Avery Dew: The Entrepreneurial Athlete: Intersecting Lacrosse & Business

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Go, Avery, Welcome to the podcast. I'm so excited to
work with you today. Obviously, we've had so many incredible
chats so far, and a huge shout out to our
mutual guy, Rob Nelson, absolute legend in the space. That way,
for people who maybe don't know you as well as
Rob does, or don't know you as well as I've
gotten to know you recently, would your mind, Phila Melo
little bit about who you are and all the amazing

(00:21):
things you're doing in this amazing life you live.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
So my name is Averydo. I'm from the sail of
North Carolina. I've lived here my entire life, and I
graduated from Mortford College a year ago. I mentioned in
Finance there played lacrosse. I walked on the lacrosse team.
Didn't originally go in as like a committed athlete, but
I ended up walking on there, which was awesome. And

(00:45):
I've kind of had an entrepreneur background as well, Like
I sawed a joy business when I was fifteen, and
then I kind of turned it into a retail like
a resale and like retail business around like right before
I moved into college, and so always kind of had
some like social media like kind of shenanigans and like
side hustles going on. And I ended up going to

(01:06):
Wafford with kind of an entrepreneurial like as part of
this like entrepreneurial program and like scholarship program, which was
awesome too. And right now I'm back in my hometown.
I went to Salem I wait for us, studying sports
media and documentary film and it is like the perfect
like full circle moment, combining like the media and marketing
that I love, but also like being involved in athletics too,

(01:28):
and just like doing something hands on. It's it's wonderful.
So that's a little bit about me. I have two brothers,
some middle child. People would probably describe me as being
extremely adhd just kind of all over the place and
honestly just like a mess, but like a creative mess,
So that's probably the best way to put it.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
I love that energy, absolutely love that fully here for
that And there's so many amazing things that you brought
up that I just can't wait to dive into more.
Obviously you brought up lacrosse, you brought up entrepreneurship and
so much more. That way, diving into the lacrosse a
little bit. First, tell me more about your journey in
the sport of lacrosse that way, because from what I remember,

(02:09):
you were quite a stud high school athlete back in
the day, but you also played more than just lacrosse
in high school.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Correct, Yes, So I it would just was in the
It was a non negotiable for me that like if
there was a spring, fall or winter season, like in
high school, like I was going to be playing a
sport for the school. And in middle school I kind
of did, like volleyball, and then I did basketball. It's
a lot of my friends play basketball, and always lacrosse

(02:38):
in the spring. Lacrosse was always like a dot was
the sport I was doing in the spring, even when
a lot of my friends had played soccer too, Like
I was the one person kind of in my grade
that played lacrosse. And actually it's crazy because senior year,
I was the only senior swimmer and the only senior
lacrosse player too, And so I kind of just like
never took a season off like I was it was.

(03:00):
I always knew that after a full day of class,
I would end up being a practice and like of
some sort, and I swimming and lacrosse were kind of
my main sports. Like I started swimming for my high
school in eighth grade, and I think that's where I
realized that, like I was gonna be a little bit
more successful on that than I thought, because I had
a background in doing year round swimming kind of while

(03:22):
my body was developing when I was in elementary school.
Like and like those kinds of muscles with swimming are
very the kind of muscles that come with like a
bar class or like doing ballet your whole life, like
really lean muscles, but also like the bigger muscles of
the body too, So when your body is developing at
a young age. I feel like that is like why
I feel like I still have like muscle on my

(03:43):
arms and legs that probably formed when I was like
really really young, and like as my body was growing.
That's kind of like I think I have more of
like a swimmer's build. I feel like I have a
swimmer's upper body and a cross like lower body, which
is interesting, but everybody's built different, like has the muscle
they need for like whatever their sport is. But anyway,

(04:04):
I just think that that like makes the most sense
of the way to put it. And I think swimming
and lacrosse are both so different, like you really can't
compare it at all, And it was always really nice
for me to have such like a like a balance
being like none of these it's not like, oh, I'm
in cross country season. I got to make sure I'm
doing what I'm doing before lacrosse or like, the sports
are so different that when you are training for one,

