September 2, 2025 • 22 mins
Welcome to Babes n Sports — where accomplished sports professionals Jamie Hersch and Tory Zawacki Roy pull back the curtain on what it’s really like to juggle motherhood with high-pressure careers in the male-dominated world of sports.
This week, Tory reflects on how—six years ago—her family planning revolved around NFL kickoff and the US Open, and the lessons that followed through childbirth, maternity leave, and miscarriage.
Jamie highlights why equal parental leave matters for both moms and dads, and how that policy made all the difference when her family welcomed their first baby.
Plus, don’t miss the debut a new Babes segment: Mom-barrassing Moment of the Week. From rookie mistakes in youth sports planning, to the kids crashing work meetings with Super Bowl Champions… yeah, it’s as chaotic (and hilarious) as it sounds.
Subscribe now for real conversations about chasing big career goals while raising families, and connect with Jamie (@JamieHersch), Tory (@Tzawacki), and the show (@babensportspodcast) on social media.
Follow the conversation on instagram @babesnsportspodcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Babes in Sports podcast.
I'm Jamie Hirsch.
I'm
SPEAKER_01 (00:14):
Tori Z.
Roy.
We're two friends navigatingbeing moms, wives, and
successful women in thedemanding male-dominated world
SPEAKER_00 (00:21):
of sports.
Sports! Woohoo! We're back.
A quick overview for anyone whomay be new to the pod.
I have been a longtime host inthe studio and reporter, and now
I'm trying to delve into theworld of play-by-play, both in
hockey and soccer.
And so what I'm working on rightnow is mostly focusing on the
NWSL.
There's kind of playoff pushtime, National Women's Soccer
(00:43):
League, So we've got a couplegames coming up that I'm really
focused on.
What are you working on, Tori?
SPEAKER_01 (00:47):
I am coming to you live from Foxborough,
Massachusetts, where tomorrowI'll be filming with the
Patriots and their head coach,Mike Rabel.
Stay tuned.
This is going to be a reallycool piece coming to you for the
start of the NFL season.
It's that time of year.
And yeah, I have been in thestorytelling game for ESPN for
about 15 years, dabble in alittle writing for ESPN.com,
(01:07):
sometimes reporting.
Really, we're just coveringeverything for you guys, which
by the way, like, do you everfind yourself caught in that in
between of mom life and sportslife because like I'm trying to
like prepare for my day tomorrowand I'm just like you know I'm
lost in the woods like fromFrozen 2 just like in my head
like and I can't get it out andlike I need to go for a walk or
(01:28):
something are you ever therelike
SPEAKER_00 (01:30):
yes always I'm just impressed that that song has
still withstood the test oftime.
That's years old.
But for me, it's K-pop DemonHunters right now.
My gosh.
The kids haven't even seen themovie.
They're too young.
I don't want them to see it yet.
But the soundtrack is lit andthey are obsessed.
We listen to it almost every dayon the ride to school.
SPEAKER_01 (01:49):
That sounds cooler than Frozen 2.
No offense to Frozen 2.
I know it's a great film, butthat's what I'm battling today.
SPEAKER_00 (01:55):
For anyone who, again, is new or even people who
have listened, I hope you'veenjoyed getting to know Tori and
me, but we're hoping to starthaving some episode three.
Let's go.
SPEAKER_01 (02:33):
So today, ladies and gents, we're going to be talking
about planning your life, akamarriage kids, around sports.
Let's time travel back to 2019,shall we?
We had decided to have a baby inthe spring so that by time I got
through my maternity leave, I'dbe back for football season,
(02:53):
which as I talked about earlier,is kind of like the crazy time.
It's been like my priority forabout 10 years.
And at that point, yeah,professionally, socially
sometimes, but most And as Iread that.
(03:33):
going through with my life.
And look, April is a beautifultime to have a baby.
Am I right, James?
You are right.
Our boys are two weeks apart, bythe way, so that's what that's
about.
But looking back, I just...
There are so many more importantthings to account for in life
than the schedule of theNational Football League.
(03:53):
Like, I don't know, sometimes...
We've touched on this in thelast two episodes, but it's
like, I don't know where itcomes from, but it's almost
implanted into us when we startworking in the industry, this
work, work, work mentality, andthen life stuff, life stuff, but
work, work, work.
I'm so grateful that now atleast I'm out of that mode.
And I think being a mom hasgotten me to that point, but.
(04:17):
not to mention like kind of anarrogant attitude to be like, oh
yeah, poof, I'll have a baby andpoof, everything will be easy
and fine.
And then I'll be back inSeptember and no problem.
Like things don't happen likethat.
As you become a mom and aparent, you see that like, shit
is hard.
