready toget knocked down a bunch.
And yeah, question it. And then approaching things with
curiosity. So trying to figure out how far
(07:01):
you can push yourself. When is it too far?
Is there a better way to train? Is something that going to make
me happier? Like I learned that I had to be
happy to perform and I didn't dowell with being like super like,
I don't know, aggressively. Like this is like All in all, I
had to remember especially, which we can touch on later is,
is having some really traumatic,literally setbacks and injuries
(07:24):
where you have to separate your identity.
So you can't just be like, I want to go to the Olympics.
I want to be a world champion, Iwant to be CEO.
You have to enjoy that process and understand that you're so
much more. And I think a lot of people lose
sight of that. If you get laser focused just on
one thing, you don't find that balance or just that genuine
curiosity. And I think there's just so much
more than podiums. I think it's like how you shape
(07:46):
the sport, how you're going to shape the next generation.
And so sometimes I have to remind myself why I'm doing it.
And I didn't perform well doing it just for me.
I wanted to do it for other people and for a greater good, a
greater impact. So I think there's no perfect
solution at all on this, but I, I just really enjoying the
process, which I know is so overstated.
(08:07):
But when you look back, you don't remember just a podium.
You remember all those people that supported you, those long
rides with your friends, those geeking out over data and trying
to find the perfect way to approach the race and then be
totally ready for somebody just to flip the skirt on you.
You know, you get sick or something happens in your
family. You have to address these
(08:28):
injuries and things like that. So you have to be really
flexible that way and and makingsure you're finding joy in other
things besides just your goal, but then also making sure your
goal inspires you. Love your answer because what
you just described there, it's basically as well.
The part of entrepreneurship is this ups and downs, the
adjusting, keep taking care of other things, having some sort
(08:51):
of goal, but not to become the best entrepreneur in the world
or to become the world champion,but rather to take it step by
step and in the same time enjoying it and making sure that
it's something more than just the podium or winning races.
Because as you mentioned, especially cyclists and also in
other sports, I read that recently, I think it was about 3
(09:13):
of tennis. Roger Federer, yeah, he won like
50, a bit, 52 or 54% of all his games.
And I'm like, but he was one of the best in history and still
just won a bit over half of his games played.
And I was like, what? That was great.
He did a keynote for a university and it was amazing.
(09:35):
The stat was like 51 or 52%. And I think he's considered the
best of all time. And that's where you kind of
have to be ready to fail like wedo in life, like nothing is
perfect. And I will tell you though, I am
being on finding the joy and thehappiness, but there are days
that it's still work, like you still don't want to be out
there. It's not like every day I was
getting on my bike going, this is the best day ever.
(09:55):
So you have to want to do it andprepare to work hard.
But I think the other big key here is I always use this.
I like the time trial, which came down to very specific data
and aerodynamic testing. And it's control your
controllables because I can't control how you're going to
prepare for the race. I can only control how I'm going
to prepare for the race. And so it when you finish and
you're disappointed, did you do the best you can to prepare
(10:19):
yourself? And if you didn't, then go back
and make those adjustments. And so then I also think that
people get caught up and disappointed in their result.
They didn't win or they didn't podium or they didn't PR and
there's results and your performance is totally
different. Did you challenge yourself and
do the best you could do on thatday?
(10:39):
Then my grandfather would be like, then why are you crying?
Did you do the best? And I'd be like, no, I should
have gone to sleep earlier, goneto this altitude camp.
Then he's like, all right, well then next time change that.
But then if I was like, I did everything perfect and she still
beat me is like, your result is different than your effort.
If your effort, you're proud of your effort, be proud of your
effort because your effort doesn't always resemble the
(11:00):
result. And I think that's an important
people think effort and result are the same thing often, right?
They get blended in. If you did it PR then your
effort must have been horrible. Yeah, exactly.
And that's often a missing pieceof success in any endeavors,
either exports business life. And if you look at the wrong
performance indicator, you mightbe on the wrong side of the
(11:23):
winning or the success. But if you're wrong, like if you
put that effort, if you you control what you can control,
not things that are out there, you cannot reach them and so on,
it's much more easier for you tobe actually successful and see
progress and learn from me. Because yeah, like anything,
sports is not perfect. Every single time you don't
enjoy it. Every single time there will be
(11:44):
setbacks. There will be things that come
your way and you simply cannot foresee them or something that
you foresee. I didn't do that the right way.
Let's adjust the next time like you were you were advised.
And Speaking of setbacks, I knowthat you have traumatic brain
injury while cycling. If you're not shy of sharing,
(12:07):
can you please get us back? I've crashed a lot so I've
broken most of the bones in my body.
Cycling is not super nice to your body.
You're wearing like nothing but your underwear and jumping out
of a car like 45 miles an hour. But it I had a traumatic brain
injury. I crashed at a bike race in 2010
and life flighted out. It was very bad and broke my
(12:32):
pelvis in my brain and I came back to the sport too quickly.
This was a little bit before concussions were popular to
discuss and so since I couldn't walk, I'm in a wheelchair and
I'm obsessed about. This is where I learned do not
have your identity all on sport.Make sure you remember your
other things because when you'relaid up and you only considered
(12:53):
yourself one part of you, then it gets very lonely and is not
hard to find joy in that. But I was really fixated on
coming back because I wanted, I had all these goals and this is
what I wanted to do. And I came back and I was at the
Pan American Games like 8 monthsafter we've been riding for a
couple months and I had a flute crash landed on my head.
(13:15):
Not a traumatic brain injury, but concussion because it was so
close after this like very bad green bonk that I couldn't ride.
It was just like darkness from there on.
Like I couldn't read. I'm severely depressed, you
know, my anxiety went like through the roof and I just
like, lights were out and I justhad to move back home with my
parents and just stare at a wall.
(13:36):
And it was just so hard to go through.
And I ended up entering on. I worked with a
neuropsychologist to help me. I went to a sports psychologist
because I was having panic attacks when trying to descend.
Everything was just so scary. And they're like, you need to go
to neuro psych. So I got to work to kind of
retrain my brain to to be able to process to even trap a mouse
(13:59):
cursor across the screen. And I worked so hard on that.
And I kept going into his officeand he wasn't allowing me to
ride yet. He's waiting for my symptoms to
go. And it's six months.
You just think about all that fitness you're losing and all
the races you should be at and you're watching that year's
Olympics go away and you're justwatching this all happen in
front of you. And I was so frustrated.
(14:21):
But then he said every time I'd go into this office, he'd say,
why do you want to be here? And I said, I'd have this like,
oh, because this race or oh, this person or.
And then one time I went into his office and he said, why?
And I said, why, Why do you wantto go back on your bike?
And I said, because the swear word bike owes me something.
And then I was like, oh, no, I just swore in front of my
doctor. And that seems a little
(14:43):
aggressive. And he said that is the most
sane thing that you have said because for you to come back,
you're doing it on like we're going to do it on your turns,
like you're going to do it for you and on your turns.
And we're going to do what makesyou happy and find races that
make you happy, surround you with team, teammates that make
you happy and support system. And so then I was able to come
(15:04):
back. I think maybe not the as fast as
I was before, but I was a more balanced, healthy human being.
And I think his work with me gave me the longevity that my
career has now. And it was so much so I entered
APHD program in neuropsychology because it was just a
fascinating experience to take psychology, which is a little
(15:24):
softer science, and take all thechemistry things that I'd
studied and you like, mix them into one to figure out how do we
find this ultimate performance but also make healthier people.
So it's very interesting. Yeah, definitely, because often
we don't look at this internal things and how brains, how these
things affect everything that wedo from sports to day by day
(15:47):
life. And maybe you even believe that
Vincible even after the first accident, you thought that's all
happened once, won't happen nextso on.
And I see a lot of people that go to this traumatic events, but
they don't bounce back. But you did thanks to the help.
But thanks as well to you because at some point, I
personally believe that you truly believe in yourself that
(16:09):
you're able to come back. But I want to hear from you like
your past self say to you, you are able to get through this.
You're able to bounce back. You're able to go on that bike
again and win competitions or participate in the next World
championship and so on. I.