(04:26):
you were only focused on that one sport. So that
I feel like is what really helped me like stay
like like loving the sports I was doing because it
never felt like a burnout. It never felt like I
was focusing on just one all the time. And I
played for a club team for lacrosse and like did tournaments,
but I wasn't willing to give up a lot of

(04:48):
my time, and I was a little bit unsure like
whether I wanted to like play a college sport and
I could have also, Like it's crazy to say too
that I I probably could have swam in college too.
I could have swim. I'm somewhere in college, And that's
the kind of thing that you know, it doesn't really
matter where you swim. People can just look at your
times and be like, okay, great. But then lacrosse is

(05:10):
a bit different like you would need to come with
film and things like that. But I I remember, like
I had friends that were like really interested in playing
in college and they were just traveling like to Ralee
to go play for Carolina Fever. And I just wasn't
really like give up that time. And so I played
for a club team kind of out of Greensboro. But

(05:31):
that's also where I'm playing with girls that you know,
there might be a few in there that are wanting
to play in college, like and maybe D three, s
D two, maybe one or two D one girls. And
so I wasn't really used to playing with people that
were like really really good. And when you have a
team of girls that are really good, that's when you
can do all the more like advanced and like heavy

(05:54):
plays like get like because you have a lot to
work with. And so I going into college, which is
already a crazy jump like playing lcross in high school
and then playing in college, because it's just completely different.
The pace is so different, a lot of the rules
are different, and it's just you have girls that are
alpha blood in college. But in the best way, because

(06:15):
I think if it wasn't that way, and it wouldn't
have it wouldn't like acknowledge how tough and strong these
girls have to be to like play the sport.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
So absolutely, there's so many great things that you just
shared there. I mean, first off, huge props to you
for balancing all the different things that you had when
you were growing up that way, from swimming to lacrosse.
And you mentioned that, you know, again, you even started
your entrepreneurship journey at that age as well, So it's
like you're getting pulled in so many different directions that way.

(06:47):
And you mentioned you have this little bit of this
like high energy or I think you're called ADHD kind
of like lifestyle mindset that way a little bit. Do
you feel like some of that might have come about
from this concept of literally just doing all of the
things all of the time from a young age and
just continuing to build on that.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
I think that sometimes my ADHD can kind of be annoying,
and I think that sometimes it can have like a
really negative tone of like, oh, somebody's all over the
planet where like they have kind of they struggle with
impulse control or they literally can't sit still. But I
think that I've really used my ADHD for like positive things,
like I would never. I mean yes, I might have

(07:24):
impulses of like, oh my god, that's such a good
idea or oh my god, that would be such a
fun thing to do, and then I'm just this is
the best way to put it. And I've tried to
explain this to people sometimes too, like and people without
ADHD Imagine you're like driving down a road like downtown
or like just anywhere, and it's like, okay, you're driving,
you hit a red light, you do you need to do.
You hit the green light, and then you're onto the

(07:45):
next one and there's another intersection. It's like, okay, red light,
you do it, you need to do, get the test done,
do the green light. I feel like I'm at like
a seven point intersection, and it's like I'm just wipe
spitting in the middle. Like there you're hitting you know,
like you're hitting a green light, hitting a like oh,
you're gonna get on another word, you're gonna the same thing,
because it's just like it feels sometimes like one hundred
dodgeballs are coming at me. But you have to kind

(08:07):
of sit and like really think about it and be like, Okay,
which ones am I gonna like dodge? Which ones am
I gonna like try to catch right now. So I
think also it really helps that I've grown up like
adapting to taking medication because I've understood how like it
feels like you have just like a mess and like
a just a like a little like pile of like
to dos and like ideas, but then when you take