Like you have no idea like howthings are going to go to plan
or not.
And I'm grateful.
I'm grateful that things did fiton that timeline, but that's not
(04:39):
always the case, even for melater in life.
But I don't know.
Things just started to shift forme at that point.
I was able to finally put, Ithink, the right priorities in
line instead of, you know,making all about the schedule.
Like we had talked about the USOpen and tennis is a big
priority for me professionallyas well.
(05:00):
And I was planning to work thatafter I got back for football
and was recovered from maternityleave.
But the problem was where Ihappened to be stationed during
the event, up in Arthur AsheStadium, broadcast row, there
wasn't a space where I couldpump privately and store the
breast milk.
No one's fault it's a tiny assspace up there and anyone who
(05:21):
works in tv knows all too wellthat Cramped space is life.
So it wasn't anyone's fault.
I just, I wasn't about to sitthere with my pump and it just,
it wasn't comfortable.
So I couldn't do it.
And I hope things have changedin six years that it's a little
more accessible for moms, butthat was a deal breaker.
So, Jayme, what do you rememberabout your decisions back in
(05:44):
2019 and beyond coming back towork that, would you do anything
different?
SPEAKER_00 (05:50):
It's hard to say if I do anything different, but I
definitely was right there withyou in terms of like planning it
around the season.
And so for me, you know, it maynot sound like it makes sense
for hockey, but hockey is thelongest season out there because
by the time the cup's over, it'salmost July and then you're back
at training camp in September.
(06:10):
So there's no real good time tohave a baby if you're going to
try to be there for everything.
But I also, like you, was like,you know, spring sounds like a
good time because then, youknow, yes, I will miss the
Stanley Cup final but I'll comeback to work quote unquote in a
very like in an off seasonmindset and so it'd be nice to
just ease back into it and thenBy the time I am like full go
(06:35):
October start of the season,he'll be almost six months old.
So to your point, so arrogant.
And knowing what I know nowabout the rates of miscarriage
and the complications andinfertility struggles and all of
that, I'm almost embarrassed totalk about trying to play God
and plan when my baby should beborn.
(06:55):
It did work out that way for me.
But anytime I hear someone saythat now, I just cringe
because...
How lucky are we that we get toeven have a healthy pregnancy
and a healthy baby, let alonetrying to plan it around our
sports schedules?
Again, like you, thankful thatit worked out.
But if I were to ever haveanother baby, I think I would
(07:15):
just be thrilled to have thathealthy pregnancy and a healthy
baby, no matter what.
Like work should not matter.
So that's kind of my thinkingabout it.
Same thing for round two.
I mean, I definitely planned ita little less and didn't know if
it would take a long time to getpregnant the second time,
whatever.
We ended up having a summerbaby.
And so it was a little bitshorter of a maternity leave
(07:39):
before I was like four.
I'm a mom.
(08:01):
If I have to miss that, then itis okay.
So yeah, I'm with you, girl.
Same.
And mat leave is also a trickysubject.
Have you had young moms orpeople who are thinking about
being a mom talk to you aboutthe pressures of maternity leave
while working in sports?
SPEAKER_01 (08:18):
Not that specifically, but they have.
I don't think I can do this andbe a mom.
So that absolutely breaks myheart every time.
So that's honestly what was myinspiration to text you that day
and say, hey, do you want to doa podcast with me?
Mm-hmm.
(09:07):
No one should make you feel thatway.
You should be doing things onyour own timeline because you
earned that.
You deserve that like anyoneelse.
I wish that I had that, but thatdoesn't mean it's not meant to
be in the future that we cantake what we learned, especially
from what we just said, theschedule of things.
I think we learned that thehardest.
(09:27):
We took away from it theblessings, right?
So we can take that and say,hey, Take your time.
IVF needs to happen.
Fucking needs to happen.
You know, like whatever ittakes, it's not anyone's
schedule, but yours.
Yeah, that's the question I getthe most.
And then once they get throughthat step, then the mat leave
questions come.
But, you know, we're lucky inthat, you know, we get more time
(09:52):
than I think our husbands did.
So at least we can lean on thatfor the time being.
SPEAKER_00 (09:57):
Yeah.
Well, I mean, I actually didn't.
My husband got more time withboth kids, which is a whole
other thing that I do want totouch on.
But just starting with the wholeidea of maternity leave, you
know...
It is, unfortunately, I feellike it's a bit controversial in
our industry, especially becausethere's this idea that you are
replaceable, that there's athousand other women
(10:19):
specifically that would in aheartbeat snatch up your job and
do it well.
And then you might be left highand dry and everything you
worked for goes away because youdecided to have a baby.