Think what I had to tell myself is there was no other option
because it was such a, it's sucha scary, traumatic place to be
(16:35):
to feel like that helpless that I realized if I didn't face it,
just even for me, I would never,I don't think I'd ever compete
again or ever want to push myself to those limits.
And I was, I think, more scared of me not going back than me to
go back because I was scared of what version of myself that
would be. And I knew I needed to push
through that just to try. And I think that's where it
(16:58):
started. It's just one day at a time
trying because I didn't want to live staring at that wall and,
you know, my old childhood room,too paralyzed to to go and move
and keep challenging myself. But then I did also have to
understand what risk I was willing to take and come to
terms with. I'm going to choose my health
over results any day. So if that's breaking in a final
(17:21):
corner, if that's, you know, needing a mental health reset
week, I need to make sure I'm doing that because it's no
result is worth my health. But once I, I think that let go
so much pressure when you face it that way that you can't
really fail then 'cause all you're doing is taking it one
day at a time and knowing that you just want to get better, get
better at something. And that's just a true gift.
(17:43):
And, you know, each day we're living here on the earth is a
gift. But how about the gift of just
being able to challenge yourselfand get better at something?
It's so great. And I think there's a big
misconnect too, where people think you have to be one thing
or the other. And so I have this thing I play
with in my head is like grit andgrace.
Grit is going to make you fight through hard times, through bad
(18:06):
weather, through bad business deals, whatever.
And you're going to push, push, push.
And then grace is also going to make sure that you're still a
whole person when it's all over and that you can, you can give
yourself that grace during the ebbs and flows.
But it's not like you don't onlyhave to be gritty and only have
to be super hardcore to win. You also can have vulnerability,
authenticity, forgiveness. And I think it's this one can
(18:31):
exist together. And I think then that gives
yields, I think, some of the best performances in sports and
life. Obviously because you when you
put yourself 1st and when you take care of yourself and your
health and so on and don't rush it like taking things day by day
can make the whole difference rather than putting all your
effort into performing every single day at your peak when you
(18:52):
don't have time for recovery or taking the day or week off.
Yes, like you mentioned for taking care of your mental
health and taking care of your body recovery.
Sound reason. And still from sports I heard
from was interview with Christiano Ronaldo that he spent
a certain amount of hours training and a certain amount of
hours recovering. The same amount of hours
recovering. How is he cycling like you
(19:14):
because the effort and the like.So I grew up watching Tour de
France and in the times when Lance Armstrong was like winning
year after year and so on. And I know that you have a
podcast together, The Move, I think it's called, and.
The move Yep just got back from has been with Lancey Pants.
Nice, and I I was watching some behind the scenes and like they
(19:35):
were straight away into the message room.
But can you paint a picture of what it means to truly recover
from such a activity? Because cycling is exhausting.
Oh, it is. It's so exhausting.
I don't think people recover near enough.
I know I don't because I like tokeep moving and do all my other
(19:55):
little projects. But men are training, say, 3540
hours a week, women a little less sometimes, you know, peak
weeks higher. And it requires, you know, full
days off sometimes of recovery. And there's just so much
mobility work, stretching, massage, PT.
And then also, I think nutritionis huge, not only you have to
take care of your body. Luckily, if you don't hit the
(20:16):
pavement, cycling is relatively low impact.
So, you know, as opposed to running, cycling, you can go
easy spin for an hour and it's not going to cost you anything.
And I usually don't take a lot of days off.
Yesterday I did, I was exhausted.
I'm trying to learn in my older age to listen.
When I'm tired, I'm like, I don't want to ride.
Oh, I probably shouldn't. But it's like eating, you know,
of course, eating before and it's like fueling during the
(20:38):
training is really important. They're eating insane amount of
high carb dehydrate like gels and mixes to to keep the
glycogen storage is up while you're on the bike that long.
And then immediately after you have the recovery window that
you need to get 30 minutes in. You need to get not only your
beet juice, cherry juice and allthe new things they're doing,
but also just like a chocolate milk type of a thing, some
(21:01):
protein, some carbs and then a real meal.
And so then you just have to keep that.
So it's all about really stayingloose limber to try to increase
that longevity. And then there's so much on just
the fueling and nutrition strategy because you're making
your body burn insane amount of calories, you know, throughout
the day and to you want to keep that fuel burning and there, but
also so you don't bonk. So there's a lot.
(21:23):
It's very hard sport. It's very complicated on the
recovery and each each rider is different too.
Maybe I'm like super flexible soI don't get very tight, but I
need to work better on my recovery drinks afterwards or my
fueling gearing because I've done it for so long.
My body's very efficient. And then I have to remind
myself, no, you still need to keep feeling, keep energy in you
so when the move goes, you're ready.
(21:44):
So it's just, it's intense. I cannot even imagine like just
from what you're sharing and what I saw on TV when I was a
kid. And now when my brother is on a
bike all day because he lives inBelgium and he, he just got a
new bike and he's like so excited because and he's able to
do like 80 kilometers a day. And I'm like, if I do 10
kilometers, I'm like that. And so for those that never went
(22:08):
on a bike or they never try a hard sport like this, what would
be your advice to them in order to build this resilience?
Because all this came with a lotof advantages for you now in the
business world. Yeah, I think it's just
starting. It's like I always have this
thing to start lines deserve more celebration than finish
lines. And I really believe that
(22:29):
because I know when I was comingback, like we were talking from
this traumatic brain injury and I'm lining up to something and I
am terrified. Like I'm terrified of hitting my
head again. I'm terrified of not performing.
I don't even know if I want to be there.
But like we said, I told myself I had to be there or else and it
was just for me. But I think it's just starting.
So it sounds like you're going to have a cycling goal in your
(22:50):
future. I'm feeling that you're going to
leave this podcast, you're goingto call your brother and you're
going to find some ride that youwant to do in Belgium and you're
going to do it. But so once again, going back to
the goal that, you know, findingsomething that inspires you and
not what I'm telling you to do. I'm not going to go tell you to
do Flanders, although now I wantyou to.
But I brought that up. But this is like a Flanders
sporty I. Don't like the cobblestone?
(23:13):
Yeah, there's like a million people that do it.
It looks terrifying. Especially on rain, it's it's
intense. But I mean, you're in it for the
long haul. You just have to start
somewhere. And I think, I mean, I know I do
that looking at my inbox or something like I'm just like,
oh, deer in the headlights. I don't know if I want to do
that. That's a scary e-mail.
I don't want to answer it. If you have to just start and
then consistently keep building.And a great way to do that is
(23:36):
the goal. So you have like a, a countdown,
you know, is it a century, a metric century, like 100K or
50K, whatever. And you have it.
And then you have a training partner or accountability
partner. So you have somebody that's
going to get coffee with you andstart going riding with you as
you guys build towards this goaltogether.
And I think accountability and people to do it with and that
sense of community and cycling'sa great community sport for that
(23:58):
reason, though. There's so many clubs out there
and running clubs and all of that where it's like bringing
people together and sometimes you don't want to do it alone
and sometimes you do right. Sometimes like being alone is
nice in your thoughts, but when you're just starting I think
sometimes it's nice to at least have a carrot that you're
building towards with friends and snacks.
A lot of snacks, especially cycling.
(24:20):
My brother has this routine in which he go on a certain route
to end up at this automatic machine for ice cream.
And for me, it was of course, like for ice cream, like you
usually get classic snacks and stuff.
But to get ice cream from from this type of vending machine, I
was like, OK, that's interesting.
I'll go on that review to yourself.
(24:40):
Yeah, well, you I call myself a treat oriented athletes.
I'm very treat based, so I like to ride to like my favorite
pizza place or favorite view. Very like treat.
That's like, oh, if I just get there, then I get this treat and
then I have to come home and that's a long way home, but it
works. Yeah.
And I, I love the parallels between the sports and
(25:00):
entrepreneurship because a lot of things that you describe so
far are so similar in building abusiness in a sustainable way,
like to feel yourself both to eats, rest, good food and so on.
And as well making sure you takeone day at a time.