(08:28):
the medication, they suddenly just all like line up and
then you're going down on a straight road. But I
think that because of my ADHD, it's brought out a
lot of like my creative ideas and like my like impulse.
Like I think along with having like ADHD, I'm also
a very like motivated person. So I think sometimes having
so many ideas coming like one way and another and

(08:51):
then the adding the motivation on it was kind of
the driving factor of like Okay, let's move through it.
You might kind of be driving like this sometimes. But
I I think it's the way I was able to
balance so many of those things too. And I'm one
that never sleeps, Like I have people in college like like,
you need to sleep, you need to sleep even now,
like I I don't sleep a whole lot, And I

(09:12):
think some people were kind of like that's really unhealthy
like you really need to sleep, but I'm over here,
like I'm doing this since fourth grade, like I don't
really know any different. Like and also me having two brothers,
That's something that I don't think people think about, is
like the family dynamic you grow up in. Like my
brother my older brother's three years older than me, and
my younger brothers three years younger than me. Like the

(09:35):
times that we would see each other in the day.
It would be three am in the kitchen like all
I would adapt to like my brother's behaviors and that
was just normal to me, Like I would stay up crazy,
like they all would stay up late. And it's funny
because I actually did a podcast clip one time, like
just a little like a real on like my page,
which anyway, and so it was three am, and I

(09:58):
did a test, was like, let's call my brothers to
see if they're awake right now, Like I just approved
to you that, like this is these this is the
dude children, Like we are always awake, we don't sleep,
we're nocturnal, like and I called them and they both
answered so and I was not surprised one bit. So anyways,
I think growing up around brothers, like you know, I'm
kind of a mess too. Like they're they're all messy,

(10:19):
like they get their stuff done, they have their priorities
in the room. But like, I like that we're all messy,
and I think sometimes that translates into me having kind
of having like messiness up here and messiness in my
space and some people are like, like, you need to
clean it up. I'm like, oh, it's fine. I know,
everything is, like it's okay. Like I just think that
growing up with brothers has impacted me in ways that

(10:41):
I never realized until I like kind of moved out
of the house.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
I mean, yeah, yeah, no, that's very interesting that you
bring that up. And even just to your point on
the chaotic side, like I feel like sport, life, entrepreneurship,
all of those things get chaotic at times. Like we
literally use a progression or I use a progression when
I'm helping athletes return to sport after an injury called
control the chaos. Because sport is chaotic. It's random. Stuff

(11:06):
happens all the time. It's extremely fast paced, and sometimes
it can be like violent, and it's one of those
things that I think people are trying to and you know,
I don't want to I don't want this to come
out the wrong way, but like, people are trying to
make sport less violent and less chaotic. But one of
the many things that I think makes sport great is

(11:28):
the chaos and the unpredictability and the fact that, yes,
you know, things can happen because of that. But I
think it's what makes sports so engaging to watch, and
I think it's one of the many reasons the sports
space in general is growing at an unparalleled rate. Right
People love to watch sports. But I've noticed that some

(11:49):
of these sports, like take baseball, for example, like they're
adding a whole new level of control to it, whether
that's pitch clocks, controlling how long you have to literally
throw a pitch to who actually calls the pitch. You know,
a lot of these pitchers don't actually get to determine
what pitch they're throwing, where they're throwing it. All these
different factors that way, and it just takes a little

(12:10):
bit of the fun out of it. In my opinion.
It's fun when things are chaotic. It's fun when things
are random and unpredictable, and you know, sometimes there might
be an element of danger because of that, but that's
the risk that we have to accept that comes with
some of these sports, and in particular in relation to lacrosse.
It's like one of the many things I love about
lacrosse again, the chaos, the fast paced element of it.