And I really would encouragewomen who are thinking about
that or thinking that way,having those thoughts creep in
to silence those thoughts andrealize that they're Yeah.
(10:39):
Yeah.
(11:03):
I'm not going to knock thatentirely, but I will say that if
I ever am asked the question,like, what do you think?
How much time did you take?
I always try to tell moms,especially first-time moms, take
as much time as you can legally.
wise whatever it is likewhatever you're getting like
(11:24):
take as much time as you canbecause you can always work more
you can always make more moneybut you can never get that time
back and any parent will tellyou that you know I felt very
blessed to be able to have asalaried position at the time
right so like I did get most ofmy salary and that is something
(11:44):
that is not a convenienceafforded to a lot of women right
a lot of people in our industryare freelance so if they take 12
weeks Like maybe they get somemoney from the state, but it's
not going to be much.
And so they feel that financialpressure to go back.
But if you're able to take thetime, you won't regret it.
That would be my biggest pieceof advice to anyone.
And then kind of, I know I'mrambling, but hey, it's a
(12:06):
podcast.
That's what we do, right?
We ramble.
SPEAKER_01 (12:08):
That's why we're here.
SPEAKER_00 (12:10):
That's why we're here.
I wanted to touch on parentalleave because my husband did get
more time than I had.
He had 20 weeks with each of ourchildren.
And that was because he workedfor a tech company that was a
little more kind of progressivein their policies and employee
benefits.
And it was called parentalleave.
So male or female, if you gavebirth, if you adopted, it did
(12:33):
not matter.
You as a parent got 20 weeks andyou had a year to take it
whenever you wanted.
And that is just so helpfulbecause especially for women in
any industry, but especially inours, like I think our company
changed my previous company.
I think they used to have liketwo weeks that dads would take
or something, which is justterrible thinking about having
(12:54):
to have your partner go back towork and leave you at home
alone.
Like I cried my eyes out when myhusband had to go back after
three weeks or chose to go back.
Cause then he saved the rest ofhis leave till after I went back
full time.
But that lightens the load somuch on a woman when you know
that a man who is going toexpect a baby as well is going
(13:16):
to take that time too.
So if your husband, if yourpartner, or if you're a man
listening and you have thatpolicy, take the leave because
it's so important for men toalso have that time with a baby.
And it's also important forsociety to expect both men and
women to take time when theyhave a baby.
Cheer that on for any company topromote that policy.
(13:39):
Great.
SPEAKER_01 (13:39):
Could not agree more.
And the This is the stuff that,yeah, we're still learning along
the way, right?
Like we didn't know any of that.
And we were just like, as wewent along, we're like, my
husband didn't get that muchtime.
That sucks.
SPEAKER_00 (13:48):
No.
How much time did Jay get?
Did he get like,
SPEAKER_01 (13:52):
how much time did he take?
We, he was able to get a familyleave when Braxton was born
because Braxton was born with aheart condition that needed
intervention pretty early.
So for that reason, he got moretime, which, you know, obviously
needed.
But when Sydney was born, Ithink it was about three weeks.
So.
Wow.
Yeah.
You just, you just roll with it.
(14:13):
Right.
But I, I completely agree.
Child bonding time.
It's for both parents.
It's not just the moms, youknow, like they, they need both
of us there.
And so do the dads, like they'remissing out on all that awesome
stuff.
So it's such an important point.
And yeah, just don't, don'tdoubt yourself out there.
You know,
SPEAKER_00 (14:29):
it will benefit you in the end.
Yes.
There are also companies too.
I mean, there is still thismindset.
I think that in, in a company,whether you're a person in a
position of power or just acolleague of someone that's
going to take time off like youhave that thought if you have a
woman right you're like oh wellshe's of childbearing age like
(14:50):
she might she might miss likesix months or something like
that thought should not evenenter in like so if we have more
men who are taking that wholeparental leave then it makes it
easier for women to get jobskeep jobs not have to worry
about having a baby andmaintaining their jobs I mean I
know there are some legalprotections but there There's a
(15:10):
lot of work that can still bedone to protect moms in the
workplace and the idea behind,you know, supporting moms as
they decide to, to grow theirfamily.
So anyway, soapbox.
Yeah, whatever.
Again, this is our podcast.
We can talk about what we want,but I am very passionate about
it.
(15:31):
And that's why we're here.
This week we thought we'd do asegment called the
mom-barrassing moment of theweek and somewhat related to our
sports life.
So we have so many of them, butthis one specifically related to
sports.
I don't know if in my head Ijust felt like my husband being
(15:52):
athletic, me being athletic, meloving sports, working in
baseball, having baseball on TV,whatever, would just like sort
of just funnel baseballism intoour children without any work.