But if you are to draw a peril yourself from the things that
you learn from sports that you know successfully, apply in your
(25:22):
businesses how that translates. Yeah, I think that sports, they
don't just teach competition, they teach you to adapt, to
listen and lead, and they teach you also to push through those
setbacks. And then your story starts
becoming a story that can guide others.
And it's just so much more than just sport.
(25:43):
And then it does translation into business for me very well.
I think that there's unexpected leadership moments that you find
where you might not have signed up to be something that's going
to advocate for traumatic brain injuries.
Or I work with some of my sponsors and clients on product
innovation specific specificallyfor female athletes.
(26:04):
And I didn't ever intend to be that person.
But sports kind of did bring me these unexpected leadership
moments where then now we can really make a difference in the
world in my opinion and industry.
But it's by pushing through. And I think sports has taught me
to push through some of those difficult moments and then also
just that life balance. So pursuing sports at a high
(26:25):
level while I was also working with clients, it taught me too
that you're kind of in it for the long haul.
And if you do protect your own balance, that means you can lead
longer and better. And that applies to the bike and
in entrepreneurship or business.And I think it's also helpful in
that leadership role that you remember that you are more than
(26:46):
just the CEO, just the founder or just the athlete, like you're
also so much more. And then I think when you are
able to see how much value you bring in different parts of your
life, then you have less of a chance of burning out or losing
yourself in just one role. And we were talking about
recovery too. And sports teach you to push
your limits. And I know when you're starting
(27:07):
business, my husband and I started a, a company during
COVID and you're pushing, pushing, pushing.
But then when also do you, we need to take a little break
because we're getting really tired.
Like when you're an entrepreneur, you're a founder
and you're pitching, right? And it's, it's hard.
It's just, it's such a grind. And that's so much like sports,
especially cycling, because it'slike my races are very, very
long. And but you're pushing, pushing.
(27:29):
So you have to remember that recovery, that recovery piece
too, like taking care of yourself.
I say like forward progress, take care of yourself.
But then what sports do, You can't hide who you are really in
sports sometimes. I know you can do your poker
face, you can try, but there's still a scoreboard, there's
results, there's ATV on you. And so I think I also learned
(27:49):
just being authentic and vulnerable and being me.
It's a great story. But also, as a founder and an
entrepreneur, you have to be authentic in you and you pitch
yourself to investors, to other clients.
And the more you are you and real and raw and showcase how
intelligence and brilliant your idea is, the more successful I
(28:10):
think you're going to be there too.
It's a great story to tell. So it's pushing through and then
also remaining true to yourself without being burned out.
I love it. That's a super beautiful
parallel because indeed, that's that's the reality of business
and sports. And I know how passionate you
are about making sports more an opening opportunities and
education to others in order to have this this chance of
(28:35):
including sporting. Their life is as you, your
example and many others that areboth great in sports, but they
build a successful business on the side since they go hand in
hand. And can you share a bit more
about that, about your path intoopening opportunities?
Yeah, I just think it is so important to get more,
(28:58):
especially women in sports, young women, and have them stay
in sports. There's a lot of studies that,
you know, a lot of young women get into sports and then around
the ages of 12 to 14, they drop out of sports for obvious
reasons, right? Life changes and body changes.
But the studies are showing if you're a female student athlete
and compete in collegiate sports, you're like 98% chance
(29:20):
going to be AC suite executive. It's just keeping women in
sports and then how successful you can be later in life.
So it's not just about the sport, but it's what the sport
is teaching you for later life success.
So finding out those stats, realizing how blessed I was that
I grew up in a very athletic family that start sports till
after that age really. But you know, growing up on a
(29:41):
rant. So you're very active, but I
stayed in sports. Now I'm realizing how that
changed my life. And then also how much there's
these barriers of entry. We're just this is now on 4th
year of the Tour de France. Vom of ex Zwift coming back in
full force thanks to companies like Zwift that believe in the
ROI of investing in women's cycling.
And our last winner Pauline FranProveau that just won the
(30:03):
women's Tour de France from of ex wit.
And she said that she grew up wishing she was a boy because
she never could have competed inthe Tour.
And then now she's standing there on the podium in her
yellow jersey. And so there is something that
if young women can see it happening then they will want to
be that way. So there's also visibility is
viability. The more we watch women in
(30:24):
sports, the more women win and we're inspiring the next
generation. So when we saw this just kind of
disconnect and young women leaving sport, my husband and I
started what we thought was justa fun COVID project.
But we sold bandanas of all things.
But it was during COVID and we didn't want to make sourdough
bread. And so we started a consulting
firm and sold bandanas, some T-shirts, but mainly we raised
(30:46):
money to create scholarships just to get more student
identifying female athletes student.
Yeah. OK, I think I said that right in
sport. So we have a program here, Lucky
in the United States. We have Nika, which is an
incredible high school mountain bike league.
And there's a local league here called Merkel High School that's
a part of Nika. So I can go and camp with the
(31:06):
girls. They have a program called GRIT,
which is girls riding together. And then we go to gravel events
around the country. We can then raise money in those
specific communities. So where I am racing, we can
make sure we're giving an impactback to young women to get on
bikes. And then I'll even do more like
we did more women, more miles atUnbound this year where they
(31:27):
opened up extra spots for women to come and join me to ride.
And I'll paste them. So then they have this, we all
start together. But sometimes, like we were
talking about, it's scary to start something.
And so for me, I've been doing it a long time, but to bring
more women to the start line is just such a powerful thing to do
and to realize that you're making a difference not only in
(31:48):
their lives, but inspiring everybody else that's watching
and their daughters. So we're really into getting
more girls on bikes especially, but more kids on bikes was in
sports. It's provided some pretty
awesome opportunities. Was a keynote at Congress to
work on the Women's Health initiative where we are trying
to which had passed on was getting more funding for
research for women female for war fighters things like that.
(32:12):
So taking what I've learned fromfemale specific product
innovation in the cycling industry and bringing that into
the war fighters, Department of Defense and showing which is so
cool because similar they're like, why aren't there more
women five star generals? Well, if you don't provide
appropriate apparel or opportunity or the barrier to
(32:32):
entry is too high, like I know that's way different than
sports. That's got intense, but.
But still there, there are similarities and what's
beautiful about your work is thefact that you impact so many
lives. And it's really the case like of
course, to entrepreneurship, yougot you give people something to
do, like they put food on the table and so on.
(32:52):
But you basically give the powerin their hand and in opening
those doors and like helping some just start, I think then
you'll be able, you'll be able to see the power of of this the
power of sports. Like they will enjoy the event
of forever. Remember that.
And that will lead to the next to the next to the next.
(33:12):
And two years later, they might be the next big CEO or the next
founder and so on. And it impacts themself
otherwise. And this like domino effect, if
you want, it's something that it's often overload because
people seem like, oh, but why, why I should do this work?
I achieve my goals in life. I become maybe like you're world
(33:35):
champion. But after that, once they
achieve that big goal, everything fades because they
they don't have something next that that was the goal for them.
That's it. But what I admire you, it's it's
this like you stop focusing juston cycling.
You use cycling to for a greatergood and you're a perfect
(33:58):
example for anyone listening that has some sort of experience
in any field from sports business to education and so on
to to a bit better. Yeah, that's so nice of you.
Thank you. But for the next.
Sports. Wow, that's amazing.
You're going to make me all tearup.
Yeah, it's the reality of things.
(34:19):
Like it is like I got the chanceto meet a lot of individuals
both in into the podcast and also in the real life that are
making the impact. But some of the talking students
like why just focus on yourself only when you have all these
abilities, all these knowledge, and you have the power to make
bigger goods in the world. But of course, not everyone
(34:42):
probably wants that. Not everyone can do that in the
true sense of the word. But on this point, I'd love to
ask about the principles behind this.
Like, yes, often people ask for like frameworks, step by step
processes, but what are the principles and the beliefs that
you're being guide by in order to make sure that this don't
(35:04):
stagnate is not just, I don't know, a sparkle.
You'll become a true flame that will get more and more back in
in the sport and especially cycling and others that can have
a true positive impact in their life.