(12:31):
And I think that there's a lot of discussion. I mean,
you even had a post about it the other day,
how you know, how do we make lacrosse safer? And
it's like, you know, at least for me, if we
take women's lacrosse, we keep all the rules the same,
but all of a sudden, we give you all a
ton of pads, helmets, all that sort of stuff. Like
I feel like it changes the dynamic of the game

(12:52):
a little bit, doesn't it.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
I feel that if lacrosse kind of turned into like
this knockoff of men's, it loses the beauty of because
to me, I think that I think men I think
women's lacrosse is more similar to women's basketball than I
think men's lacrosse is to women's lacrosse, because if you

(13:15):
think about it, like the sport is that like I
don't compare field hockey in lacrosse. I think lacrosse is
easily just compared with basketball. I mean, you think about it,
like there's a there's a circle in the middle, there's
the tip off, like it goes up in the air.
People around the circle. You try to get it to
your own side. When there's a foul, there's a free throw.
Same in lacrosse. When there's a foul, there's an eight
meter Obviously you're working on a bigger field in lacrosse,

(13:38):
but it's still like the ball is in transition from
one to the other that you like you're either playing
defense or you are playing like it's I don't I
just have always thought that those sports were if you
added if you added the thing about this, if you
added sticks to basketball and people had to throw the
basketball stick to stick sag sport, now I wouldn't be
the same for field hockey, we're not playing on the floor.

(14:00):
Not the same for soccer again, not playing on the floor.
It's not like a race. It's not like volleyball because
it's very contact sport. I mean, also a contact sport,
just kind of with your own teammates. But you get
my point. I think that women's lacrosse, like they shouldn't
change a single thing because it's supposed to be that
rough and it is supposed to be that physical game,

(14:21):
and if you try to kind of mess with that
and alter that, you're then gonna get the girls that aren't,
like I don't want to say, aren't made for it,
but you're gonna the girls that represent it well. Are
the girls that prove how strong they are to represent
it well and play well and like have so much

(14:41):
talent and also just like ambition and tenacity to be
on that field. I mean really, because this is what
also blows my mind too, is when you watch soccer,
you watch volleyball, or you watch like any other sport. Yeah,
you might see some players like on the ground and stuff.
Like volleyball, for shirt, you have to like dive to
get the ball BASKETOA, I guess it's a little bit
more rare someone's on the ground. Soccer like not so much,

(15:03):
but I mean it's like an it. You don't raise
an eyebrow or raise a flag when you see a
girl like launch a shot and like launch her whole
body towards the shot to where she slides down the field,
almost rolls, drops the stick, gets up, claps in cheers
with her teammates, and that's just normal. Like the amount
of times you watch it and it's not even a

(15:25):
surprise that a girl is in the like fully in
the air upwards like falling down like into the ground,
and then it's just like, oh, great mid shot, let's celebrate,
and it's like that that's just part of it. And
I think I mean imagined to score for your team
and to you know, be a good player on the

(15:46):
field and make an impact, to launch your body like
at that speed and intensity and understanding that that's just
the way it's going to be. It's just that's a
mind that's a mindset. At that point when you're on
the field, you're risking a lot of your body and
I think that that's what bliths out the best girls
to represent the sport.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
Absolutely, And I say all the time about how sport
teaches you things about life that you're not going to
get anywhere else, Like there's just so many lessons and
different things ingrained within sports themselves. I think lacrosse is
probably one of the best examples of it, because, as
you just outlined, you're going to have to pull off
spectacular stuff sometimes and you're just kind of have to

(16:29):
play it off like it's no big deal. That's just
what you do every day, life is gonna get messy
and chaotics. Sometimes some days practice is going to be
really fricking hard. Some days it's going to be really easy.
Some days you're going to walk around with all these
like bumps, bruises and just feeling kind of battered and
you don't know where half of it came from. Some
days you're gonna, you know, be on top of the
world that way, Like it is such a great sport

(16:51):
that carries over just to the you know, messiness that
life can bring sometimes. And that's again the goods, the bads,
the highs, the lows, and everything in between. And I
think that if you change the nature of the game,
you start to detract from some of the many lessons
that the sport teaches you about life and success and beyond.