But that's, that's apparentlynot the case.
There's work that needs to beput in for a six year
SPEAKER_01 (16:13):
old.
UNKNOWN (16:14):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (16:14):
Good to know.
SPEAKER_00 (16:15):
Yeah.
So my moment really is that wedecided to sign my son up for
Little League and it's reallyexciting because we live in
Summerlin, which is a suburb ofLas Vegas and the Little League
team just won the nationalchampionship part of the Little
League World Series.
So it was a super fun time.
We were, you know, got watchparties.
There was a parade here in townfor the team, like the best
(16:38):
possible scenario to get yourkid excited about Little League,
right?
And to be fair, I want to pointout that This was Brooks's
decision.
He played soccer in the spring.
I let him decide soccer orbaseball.
Cause every time we come homefrom soccer, he'd be out there
in the back swinging the bat.
And it's the big, you know,wiffle ball that basically, but
he liked, he liked the idea ofbaseball.
So I said, all right, let's doit.
(16:59):
And he had done T-ball, butlet's be real.
Tori, you, our sons went throughthe same program.
It was glorified tag and likethey'd hit off a T for the last
10 minutes, but it was not realT-ball.
So I, I guess I kind of missed astep in his development.
from going to that to what isactually taken very seriously
here in Summerlin.
(17:21):
And this is the first level ofmachine pitch.
So somehow we skipped right pastcoach pitch.
And now he's in machine pitch.
We went to the batting cages forthe first time yesterday.
He made contact once in 10minutes in the cage.
And I was thrilled that he evendid that because the guy doesn't
(17:42):
know how to hold a bat becausemom didn't teach him.
Dad didn't teach him really.
So this was just a really big,like mom embarrassing moment
where I'm like, of course heknows baseball.
Of course.
Like, what do you mean?
We always have baseball on TV.
We talk about baseball.
I work in baseball.
No dummy, just because you workin baseball doesn't mean your
kid just absorbed thatknowledge.
(18:03):
Like, so I felt a little bitlike a failure to, or not like
literally sitting down andteaching him the game of
baseball.
He knows the bases, but likeliterally the fundamentals.
Yeah.
We've got quite a steep learningcurve ahead of us.
(18:44):
and like that's the one thing myhusband and I said we're leaving
last night we're like hey we'vegot work to do not him I mean
obviously he does too but weneed to help him be in a bit
more position to have successbut it's okay you know part of
me is like that's what thecoaches are for right these poor
coaches are probably like hellothis kid has no idea what
(19:05):
anything is what's happeninganywhere on the field but you
know he's a really smart kid andI think he's gonna do great I
can't wait to revisit thisconversation in a couple months
and hopefully he's not miserableand just enjoys being part of
the team and you know what if hegets a hit great and if not if
he just runs the bases becausemaybe he'll get a walk or
something I don't even know ifthat happens in machine pitch so
(19:28):
it'll be an educational processfor all of us
SPEAKER_01 (19:32):
exactly this is how we learn so congratulations
Summerlin Little League greatexamples to have for Brooks to
you know be around so that'll befun it'll just naturally happen
yes Yeah, I mean, mine is kindof like what we have touched on
of, you know, work calls andthings like that.
And it's just more, it wasn't,it was kind of mom-barrassing,
(19:52):
but it was also just like, whatam I going to do about it?
At this point, it's almost likeit's just, it is what it is.
But Jamie and I, we both get towork with former athletes that
now work in TV.
And it's really cool to callthese people colleagues and
almost friends most of the time.
So because I'm in New Englandworking on this story, I just
got an unexpected call fromTeddy Bruschi yesterday.
(20:14):
And, you know, because we'recollaborating on the Pats and,
yeah, former linebacker from thePats, and he's really good
friends with Coach Braybill.
So I, like, didn't expect thecall, and I was with the kids,
and I ran into the bathroombecause that's usually the
(20:34):
bathroom's off limits.
So relatable.
And he just had like a sweetchuckle and was like, is that is
that your boy?
And I was like, yeah, no, honey,not dad, just a three time Super
Bowl champ.
I know it's easy to get themconfused.
So you have to handle it.
(20:54):
Just roll with it.
Right.
I mean, most people understandmost most people get it.
And if not, they're monsters.
No, I'm just kidding.
But again, we handled both ourstories with with grace.
And we're just hoping that youguys can learn from us.
SPEAKER_00 (21:05):
Yeah, no, there's plenty of moments in our
everyday life that we can allrelate to and laugh about later.
So feel free to share yours inthe comments.
Be sure to check us out onInstagram.