Yeah, Sports have given me such a powerful platform through
racing for as long as I have that I realized what I was given
(35:27):
such a gift with such amazing community and fans and
supporters that have just supported me through all of my
ups and downs and picking me up when I'm falling and celebrating
when I win and lose. And I wanted to give them
something back. And I realized how important
they were to me. And So what guides me is purpose
(35:48):
and impact. First of all, I want to wake up
every morning with purpose. And this is a great purpose just
to make sports in general more inclusive, provide more
opportunity, more diversity, andthen impact.
I want to be able to see that mypurpose is worth it and to
actually watch it in the field. So that's why I love camping
(36:08):
with those girls in mountain biking with them, even though
I'm terrified of mountain biking, they're much better than
I am. And riding with junior teams or
having hundreds of women come and ride with me in Emporia, KS.
And I see that impact and realizing when you show up,
people show up too. And then you see more people on
bikes and you go, okay, purpose,impact.
(36:31):
And then your heart's just growing 3 sizes like big.
So then you realize all the stress you had and not worry
about your finances and are you doing too much?
Are you enough? I ask those questions all the
time. And then when you see that, I
for a minute I go, wow, I might be doing enough.
And then I go, no, there has to be more to do.
So And then the next is just it's opportunity and this
(36:52):
increasing opportunity and whether that's with inclusion,
diversity, and sometimes it's just showing up.
Like if you and if we can provide a scholarship for a ride
or a free race entry or get a bike for somebody or provide a
coaching for free or something just to provide opportunity to
keep lifting up women in sports.I'm guided by that.
So yeah, I'm going to go purpose, impact and opportunity
(37:15):
with inclusion. Love it.
And you mentioned something there that there are those
moments in which you feel that you're not good enough or you
didn't make enough and so on. And until you see that you are
at that event or something happens, you you're able to give
a scholarship and so on and you truly enjoy it.
(37:37):
But from all those that are backhome now listening and watching
and feel the same. And personally as well,
sometimes I feel that I don't doenough.
What would you be your advice tothem?
I struggle with that so much because I can tell you, Dave,
you are enough and I fully believe that.
(37:58):
And I'm like, wow, you're doing incredible work.
But when it comes to me, I struggle with going, am I?
So I actually have it on my friendship bracelet here.
It says enough because I made a joke that I was like, sometimes
you have to be like I am enough.And that enough doesn't mean
that you have to be a Gold Star winner that day.
Maybe you being enough is you'reexhausted and you're sitting on
(38:20):
the couch. So then I thought enough was
kind of a fun word to have on a friendship bracelet because
maybe it's enough with a toxic friendship or enough with a bad
business deal or enough of ice cream that day.
Or is it like you are enough andit just is a good reminder that
I think you are enough wherever you're sitting right where you
are because that's where you're supposed to be.
(38:40):
I think most of the people listening to the show are going
to be achievers that are trying to find that next.
How do we get better? How do we get better?
And sometimes you have to sit and just be like ground yourself
and be like, I, I am enough. That sometimes is taking that
break and finding a little balance in there.
So it's something I really struggle with.
But I will tell anybody listening to this that you are
(39:01):
100% enough. Right back at you, everyone that
listened now in their head says to you that you're enough and
look at your achievements and not just from a perspective, but
as well from impact perspective,like you're changing lives.
And just remember every single time and you your struggle to
this, that you're changing lives.
(39:22):
And what else can be more fulfilling this life, because
that's, that's something that remains because of course, the,
the names on the, on the titles and all that stuff does remains
as well in history. But the lives that we impact, I
think that's the most important thing.
Yeah, I agreed. And you need to do some
(39:42):
announcements right now. One, it's for those that you
truly want to get in touch with.You call them out who they are
and why they should reach out to.
You. Whoa, who's reaching out to me?
I don't know, might be, I don't the next World champion might be
someone that wants to go on a bike but she's struggling to
(40:05):
make that first step. Or maybe she doesn't even have a
bike. Or someone that's heard about
gravel racing but was like how is that different than Rd.
racing and so on. Yeah, any of those any at all.
You can find me on Instagram at at AM TETRICK reach out with any
questions getting into bikes, you know advice for your
(40:28):
yourself, your daughter. I don't know I'm here to help.
Also TuneIn when we're on the move to watch the femme because
the more we watch women, the more women win.
So we're on Peacock every day during the Tour de France
Flambeck Swift, but always hashtag watch the femme there
for sure. There's a lot of joy in bikes on
the It's great. It's a great time to to be in
(40:48):
women's sports, I think, so I'm here for that.
Absolutely. And it's growing.
It's growing and that's the mostimportant thing.
And multiple other sports in thewoman world start to pick up and
even some that are more, let's say, even more physical, like
football and so on, or you guys call it soccer.
And yeah, it's nice to see because indeed, it offers so
(41:10):
many opportunities and every single sport that become more
inclusive helps other opening doors or becoming better in
general in life. And the second announcement is
just for 60 seconds. And if you're going back in time
and meet Ali just around 1-2 weeks after she first got on a
(41:34):
bike, what would you tell her? I would tell her, little
cowgirl, you have no idea what'scoming up next.
But remember, always wear the boots and own your truth.
You're stronger than you know and you'll have no idea where
this bike will take you. But remember who you are, own
your truth, and always wear those cowboy boots.
(41:55):
Nice love it. Thank you so much Charlie for
joining me today. You're.
Welcome. Thank you for having me.
To hit that top level, you got to be ready to be falling,
failing, crying, questioning your life choices.
Meet Alison Tetrick. She was born and raised on a
ranch in California. Then she became an NCA tennis
player turned biochemist, turnedprofessional cyclist and
storyteller and free range entrepreneur.
(00:20):
Sports, they don't just teach competition, they teach you to
adapt, to listen and lead, and they teach you also to push
through those setbacks. Then your story, it starts
becoming a story that can guide others and it's just so much
more than just sport. In today's episode, we draw
parallel between sports and entrepreneurship to truly see
the impact that doing the sport has on your life and business in
(00:44):
general. Ellie is a three time grave
World Champion, unbound to hunt a winner representing the USC
initial team at the Pan AmericanGames and has medaled at the UCI
Rd. World Championships in the team
time trial. Sports just really do change
lives and they definitely changemy life.
She's a traumatic brain injury survivor after crashing a
professional race, and even thatthe bike almost took her life.
(01:06):
It also saved her life. Allison served on the board of
directors for USC Cycling for 10years and is on the Team USA
Athletes Commission Leadership team.
Visibility is viability. The more we watch women in
sports, the more women win, and we're inspiring the next
generation. She's passionate about creating
opportunities, education and access to cycling, to
scholarships and community engagement.
(01:27):
Alison believes sports can make a powerful difference.
To change the world and continueto do the work to make a
difference, Alison and her husband Blaze Beharns founded
Saga Ventures in order to followtheir creative energy and
professional expertise in the purpose driven projects.
Start lines deserve more celebration than finish lines.
Ali, welcome to authority in theWild.
(01:50):
Wow, thank you for having me. Spent a couple months.
We've been trying to get this sorted out so it's exciting to
be here. Yeah, indeed, but super happy
that you make it happen and that's I shared with you earlier
is the first time to talk with the world champion.
Well, cycling has has been in mylife for a little while, but
didn't always start that way. Yeah, I know you grew up at a
range and from that you become atennis player, then scientist
(02:13):
and then a cyclist. Can you share a bit of that
background? Yeah, So I'm calling you from
Petaluma, CA. It's in Northern California, a
little north of San Francisco. And I was born and raised in
California on a cattle ranch. So I actually knew how to ride a
horse before I ever rode a bike.And I think that's very
interesting because especially in female sports, the trajectory
(02:38):
to becoming professional or the best in the world of what you're
doing in a sport, it often isn'tlinear or traditional.
So I didn't play a lot of organized sports.
That's growing up because we lived in the middle of nowhere.
My parents aren't driving me in to go play soccer or anything
like that. So I didn't pick up tennis till
high school and then ended up playing NCAA tennis, getting a
(02:59):
scholarship to go play tennis and I became a biochemist.
And when I actually got injured in college, so I graduated in
three years because I tore my NCL and I couldn't play.