(17:12):
That way, one of the many things that I value,
or at least I've seen and heard other individuals value,
is they want to hire individuals who have been athletes
in college. Right, you know, all these different jobs, careers,
different things out there, they are specifically looking for athletes.
And it's like it's because sport teaches you so much

(17:34):
that you're not going to get elsewhere. I mean, you're
a living example of it. Look at how much you
did growing up, whether that be swim, lacrosse, or anything
in between. And look at the success you've experienced as
an entrepreneur thus far at a fairly young age overall. Right,
Like you told me the other day that you were
having meetings with like an accountant at like fifteen. It's like,
you know, that's usually the kind of stuff that people

(17:56):
like see in movies, not experience in real life. Like
there's clearly concepts from sport that I've carried over to
help you succeed in a way that like almost nothing
else can mm hm.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
And I'll say too. And I just picked her up,
So I just I just thought of it. I mean,
I didn't introduce her in the beginning. But this is
my dog. Her name is Honeydew. If you get it's
my last name hunt like do so, she's Honey. She's
a little Schnellzer poodle. And I got her senior year
of college like the busiest time of my life. Like
we were in the middle of season, Like there was

(18:29):
like like classes I was taking. I had recently moved
to an apartment by myself for like this spring of
senior year, and I'm so glad I like did because
I was able to like get her and like get
out of the like the kind of smaller space that
i'd been living in, which was great. I've been living
with teammates, but I was kind of just like I
need to like get my own space for a little
bit and kind of prep a little bit for the
real world after. But I remember thinking, I'm like, okay,

(18:53):
because my life has always been like so chaotic. It
was almost like, let's just say, add more chaos to it.
And I mean because like having a puppy and like
going to practice, going to class, it really allowed me
to be like okay, it actually helped me plan a
lot more too. So like my point in saying this
is I think that sometimes if you add something that
might seem chaotic, it can kind of wrap it all

(19:15):
around and benefit everything else. Because I was like, Okay,
somebody's coming to watch the dog while I'm in practice,
Like I need to make it was the kind of
thing to I was like, I need to make sure
that I'm selling this amount of clothes for like the
dresses today so that I can make sure to pay
the dogs hit or for the week, I have to
make sure that I have like enough coming in because
I I'm weird. I never like to pull from savings
like I like just kind of make money like on

(19:36):
the spot, and then like when I need it and
like pay for like her appointments, like when i'd like
just gotten her as a puppy, because the most payments
come in the beginning. Basically, Yeah, my point is sometimes
if when things are kind of already chaotic and busy,
never hesitate to like do something like you kind of
want to do that might be stressful, but you're gonna
figure it out and it's gonna probably come. It's gonna

(19:58):
do more for you than you could ever do for it.
So this is my example, and I think everybody like
she's like helped me get through so much too, like
just having like I mean, she really is just like
so sweet. I don't even know why I got into it,
but I just love my dog a lot, and like
she just is like always there, like and so easy going,
and like I could, she proves it. Actions speak louder.

Speaker 1 (20:20):
Than words, so absolutely absolutely.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
And right, I kind of forgot your original question. I'm sorry,
I am.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
I was gonna say another example of that concept of action,
speaking louder than words, and just kind of like finding
the most valuable things, like you know, in relation to
your dog and places that you might not have often
you know, thought of those things coming from in relation
to your lacrosse journey. You mentioned about how you walked

(20:49):
on to the lacrosse field that way, like you walked
on to the team, And that's something that I feel
like a lot of people are like a little bit
uneasy about. Like a lot of times, especially high school
athletes I talk with, they think, you know, I'm going
to play in high school play club. I'm going to
put my name out there, do the whole recruiting thing,
commit somewhere, and I'm going to go to that school

(21:11):
and you know, stay there four or five years, and
if things don't work out, then I'll go through the
transfer portal. A lot of them don't realize the option
of walking on or some of these unorthodox paths to
get there, right And as you mentioned, life can be chaotic.
We've said that a number of times here. Life when
you're a freshman in college in a whole new place
that you've never been before, around hundreds, if not thousands