If you don't already followbabes in sports podcast, and we
really hope that you spread theword and continue to make this a
really fun, evolving experimentwhere we try to figure out
(21:28):
podcasting.
We try to figure out momming andwe try to figure out the idea of
doing it all in the world ofsports.
So we've had a blast so far andhopefully we'll have some
awesome guests coming on verysoon, but tour.
Thanks so much for joining me asalways.
Have a great week.
SPEAKER_01 (21:44):
Thanks, Jayme.
Love
SPEAKER_02 (21:58):
you, babes.
Hello and welcome to the Babes in Sports podcast.
I'm Jamie Hirsch.
I'm
SPEAKER_01 (00:14):
Tori Z.
Roy.
We're two friends navigatingbeing moms, wives, and
successful women in thedemanding male-dominated world
SPEAKER_00 (00:21):
of sports.
Sports! Woohoo! We're back.
A quick overview for anyone whomay be new to the pod.
I have been a longtime host inthe studio and reporter, and now
I'm trying to delve into theworld of play-by-play, both in
hockey and soccer.
And so what I'm working on rightnow is mostly focusing on the
NWSL.
There's kind of playoff pushtime, National Women's Soccer
(00:43):
League, So we've got a couplegames coming up that I'm really
focused on.
What are you working on, Tori?
SPEAKER_01 (00:47):
I am coming to you live from Foxborough,
Massachusetts, where tomorrowI'll be filming with the
Patriots and their head coach,Mike Rabel.
Stay tuned.
This is going to be a reallycool piece coming to you for the
start of the NFL season.
It's that time of year.
And yeah, I have been in thestorytelling game for ESPN for
about 15 years, dabble in alittle writing for ESPN.com,
(01:07):
sometimes reporting.
Really, we're just coveringeverything for you guys, which
by the way, like, do you everfind yourself caught in that in
between of mom life and sportslife because like I'm trying to
like prepare for my day tomorrowand I'm just like you know I'm
lost in the woods like fromFrozen 2 just like in my head
like and I can't get it out andlike I need to go for a walk or
(01:28):
something are you ever therelike
SPEAKER_00 (01:30):
yes always I'm just impressed that that song has
still withstood the test oftime.
That's years old.
But for me, it's K-pop DemonHunters right now.
My gosh.
The kids haven't even seen themovie.
They're too young.
I don't want them to see it yet.
But the soundtrack is lit andthey are obsessed.
We listen to it almost every dayon the ride to school.
SPEAKER_01 (01:49):
That sounds cooler than Frozen 2.
No offense to Frozen 2.
I know it's a great film, butthat's what I'm battling today.
SPEAKER_00 (01:55):
For anyone who, again, is new or even people who
have listened, I hope you'veenjoyed getting to know Tori and
me, but we're hoping to starthaving some episode three.
Let's go.
SPEAKER_01 (02:33):
So today, ladies and gents, we're going to be talking
about planning your life, akamarriage kids, around sports.
Let's time travel back to 2019,shall we?
We had decided to have a baby inthe spring so that by time I got
through my maternity leave, I'dbe back for football season,
(02:53):
which as I talked about earlier,is kind of like the crazy time.
It's been like my priority forabout 10 years.
And at that point, yeah,professionally, socially
sometimes, but most And as Iread that.
(03:33):
going through with my life.
And look, April is a beautifultime to have a baby.
Am I right, James?
You are right.
Our boys are two weeks apart, bythe way, so that's what that's
about.
But looking back, I just...
There are so many more importantthings to account for in life
than the schedule of theNational Football League.
(03:53):
Like, I don't know, sometimes...
We've touched on this in thelast two episodes, but it's
like, I don't know where itcomes from, but it's almost
implanted into us when we startworking in the industry, this
work, work, work mentality, andthen life stuff, life stuff, but
work, work, work.
I'm so grateful that now atleast I'm out of that mode.
And I think being a mom hasgotten me to that point, but.
(04:17):
not to mention like kind of anarrogant attitude to be like, oh
yeah, poof, I'll have a baby andpoof, everything will be easy
and fine.
And then I'll be back inSeptember and no problem.
Like things don't happen likethat.
As you become a mom and aparent, you see that like, shit
is hard.
Like you have no idea like howthings are going to go to plan
or not.
And I'm grateful.
I'm grateful that things did fiton that timeline, but that's not
(04:39):
always the case, even for melater in life.
But I don't know.
Things just started to shift forme at that point.
I was able to finally put, Ithink, the right priorities in
line instead of, you know,making all about the schedule.
Like we had talked about the USOpen and tennis is a big
priority for me professionallyas well.
(05:00):
And I was planning to work thatafter I got back for football
and was recovered from maternityleave.