So I just graduated and went straight into chemistry research
and drug discovery. But it was super frustrating to
play a sport to its entirety. And I knew I was never going to
(03:22):
be the best in the world at tennis.
And tennis is such a skill sportthat requires so much time.
You need to start at this young age.
And it's just like skill and skill.
And I'm there and I'm just frustrated and still a little
competitive working there in thelab.
And my grandfather raced bikes. And he didn't start racing till
after maybe like 55 years old. He served as a veteran.
(03:45):
So he missed a lot of his childhood and didn't play sports
until he retired. And he told me I could go to the
Olympics and cycling. And I was like, that's so dorky.
You know, cycling, you have those like tight, bright
clothing. You're like going around on bike
paths. I was like, I play tennis.
So I ended up picking up the sport and before you know it I
(04:05):
was racy in Europe on the USA national team.
I got to do my first bike race with my grandfather.
It's very fun story, you know, I'm wearing one of his old
jerseys. I got my number upside down and
he was a tough guy. But it was a way that got me in
the sport and then also became avery special part of our
relationship because he didn't always tell me he loved me.
(04:29):
He just, he had a hard life and then psychically became just our
love language in a way where we got to share this experience
together. He since passed away, but it was
really special to be able to share some of these wins and
losses with him. So that's how I kind of got into
the sport. It was a very quick trajectory
but worth it for sure. Yeah, that's you end up becoming
(04:52):
three times gravel world champion and from where like
fast trajectory and especially since you didn't start it that
way and have that more sit back when it comes to your injury and
such. And it's always intrigued me,
apart from this special bond that sports can bring people
together and family members likewas your case, in which indeed
(05:12):
certain individuals, they are not able to share emotions other
than introducing you to a sport or playing with you or cycling
your case with you to putting these seeds that turn Ali into
world champion. And what makes the world
champion is always it's the first time I am happy to be able
to answer this question. And I have no idea if it's the
(05:36):
talent itself is the work, It's a combination of things.
It's, it's something else. Please tell me.
Yeah, I think that that you're so true, though, that the sports
just hold such a powerful vesselto tell stories, to build
connections, to help brands market, create advocacy.
Sports just really do change lives and they've definitely
(05:56):
changed my life. And he just asked me that
question about a path to becoming winning races, becoming
a gravel world champion. And I don't look at those and
think that that was it, that wasthe pinnacle.
Like I look at it and it sounds so cliche as this, this journey,
because especially in bike racing, you lose so many more
(06:19):
races than you win. So to hit that top level, you
got to be ready to be like falling, failing, crying,
questioning your life choices. So I think it takes a lot of
resilience because you have to figure out you have to enjoy
that process to your goal. So first of all, your goal
doesn't have to be a world champion.
(06:39):
It's just a goal that inspires you, that makes you want to get
up in the morning and makes yourheart flutter.
Because when you look back at it, you're going to remember
every single day leading up to that moment much more than
you're going to remember that moment.
And then you have to be ready toget knocked down a bunch.
And yeah, question it. And then approaching things with
curiosity. So trying to figure out how far
(07:01):
you can push yourself. When is it too far?
Is there a better way to train? Is something that going to make
me happier? Like I learned that I had to be
happy to perform and I didn't dowell with being like super like,
I don't know, aggressively. Like this is like All in all, I
had to remember especially, which we can touch on later is,
is having some really traumatic,literally setbacks and injuries
(07:24):
where you have to separate your identity.
So you can't just be like, I want to go to the Olympics.
I want to be a world champion, Iwant to be CEO.
You have to enjoy that process and understand that you're so
much more. And I think a lot of people lose
sight of that. If you get laser focused just on
one thing, you don't find that balance or just that genuine
curiosity. And I think there's just so much
more than podiums. I think it's like how you shape
(07:46):
the sport, how you're going to shape the next generation.
And so sometimes I have to remind myself why I'm doing it.
And I didn't perform well doing it just for me.
I wanted to do it for other people and for a greater good, a
greater impact. So I think there's no perfect
solution at all on this, but I, I just really enjoying the
process, which I know is so overstated.
(08:07):
But when you look back, you don't remember just a podium.
You remember all those people that supported you, those long
rides with your friends, those geeking out over data and trying
to find the perfect way to approach the race and then be
totally ready for somebody just to flip the skirt on you.
You know, you get sick or something happens in your
family. You have to address these
(08:28):
injuries and things like that. So you have to be really
flexible that way and and makingsure you're finding joy in other
things besides just your goal, but then also making sure your
goal inspires you. Love your answer because what
you just described there, it's basically as well.
The part of entrepreneurship is this ups and downs, the
adjusting, keep taking care of other things, having some sort
(08:51):
of goal, but not to become the best entrepreneur in the world
or to become the world champion,but rather to take it step by
step and in the same time enjoying it and making sure that
it's something more than just the podium or winning races.
Because as you mentioned, especially cyclists and also in
other sports, I read that recently, I think it was about 3
(09:13):
of tennis. Roger Federer, yeah, he won like
50, a bit, 52 or 54% of all his games.
And I'm like, but he was one of the best in history and still
just won a bit over half of his games played.
And I was like, what? That was great.
He did a keynote for a university and it was amazing.
(09:35):
The stat was like 51 or 52%. And I think he's considered the
best of all time. And that's where you kind of
have to be ready to fail like wedo in life, like nothing is
perfect. And I will tell you though, I am
being on finding the joy and thehappiness, but there are days
that it's still work, like you still don't want to be out
there. It's not like every day I was
getting on my bike going, this is the best day ever.
(09:55):
So you have to want to do it andprepare to work hard.
But I think the other big key here is I always use this.
I like the time trial, which came down to very specific data
and aerodynamic testing. And it's control your
controllables because I can't control how you're going to
prepare for the race. I can only control how I'm going
to prepare for the race. And so it when you finish and
you're disappointed, did you do the best you can to prepare
(10:19):
yourself? And if you didn't, then go back
and make those adjustments. And so then I also think that
people get caught up and disappointed in their result.
They didn't win or they didn't podium or they didn't PR and
there's results and your performance is totally
different. Did you challenge yourself and
do the best you could do on thatday?
(10:39):
Then my grandfather would be like, then why are you crying?
Did you do the best? And I'd be like, no, I should
have gone to sleep earlier, goneto this altitude camp.
Then he's like, all right, well then next time change that.
But then if I was like, I did everything perfect and she still
beat me is like, your result is different than your effort.
If your effort, you're proud of your effort, be proud of your
effort because your effort doesn't always resemble the
(11:00):
result. And I think that's an important
people think effort and result are the same thing often, right?
They get blended in. If you did it PR then your
effort must have been horrible. Yeah, exactly.
And that's often a missing pieceof success in any endeavors,
either exports business life. And if you look at the wrong
performance indicator, you mightbe on the wrong side of the
(11:23):
winning or the success. But if you're wrong, like if you
put that effort, if you you control what you can control,
not things that are out there, you cannot reach them and so on,
it's much more easier for you tobe actually successful and see
progress and learn from me. Because yeah, like anything,
sports is not perfect. Every single time you don't
enjoy it. Every single time there will be
(11:44):
setbacks. There will be things that come
your way and you simply cannot foresee them or something that
you foresee. I didn't do that the right way.
Let's adjust the next time like you were you were advised.
And Speaking of setbacks, I knowthat you have traumatic brain
injury while cycling. If you're not shy of sharing,
(12:07):
can you please get us back? I've crashed a lot so I've
broken most of the bones in my body.
Cycling is not super nice to your body.
You're wearing like nothing but your underwear and jumping out
of a car like 45 miles an hour. But it I had a traumatic brain
injury. I crashed at a bike race in 2010
and life flighted out. It was very bad and broke my
(12:32):
pelvis in my brain and I came back to the sport too quickly.
This was a little bit before concussions were popular to
discuss and so since I couldn't walk, I'm in a wheelchair and
I'm obsessed about. This is where I learned do not
have your identity all on sport.Make sure you remember your
other things because when you'relaid up and you only considered
(12:53):
yourself one part of you, then it gets very lonely and is not
hard to find joy in that. But I was really fixated on
coming back because I wanted, I had all these goals and this is
what I wanted to do. And I came back and I was at the
Pan American Games like 8 monthsafter we've been riding for a
couple months and I had a flute crash landed on my head.