But the problem was where Ihappened to be stationed during
the event, up in Arthur AsheStadium, broadcast row, there
wasn't a space where I couldpump privately and store the
breast milk.
No one's fault it's a tiny assspace up there and anyone who
(05:21):
works in tv knows all too wellthat Cramped space is life.
So it wasn't anyone's fault.
I just, I wasn't about to sitthere with my pump and it just,
it wasn't comfortable.
So I couldn't do it.
And I hope things have changedin six years that it's a little
more accessible for moms, butthat was a deal breaker.
So, Jayme, what do you rememberabout your decisions back in
(05:44):
2019 and beyond coming back towork that, would you do anything
different?
SPEAKER_00 (05:50):
It's hard to say if I do anything different, but I
definitely was right there withyou in terms of like planning it
around the season.
And so for me, you know, it maynot sound like it makes sense
for hockey, but hockey is thelongest season out there because
by the time the cup's over, it'salmost July and then you're back
at training camp in September.
(06:10):
So there's no real good time tohave a baby if you're going to
try to be there for everything.
But I also, like you, was like,you know, spring sounds like a
good time because then, youknow, yes, I will miss the
Stanley Cup final but I'll comeback to work quote unquote in a
very like in an off seasonmindset and so it'd be nice to
just ease back into it and thenBy the time I am like full go
(06:35):
October start of the season,he'll be almost six months old.
So to your point, so arrogant.
And knowing what I know nowabout the rates of miscarriage
and the complications andinfertility struggles and all of
that, I'm almost embarrassed totalk about trying to play God
and plan when my baby should beborn.
(06:55):
It did work out that way for me.
But anytime I hear someone saythat now, I just cringe
because...
How lucky are we that we get toeven have a healthy pregnancy
and a healthy baby, let alonetrying to plan it around our
sports schedules?
Again, like you, thankful thatit worked out.
But if I were to ever haveanother baby, I think I would
(07:15):
just be thrilled to have thathealthy pregnancy and a healthy
baby, no matter what.
Like work should not matter.
So that's kind of my thinkingabout it.
Same thing for round two.
I mean, I definitely planned ita little less and didn't know if
it would take a long time to getpregnant the second time,
whatever.
We ended up having a summerbaby.
And so it was a little bitshorter of a maternity leave
(07:39):
before I was like four.
I'm a mom.
(08:01):
If I have to miss that, then itis okay.
So yeah, I'm with you, girl.
Same.
And mat leave is also a trickysubject.
Have you had young moms orpeople who are thinking about
being a mom talk to you aboutthe pressures of maternity leave
while working in sports?
SPEAKER_01 (08:18):
Not that specifically, but they have.
I don't think I can do this andbe a mom.
So that absolutely breaks myheart every time.
So that's honestly what was myinspiration to text you that day
and say, hey, do you want to doa podcast with me?
Mm-hmm.
(09:07):
No one should make you feel thatway.
You should be doing things onyour own timeline because you
earned that.
You deserve that like anyoneelse.
I wish that I had that, but thatdoesn't mean it's not meant to
be in the future that we cantake what we learned, especially
from what we just said, theschedule of things.
I think we learned that thehardest.
(09:27):
We took away from it theblessings, right?
So we can take that and say,hey, Take your time.
IVF needs to happen.
Fucking needs to happen.
You know, like whatever ittakes, it's not anyone's
schedule, but yours.
Yeah, that's the question I getthe most.
And then once they get throughthat step, then the mat leave
questions come.
But, you know, we're lucky inthat, you know, we get more time
(09:52):
than I think our husbands did.
So at least we can lean on thatfor the time being.
SPEAKER_00 (09:57):
Yeah.
Well, I mean, I actually didn't.
My husband got more time withboth kids, which is a whole
other thing that I do want totouch on.
But just starting with the wholeidea of maternity leave, you
know...
It is, unfortunately, I feellike it's a bit controversial in
our industry, especially becausethere's this idea that you are
replaceable, that there's athousand other women
(10:19):
specifically that would in aheartbeat snatch up your job and
do it well.
And then you might be left highand dry and everything you
worked for goes away because youdecided to have a baby.
And I really would encouragewomen who are thinking about
that or thinking that way,having those thoughts creep in
to silence those thoughts andrealize that they're Yeah.
(10:39):
Yeah.
(11:03):
I'm not going to knock thatentirely, but I will say that if
I ever am asked the question,like, what do you think?
How much time did you take?