(13:15):
Not a traumatic brain injury, but concussion because it was so
close after this like very bad green bonk that I couldn't ride.
It was just like darkness from there on.
Like I couldn't read. I'm severely depressed, you
know, my anxiety went like through the roof and I just
like, lights were out and I justhad to move back home with my
parents and just stare at a wall.
(13:36):
And it was just so hard to go through.
And I ended up entering on. I worked with a
neuropsychologist to help me. I went to a sports psychologist
because I was having panic attacks when trying to descend.
Everything was just so scary. And they're like, you need to go
to neuro psych. So I got to work to kind of
retrain my brain to to be able to process to even trap a mouse
(13:59):
cursor across the screen. And I worked so hard on that.
And I kept going into his officeand he wasn't allowing me to
ride yet. He's waiting for my symptoms to
go. And it's six months.
You just think about all that fitness you're losing and all
the races you should be at and you're watching that year's
Olympics go away and you're justwatching this all happen in
front of you. And I was so frustrated.
(14:21):
But then he said every time I'd go into this office, he'd say,
why do you want to be here? And I said, I'd have this like,
oh, because this race or oh, this person or.
And then one time I went into his office and he said, why?
And I said, why, Why do you wantto go back on your bike?
And I said, because the swear word bike owes me something.
And then I was like, oh, no, I just swore in front of my
doctor. And that seems a little
(14:43):
aggressive. And he said that is the most
sane thing that you have said because for you to come back,
you're doing it on like we're going to do it on your turns,
like you're going to do it for you and on your turns.
And we're going to do what makesyou happy and find races that
make you happy, surround you with team, teammates that make
you happy and support system. And so then I was able to come
(15:04):
back. I think maybe not the as fast as
I was before, but I was a more balanced, healthy human being.
And I think his work with me gave me the longevity that my
career has now. And it was so much so I entered
APHD program in neuropsychology because it was just a
fascinating experience to take psychology, which is a little
(15:24):
softer science, and take all thechemistry things that I'd
studied and you like, mix them into one to figure out how do we
find this ultimate performance but also make healthier people.
So it's very interesting. Yeah, definitely, because often
we don't look at this internal things and how brains, how these
things affect everything that wedo from sports to day by day
(15:47):
life. And maybe you even believe that
Vincible even after the first accident, you thought that's all
happened once, won't happen nextso on.
And I see a lot of people that go to this traumatic events, but
they don't bounce back. But you did thanks to the help.
But thanks as well to you because at some point, I
personally believe that you truly believe in yourself that
(16:09):
you're able to come back. But I want to hear from you like
your past self say to you, you are able to get through this.
You're able to bounce back. You're able to go on that bike
again and win competitions or participate in the next World
championship and so on. I.
Think what I had to tell myself is there was no other option
because it was such a, it's sucha scary, traumatic place to be
(16:35):
to feel like that helpless that I realized if I didn't face it,
just even for me, I would never,I don't think I'd ever compete
again or ever want to push myself to those limits.
And I was, I think, more scared of me not going back than me to
go back because I was scared of what version of myself that
would be. And I knew I needed to push
through that just to try. And I think that's where it
(16:58):
started. It's just one day at a time
trying because I didn't want to live staring at that wall and,
you know, my old childhood room,too paralyzed to to go and move
and keep challenging myself. But then I did also have to
understand what risk I was willing to take and come to
terms with. I'm going to choose my health
over results any day. So if that's breaking in a final
(17:21):
corner, if that's, you know, needing a mental health reset
week, I need to make sure I'm doing that because it's no
result is worth my health. But once I, I think that let go
so much pressure when you face it that way that you can't
really fail then 'cause all you're doing is taking it one
day at a time and knowing that you just want to get better, get
better at something. And that's just a true gift.
(17:43):
And, you know, each day we're living here on the earth is a
gift. But how about the gift of just
being able to challenge yourselfand get better at something?
It's so great. And I think there's a big
misconnect too, where people think you have to be one thing
or the other. And so I have this thing I play
with in my head is like grit andgrace.
Grit is going to make you fight through hard times, through bad
(18:06):
weather, through bad business deals, whatever.
And you're going to push, push, push.
And then grace is also going to make sure that you're still a
whole person when it's all over and that you can, you can give
yourself that grace during the ebbs and flows.
But it's not like you don't onlyhave to be gritty and only have
to be super hardcore to win. You also can have vulnerability,
authenticity, forgiveness. And I think it's this one can
(18:31):
exist together. And I think then that gives
yields, I think, some of the best performances in sports and
life. Obviously because you when you
put yourself 1st and when you take care of yourself and your
health and so on and don't rush it like taking things day by day
can make the whole difference rather than putting all your
effort into performing every single day at your peak when you
(18:52):
don't have time for recovery or taking the day or week off.
Yes, like you mentioned for taking care of your mental
health and taking care of your body recovery.
Sound reason. And still from sports I heard
from was interview with Christiano Ronaldo that he spent
a certain amount of hours training and a certain amount of
hours recovering. The same amount of hours
recovering. How is he cycling like you
(19:14):
because the effort and the like.So I grew up watching Tour de
France and in the times when Lance Armstrong was like winning
year after year and so on. And I know that you have a
podcast together, The Move, I think it's called, and.
The move Yep just got back from has been with Lancey Pants.
Nice, and I I was watching some behind the scenes and like they
(19:35):
were straight away into the message room.
But can you paint a picture of what it means to truly recover
from such a activity? Because cycling is exhausting.
Oh, it is. It's so exhausting.
I don't think people recover near enough.
I know I don't because I like tokeep moving and do all my other
(19:55):
little projects. But men are training, say, 3540
hours a week, women a little less sometimes, you know, peak
weeks higher. And it requires, you know, full
days off sometimes of recovery. And there's just so much
mobility work, stretching, massage, PT.
And then also, I think nutritionis huge, not only you have to
take care of your body. Luckily, if you don't hit the
(20:16):
pavement, cycling is relatively low impact.
So, you know, as opposed to running, cycling, you can go
easy spin for an hour and it's not going to cost you anything.
And I usually don't take a lot of days off.
Yesterday I did, I was exhausted.
I'm trying to learn in my older age to listen.
When I'm tired, I'm like, I don't want to ride.
Oh, I probably shouldn't. But it's like eating, you know,
of course, eating before and it's like fueling during the
(20:38):
training is really important. They're eating insane amount of
high carb dehydrate like gels and mixes to to keep the
glycogen storage is up while you're on the bike that long.
And then immediately after you have the recovery window that
you need to get 30 minutes in. You need to get not only your
beet juice, cherry juice and allthe new things they're doing,
but also just like a chocolate milk type of a thing, some
(21:01):
protein, some carbs and then a real meal.
And so then you just have to keep that.
So it's all about really stayingloose limber to try to increase
that longevity. And then there's so much on just
the fueling and nutrition strategy because you're making
your body burn insane amount of calories, you know, throughout
the day and to you want to keep that fuel burning and there, but
also so you don't bonk. So there's a lot.
(21:23):
It's very hard sport. It's very complicated on the
recovery and each each rider is different too.
Maybe I'm like super flexible soI don't get very tight, but I
need to work better on my recovery drinks afterwards or my
fueling gearing because I've done it for so long.
My body's very efficient. And then I have to remind
myself, no, you still need to keep feeling, keep energy in you
so when the move goes, you're ready.
(21:44):
So it's just, it's intense. I cannot even imagine like just
from what you're sharing and what I saw on TV when I was a
kid. And now when my brother is on a
bike all day because he lives inBelgium and he, he just got a
new bike and he's like so excited because and he's able to
do like 80 kilometers a day. And I'm like, if I do 10
kilometers, I'm like that. And so for those that never went
(22:08):
on a bike or they never try a hard sport like this, what would
be your advice to them in order to build this resilience?