I always try to tell moms,especially first-time moms, take
as much time as you can legally.
wise whatever it is likewhatever you're getting like
(11:24):
take as much time as you canbecause you can always work more
you can always make more moneybut you can never get that time
back and any parent will tellyou that you know I felt very
blessed to be able to have asalaried position at the time
right so like I did get most ofmy salary and that is something
(11:44):
that is not a convenienceafforded to a lot of women right
a lot of people in our industryare freelance so if they take 12
weeks Like maybe they get somemoney from the state, but it's
not going to be much.
And so they feel that financialpressure to go back.
But if you're able to take thetime, you won't regret it.
That would be my biggest pieceof advice to anyone.
And then kind of, I know I'mrambling, but hey, it's a
(12:06):
podcast.
That's what we do, right?
We ramble.
SPEAKER_01 (12:08):
That's why we're here.
SPEAKER_00 (12:10):
That's why we're here.
I wanted to touch on parentalleave because my husband did get
more time than I had.
He had 20 weeks with each of ourchildren.
And that was because he workedfor a tech company that was a
little more kind of progressivein their policies and employee
benefits.
And it was called parentalleave.
So male or female, if you gavebirth, if you adopted, it did
(12:33):
not matter.
You as a parent got 20 weeks andyou had a year to take it
whenever you wanted.
And that is just so helpfulbecause especially for women in
any industry, but especially inours, like I think our company
changed my previous company.
I think they used to have liketwo weeks that dads would take
or something, which is justterrible thinking about having
(12:54):
to have your partner go back towork and leave you at home
alone.
Like I cried my eyes out when myhusband had to go back after
three weeks or chose to go back.
Cause then he saved the rest ofhis leave till after I went back
full time.
But that lightens the load somuch on a woman when you know
that a man who is going toexpect a baby as well is going
(13:16):
to take that time too.
So if your husband, if yourpartner, or if you're a man
listening and you have thatpolicy, take the leave because
it's so important for men toalso have that time with a baby.
And it's also important forsociety to expect both men and
women to take time when theyhave a baby.
Cheer that on for any company topromote that policy.
(13:39):
Great.
SPEAKER_01 (13:39):
Could not agree more.
And the This is the stuff that,yeah, we're still learning along
the way, right?
Like we didn't know any of that.
And we were just like, as wewent along, we're like, my
husband didn't get that muchtime.
That sucks.
SPEAKER_00 (13:48):
No.
How much time did Jay get?
Did he get like,
SPEAKER_01 (13:52):
how much time did he take?
We, he was able to get a familyleave when Braxton was born
because Braxton was born with aheart condition that needed
intervention pretty early.
So for that reason, he got moretime, which, you know, obviously
needed.
But when Sydney was born, Ithink it was about three weeks.
So.
Wow.
Yeah.
You just, you just roll with it.
(14:13):
Right.
But I, I completely agree.
Child bonding time.
It's for both parents.
It's not just the moms, youknow, like they, they need both
of us there.
And so do the dads, like they'remissing out on all that awesome
stuff.
So it's such an important point.
And yeah, just don't, don'tdoubt yourself out there.
You know,
SPEAKER_00 (14:29):
it will benefit you in the end.
Yes.
There are also companies too.
I mean, there is still thismindset.
I think that in, in a company,whether you're a person in a
position of power or just acolleague of someone that's
going to take time off like youhave that thought if you have a
woman right you're like oh wellshe's of childbearing age like
(14:50):
she might she might miss likesix months or something like
that thought should not evenenter in like so if we have more
men who are taking that wholeparental leave then it makes it
easier for women to get jobskeep jobs not have to worry
about having a baby andmaintaining their jobs I mean I
know there are some legalprotections but there There's a
(15:10):
lot of work that can still bedone to protect moms in the
workplace and the idea behind,you know, supporting moms as
they decide to, to grow theirfamily.
So anyway, soapbox.
Yeah, whatever.
Again, this is our podcast.
We can talk about what we want,but I am very passionate about
it.
(15:31):
And that's why we're here.
This week we thought we'd do asegment called the
mom-barrassing moment of theweek and somewhat related to our
sports life.
So we have so many of them, butthis one specifically related to
sports.
I don't know if in my head Ijust felt like my husband being
(15:52):
athletic, me being athletic, meloving sports, working in
baseball, having baseball on TV,whatever, would just like sort
of just funnel baseballism intoour children without any work.
But that's, that's apparentlynot the case.
There's work that needs to beput in for a six year
SPEAKER_01 (16:13):
old.
UNKNOWN (16:14):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (16:14):
Good to know.
SPEAKER_00 (16:15):
Yeah.
So my moment really is that wedecided to sign my son up for
Little League and it's reallyexciting because we live in
Summerlin, which is a suburb ofLas Vegas and the Little League
team just won the nationalchampionship part of the Little
League World Series.
So it was a super fun time.
We were, you know, got watchparties.
There was a parade here in townfor the team, like the best
(16:38):
possible scenario to get yourkid excited about Little League,
right?
And to be fair, I want to pointout that This was Brooks's
decision.
He played soccer in the spring.
I let him decide soccer orbaseball.
Cause every time we come homefrom soccer, he'd be out there
in the back swinging the bat.
And it's the big, you know,wiffle ball that basically, but
he liked, he liked the idea ofbaseball.
So I said, all right, let's doit.
(16:59):
And he had done T-ball, butlet's be real.
Tori, you, our sons went throughthe same program.
It was glorified tag and likethey'd hit off a T for the last
10 minutes, but it was not realT-ball.
So I, I guess I kind of missed astep in his development.
from going to that to what isactually taken very seriously
here in Summerlin.
(17:21):
And this is the first level ofmachine pitch.
So somehow we skipped right pastcoach pitch.
And now he's in machine pitch.
We went to the batting cages forthe first time yesterday.
He made contact once in 10minutes in the cage.
And I was thrilled that he evendid that because the guy doesn't
(17:42):
know how to hold a bat becausemom didn't teach him.
Dad didn't teach him really.
So this was just a really big,like mom embarrassing moment
where I'm like, of course heknows baseball.
Of course.
Like, what do you mean?
We always have baseball on TV.
We talk about baseball.
I work in baseball.
No dummy, just because you workin baseball doesn't mean your
kid just absorbed thatknowledge.
(18:03):
Like, so I felt a little bitlike a failure to, or not like
literally sitting down andteaching him the game of
baseball.
He knows the bases, but likeliterally the fundamentals.
Yeah.
We've got quite a steep learningcurve ahead of us.
(18:44):
and like that's the one thing myhusband and I said we're leaving
last night we're like hey we'vegot work to do not him I mean
obviously he does too but weneed to help him be in a bit
more position to have successbut it's okay you know part of
me is like that's what thecoaches are for right these poor
coaches are probably like hellothis kid has no idea what
(19:05):
anything is what's happeninganywhere on the field but you
know he's a really smart kid andI think he's gonna do great I
can't wait to revisit thisconversation in a couple months
and hopefully he's not miserableand just enjoys being part of
the team and you know what if hegets a hit great and if not if
he just runs the bases becausemaybe he'll get a walk or
something I don't even know ifthat happens in machine pitch so
(19:28):
it'll be an educational processfor all of us
SPEAKER_01 (19:32):
exactly this is how we learn so congratulations
Summerlin Little League greatexamples to have for Brooks to
you know be around so that'll befun it'll just naturally happen
yes Yeah, I mean, mine is kindof like what we have touched on
of, you know, work calls andthings like that.
And it's just more, it wasn't,it was kind of mom-barrassing,
(19:52):
but it was also just like, whatam I going to do about it?
At this point, it's almost likeit's just, it is what it is.
But Jamie and I, we both get towork with former athletes that
now work in TV.
And it's really cool to callthese people colleagues and
almost friends most of the time.
So because I'm in New Englandworking on this story, I just
got an unexpected call fromTeddy Bruschi yesterday.
(20:14):
And, you know, because we'recollaborating on the Pats and,
yeah, former linebacker from thePats, and he's really good
friends with Coach Braybill.
So I, like, didn't expect thecall, and I was with the kids,
and I ran into the bathroombecause that's usually the
(20:34):
bathroom's off limits.
So relatable.
And he just had like a sweetchuckle and was like, is that is
that your boy?
And I was like, yeah, no, honey,not dad, just a three time Super
Bowl champ.
I know it's easy to get themconfused.
So you have to handle it.
(20:54):
Just roll with it.
Right.
I mean, most people understandmost most people get it.
And if not, they're monsters.
No, I'm just kidding.
But again, we handled both ourstories with with grace.
And we're just hoping that youguys can learn from us.
SPEAKER_00 (21:05):
Yeah, no, there's plenty of moments in our
everyday life that we can allrelate to and laugh about later.
So feel free to share yours inthe comments.
Be sure to check us out onInstagram.
If you don't already followbabes in sports podcast, and we
really hope that you spread theword and continue to make this a
really fun, evolving experimentwhere we try to figure out
(21:28):
podcasting.
We try to figure out momming andwe try to figure out the idea of
doing it all in the world ofsports.
So we've had a blast so far andhopefully we'll have some
awesome guests coming on verysoon, but tour.
Thanks so much for joining me asalways.
Have a great week.
SPEAKER_01 (21:44):
Thanks, Jayme.
Love
SPEAKER_02 (21:58):
you, babes.
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