Because all this came with a lotof advantages for you now in the
business world. Yeah, I think it's just
starting. It's like I always have this
thing to start lines deserve more celebration than finish
lines. And I really believe that
(22:29):
because I know when I was comingback, like we were talking from
this traumatic brain injury and I'm lining up to something and I
am terrified. Like I'm terrified of hitting my
head again. I'm terrified of not performing.
I don't even know if I want to be there.
But like we said, I told myself I had to be there or else and it
was just for me. But I think it's just starting.
So it sounds like you're going to have a cycling goal in your
(22:50):
future. I'm feeling that you're going to
leave this podcast, you're goingto call your brother and you're
going to find some ride that youwant to do in Belgium and you're
going to do it. But so once again, going back to
the goal that, you know, findingsomething that inspires you and
not what I'm telling you to do. I'm not going to go tell you to
do Flanders, although now I wantyou to.
But I brought that up. But this is like a Flanders
sporty I. Don't like the cobblestone?
(23:13):
Yeah, there's like a million people that do it.
It looks terrifying. Especially on rain, it's it's
intense. But I mean, you're in it for the
long haul. You just have to start
somewhere. And I think, I mean, I know I do
that looking at my inbox or something like I'm just like,
oh, deer in the headlights. I don't know if I want to do
that. That's a scary e-mail.
I don't want to answer it. If you have to just start and
then consistently keep building.And a great way to do that is
(23:36):
the goal. So you have like a, a countdown,
you know, is it a century, a metric century, like 100K or
50K, whatever. And you have it.
And then you have a training partner or accountability
partner. So you have somebody that's
going to get coffee with you andstart going riding with you as
you guys build towards this goaltogether.
And I think accountability and people to do it with and that
sense of community and cycling'sa great community sport for that
(23:58):
reason, though. There's so many clubs out there
and running clubs and all of that where it's like bringing
people together and sometimes you don't want to do it alone
and sometimes you do right. Sometimes like being alone is
nice in your thoughts, but when you're just starting I think
sometimes it's nice to at least have a carrot that you're
building towards with friends and snacks.
A lot of snacks, especially cycling.
(24:20):
My brother has this routine in which he go on a certain route
to end up at this automatic machine for ice cream.
And for me, it was of course, like for ice cream, like you
usually get classic snacks and stuff.
But to get ice cream from from this type of vending machine, I
was like, OK, that's interesting.
I'll go on that review to yourself.
(24:40):
Yeah, well, you I call myself a treat oriented athletes.
I'm very treat based, so I like to ride to like my favorite
pizza place or favorite view. Very like treat.
That's like, oh, if I just get there, then I get this treat and
then I have to come home and that's a long way home, but it
works. Yeah.
And I, I love the parallels between the sports and
(25:00):
entrepreneurship because a lot of things that you describe so
far are so similar in building abusiness in a sustainable way,
like to feel yourself both to eats, rest, good food and so on.
And as well making sure you takeone day at a time.
But if you are to draw a peril yourself from the things that
you learn from sports that you know successfully, apply in your
(25:22):
businesses how that translates. Yeah, I think that sports, they
don't just teach competition, they teach you to adapt, to
listen and lead, and they teach you also to push through those
setbacks. And then your story starts
becoming a story that can guide others.
And it's just so much more than just sport.
(25:43):
And then it does translation into business for me very well.
I think that there's unexpected leadership moments that you find
where you might not have signed up to be something that's going
to advocate for traumatic brain injuries.
Or I work with some of my sponsors and clients on product
innovation specific specificallyfor female athletes.
(26:04):
And I didn't ever intend to be that person.
But sports kind of did bring me these unexpected leadership
moments where then now we can really make a difference in the
world in my opinion and industry.
But it's by pushing through. And I think sports has taught me
to push through some of those difficult moments and then also
just that life balance. So pursuing sports at a high
(26:25):
level while I was also working with clients, it taught me too
that you're kind of in it for the long haul.
And if you do protect your own balance, that means you can lead
longer and better. And that applies to the bike and
in entrepreneurship or business.And I think it's also helpful in
that leadership role that you remember that you are more than
(26:46):
just the CEO, just the founder or just the athlete, like you're
also so much more. And then I think when you are
able to see how much value you bring in different parts of your
life, then you have less of a chance of burning out or losing
yourself in just one role. And we were talking about
recovery too. And sports teach you to push
your limits. And I know when you're starting
(27:07):
business, my husband and I started a, a company during
COVID and you're pushing, pushing, pushing.
But then when also do you, we need to take a little break
because we're getting really tired.
Like when you're an entrepreneur, you're a founder
and you're pitching, right? And it's, it's hard.
It's just, it's such a grind. And that's so much like sports,
especially cycling, because it'slike my races are very, very
long. And but you're pushing, pushing.
(27:29):
So you have to remember that recovery, that recovery piece
too, like taking care of yourself.
I say like forward progress, take care of yourself.
But then what sports do, You can't hide who you are really in
sports sometimes. I know you can do your poker
face, you can try, but there's still a scoreboard, there's
results, there's ATV on you. And so I think I also learned
(27:49):
just being authentic and vulnerable and being me.
It's a great story. But also, as a founder and an
entrepreneur, you have to be authentic in you and you pitch
yourself to investors, to other clients.
And the more you are you and real and raw and showcase how
intelligence and brilliant your idea is, the more successful I
(28:10):
think you're going to be there too.
It's a great story to tell. So it's pushing through and then
also remaining true to yourself without being burned out.
I love it. That's a super beautiful
parallel because indeed, that's that's the reality of business
and sports. And I know how passionate you
are about making sports more an opening opportunities and
education to others in order to have this this chance of
(28:35):
including sporting. Their life is as you, your
example and many others that areboth great in sports, but they
build a successful business on the side since they go hand in
hand. And can you share a bit more
about that, about your path intoopening opportunities?
Yeah, I just think it is so important to get more,
(28:58):
especially women in sports, young women, and have them stay
in sports. There's a lot of studies that,
you know, a lot of young women get into sports and then around
the ages of 12 to 14, they drop out of sports for obvious
reasons, right? Life changes and body changes.
But the studies are showing if you're a female student athlete
and compete in collegiate sports, you're like 98% chance
(29:20):
going to be AC suite executive. It's just keeping women in
sports and then how successful you can be later in life.
So it's not just about the sport, but it's what the sport
is teaching you for later life success.
So finding out those stats, realizing how blessed I was that
I grew up in a very athletic family that start sports till
after that age really. But you know, growing up on a
(29:41):
rant. So you're very active, but I
stayed in sports. Now I'm realizing how that
changed my life. And then also how much there's
these barriers of entry. We're just this is now on 4th
year of the Tour de France. Vom of ex Zwift coming back in
full force thanks to companies like Zwift that believe in the
ROI of investing in women's cycling.
And our last winner Pauline FranProveau that just won the
(30:03):
women's Tour de France from of ex wit.
And she said that she grew up wishing she was a boy because
she never could have competed inthe Tour.
And then now she's standing there on the podium in her
yellow jersey. And so there is something that
if young women can see it happening then they will want to
be that way. So there's also visibility is
viability. The more we watch women in
(30:24):
sports, the more women win and we're inspiring the next
generation. So when we saw this just kind of
disconnect and young women leaving sport, my husband and I
started what we thought was justa fun COVID project.
But we sold bandanas of all things.
But it was during COVID and we didn't want to make sourdough
bread. And so we started a consulting
firm and sold bandanas, some T-shirts, but mainly we raised
(30:46):
money to create scholarships just to get more student
identifying female athletes student.
Yeah. OK, I think I said that right in
sport. So we have a program here, Lucky
in the United States. We have Nika, which is an
incredible high school mountain bike league.
And there's a local league here called Merkel High School that's
a part of Nika. So I can go and camp with the
(31:06):
girls. They have a program called GRIT,
which is girls riding together. And then we go to gravel events
around the country. We can then raise money in those
specific communities. So where I am racing, we can
make sure we're giving an impactback to young women to get on
bikes. And then I'll even do more like
we did more women, more miles atUnbound this year where they
(31:27):
opened up extra spots for women to come and join me to ride.
And I'll paste them. So then they have this, we all
start together. But sometimes, like we were
talking about, it's scary to start something.
And so for me, I've been doing it a long time, but to bring
more women to the start line is just such a powerful thing to do
and to realize that you're making a difference not only in
(31:48):
their lives, but inspiring everybody else that's watching
and their daughters. So we're really into getting
more girls on bikes especially, but more kids on bikes was in
sports. It's provided some pretty
awesome opportunities. Was a keynote at Congress to
work on the Women's Health initiative where we are trying
to which had passed on was getting more funding for
research for women female for war fighters things like that.
(32:12):
So taking what I've learned fromfemale specific product
innovation in the cycling industry and bringing that into
the war fighters, Department of Defense and showing which is so
cool because similar they're like, why aren't there more
women five star generals? Well, if you don't provide
appropriate apparel or opportunity or the barrier to
(32:32):
entry is too high, like I know that's way different than
sports. That's got intense, but.
But still there, there are similarities and what's
beautiful about your work is thefact that you impact so many
lives. And it's really the case like of
course, to entrepreneurship, yougot you give people something to
do, like they put food on the table and so on.
(32:52):
But you basically give the powerin their hand and in opening
those doors and like helping some just start, I think then
you'll be able, you'll be able to see the power of of this the
power of sports. Like they will enjoy the event
of forever. Remember that.
And that will lead to the next to the next to the next.
(33:12):
And two years later, they might be the next big CEO or the next
founder and so on. And it impacts themself
otherwise. And this like domino effect, if
you want, it's something that it's often overload because
people seem like, oh, but why, why I should do this work?
I achieve my goals in life. I become maybe like you're world
(33:35):
champion. But after that, once they
achieve that big goal, everything fades because they
they don't have something next that that was the goal for them.
That's it. But what I admire you, it's it's
this like you stop focusing juston cycling.
You use cycling to for a greatergood and you're a perfect
(33:58):
example for anyone listening that has some sort of experience
in any field from sports business to education and so on
to to a bit better. Yeah, that's so nice of you.
Thank you. But for the next.
Sports. Wow, that's amazing.
You're going to make me all tearup.
Yeah, it's the reality of things.
(34:19):
Like it is like I got the chanceto meet a lot of individuals
both in into the podcast and also in the real life that are
making the impact. But some of the talking students
like why just focus on yourself only when you have all these
abilities, all these knowledge, and you have the power to make
bigger goods in the world. But of course, not everyone
(34:42):
probably wants that. Not everyone can do that in the
true sense of the word. But on this point, I'd love to
ask about the principles behind this.
Like, yes, often people ask for like frameworks, step by step
processes, but what are the principles and the beliefs that
you're being guide by in order to make sure that this don't
(35:04):
stagnate is not just, I don't know, a sparkle.
You'll become a true flame that will get more and more back in
in the sport and especially cycling and others that can have
a true positive impact in their life.
Yeah, Sports have given me such a powerful platform through
racing for as long as I have that I realized what I was given
(35:27):
such a gift with such amazing community and fans and
supporters that have just supported me through all of my
ups and downs and picking me up when I'm falling and celebrating
when I win and lose. And I wanted to give them
something back. And I realized how important
they were to me. And So what guides me is purpose
(35:48):
and impact. First of all, I want to wake up
every morning with purpose. And this is a great purpose just
to make sports in general more inclusive, provide more
opportunity, more diversity, andthen impact.
I want to be able to see that mypurpose is worth it and to
actually watch it in the field. So that's why I love camping
(36:08):
with those girls in mountain biking with them, even though
I'm terrified of mountain biking, they're much better than
I am. And riding with junior teams or
having hundreds of women come and ride with me in Emporia, KS.
And I see that impact and realizing when you show up,
people show up too. And then you see more people on
bikes and you go, okay, purpose,impact.
(36:31):
And then your heart's just growing 3 sizes like big.
So then you realize all the stress you had and not worry
about your finances and are you doing too much?
Are you enough? I ask those questions all the
time. And then when you see that, I
for a minute I go, wow, I might be doing enough.
And then I go, no, there has to be more to do.
So And then the next is just it's opportunity and this
(36:52):
increasing opportunity and whether that's with inclusion,
diversity, and sometimes it's just showing up.
Like if you and if we can provide a scholarship for a ride
or a free race entry or get a bike for somebody or provide a
coaching for free or something just to provide opportunity to
keep lifting up women in sports.I'm guided by that.
So yeah, I'm going to go purpose, impact and opportunity
(37:15):
with inclusion. Love it.
And you mentioned something there that there are those
moments in which you feel that you're not good enough or you
didn't make enough and so on. And until you see that you are
at that event or something happens, you you're able to give
a scholarship and so on and you truly enjoy it.
(37:37):
But from all those that are backhome now listening and watching
and feel the same. And personally as well,
sometimes I feel that I don't doenough.
What would you be your advice tothem?
I struggle with that so much because I can tell you, Dave,
you are enough and I fully believe that.
(37:58):
And I'm like, wow, you're doing incredible work.
But when it comes to me, I struggle with going, am I?
So I actually have it on my friendship bracelet here.
It says enough because I made a joke that I was like, sometimes
you have to be like I am enough.And that enough doesn't mean
that you have to be a Gold Star winner that day.
Maybe you being enough is you'reexhausted and you're sitting on
(38:20):
the couch. So then I thought enough was
kind of a fun word to have on a friendship bracelet because
maybe it's enough with a toxic friendship or enough with a bad
business deal or enough of ice cream that day.
Or is it like you are enough andit just is a good reminder that
I think you are enough wherever you're sitting right where you
are because that's where you're supposed to be.
(38:40):
I think most of the people listening to the show are going
to be achievers that are trying to find that next.
How do we get better? How do we get better?
And sometimes you have to sit and just be like ground yourself
and be like, I, I am enough. That sometimes is taking that
break and finding a little balance in there.
So it's something I really struggle with.
But I will tell anybody listening to this that you are
(39:01):
100% enough. Right back at you, everyone that
listened now in their head says to you that you're enough and
look at your achievements and not just from a perspective, but
as well from impact perspective,like you're changing lives.
And just remember every single time and you your struggle to
this, that you're changing lives.
(39:22):
And what else can be more fulfilling this life, because
that's, that's something that remains because of course, the,
the names on the, on the titles and all that stuff does remains
as well in history. But the lives that we impact, I
think that's the most important thing.
Yeah, I agreed. And you need to do some
(39:42):
announcements right now. One, it's for those that you
truly want to get in touch with.You call them out who they are
and why they should reach out to.
You. Whoa, who's reaching out to me?
I don't know, might be, I don't the next World champion might be
someone that wants to go on a bike but she's struggling to
(40:05):
make that first step. Or maybe she doesn't even have a
bike. Or someone that's heard about
gravel racing but was like how is that different than Rd.
racing and so on. Yeah, any of those any at all.
You can find me on Instagram at at AM TETRICK reach out with any
questions getting into bikes, you know advice for your
(40:28):
yourself, your daughter. I don't know I'm here to help.
Also TuneIn when we're on the move to watch the femme because
the more we watch women, the more women win.
So we're on Peacock every day during the Tour de France
Flambeck Swift, but always hashtag watch the femme there
for sure. There's a lot of joy in bikes on
the It's great. It's a great time to to be in
(40:48):
women's sports, I think, so I'm here for that.
Absolutely. And it's growing.
It's growing and that's the mostimportant thing.
And multiple other sports in thewoman world start to pick up and
even some that are more, let's say, even more physical, like
football and so on, or you guys call it soccer.
And yeah, it's nice to see because indeed, it offers so
(41:10):
many opportunities and every single sport that become more
inclusive helps other opening doors or becoming better in
general in life. And the second announcement is
just for 60 seconds. And if you're going back in time
and meet Ali just around 1-2 weeks after she first got on a
(41:34):
bike, what would you tell her? I would tell her, little
cowgirl, you have no idea what'scoming up next.
But remember, always wear the boots and own your truth.
You're stronger than you know and you'll have no idea where
this bike will take you. But remember who you are, own
your truth, and always wear those cowboy boots.
(41:55):
Nice love it. Thank you so much Charlie for
joining me today. You're.
Welcome. Thank you for having me.
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