(21:33):
of people, you've never met, can be very chaotic, it
can be very overwhelming, it can be mentally training. But
for some people, and you're one of them, you think,
you know what, I need to add something more to this.
I need to add Division I sport. And it's funny
because there was another girl I did a podcast with.
We recorded it this morning, same similar concept. Right, she

(21:54):
walked on to a D one program, just walked on
and the rest is history. But it's like, there's there's
something special about that amongst you all. Like, first off,
just the talent and skill and physical ability that you
have to you know, play any sport at the D
one level is beyond impressive. But on top of that,
to be able to make and earn a spot on

(22:16):
the team without the whole recruiting process, because again, like
at that point, you're already in college, you're already at
the university. They don't have to let you on the team,
but they chose to because they see something in you.
There's some kind of value that you can provide that
they feel like, you know what, this is going to
help our team. She's a member of this team, she's

(22:36):
a member of this family, a member of this community
that we're building, and I think that there's something extremely
special about that.

Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yeah, I know that you make so many great points thereah,
And like I'll just kind of briefly like say that.
I mean, when I was in high school, I was
like really unsure whether I wanted to play in college.
Like I kind of had these businesses. Growing towards senior
year of high school too, I was not playing as
much club because I was like, I'm not going to
put in college at this point. Like, and I kind
of just like enjoyed time with friends and did the
things that seniors in high school do and just played

(23:07):
school sports. And I remember, like I mean in COVID
Hit too, Like I was a COVID high school senior.
So obviously a lot of things looked really different. And
then when you were talking about things like the transfer
portal and just like college athletics in general, is I
it's crazy because it's crazy to look and see how
much the past five years and sports has been probably

(23:30):
more different than anything we've seen. You're an il is
entering entering the chat. We have the transfer portal. It's
now like you can do a fifth year, sixth year,
I mean sometimes the seventh year if you like get
red shirted, have an injury, have a COVID year. Like
the sports has just looked really crazy the past five
years in ways that it's never looked before. And so
when I got to Watford, it was a the whole

(23:53):
year was really like a COVID year, and a Wafford
really abided by a lot of the COVID rules, Like
there was not a lot going on on campus, Like
I'm sure a lot of bigger schools there was still
a lot of social activity. I don't even know, like
if I don't know, I don't think there was like
football season. Maybe there was, I'm not exactly sure, but
basically at Wafford, like there was not a lot going on.

(24:16):
And I didn't have my car either, so I mean
I couldn't even like really go out and like do much.
Like I was kind of just stuck on campus, like
I don't even go to in person class like kind
of had just nothing going on, like running my Jory
business out of like the floor of my dorm and
you just kind of like same thing happening every week
you get to point. So I was just it was

(24:39):
weird seeing people on campus like playing lacrosse because I
was like, wait, that's like I want to be there,
and I feel like I should be there. And while
I had like great friends and Wafford is a small
school where everybody mingles, like nobody lives in the sorority houses.
Like yes, athletes will live together, but like your porch mades,
so the people your sweet mates could be people that
are in a sorority. Like it's a very communal school

(25:00):
because it's so small. And I would say that like
there were a lot of people that I like, I
am still so like I'm great friends with people I
played across with, and the great friends with people that
were my sorty or like on my hall or like
like with a lot of different people from Watford. And
I had gotten in this scholarship program called the Launch Scholarship,
and it's just you basically are a part of this

(25:21):
like almost like entrepreneurial team and you you meet weekly.
You there's pitch competition opportunities, and you just learn a
lot about entrepreneurship and like how to pitch a business,
how to make a business plan and things like that.
And so getting into the school on the Launch Scholarship,
I was kind of like that was really good too,

(25:44):
because it's like if anything, I was into the school
with like like on my own, on my own merit,
and I you can't stack a scholarship either, not that
I would have gotten one for the lacrosse if I
would have come directly in freshman year, like being committed,
I don't think I would have gotten like money for that.
But that was the good thing too, is like I

(26:05):
was already yeah, I was into the school on my
own merit, and then lacrosse kind of just like got added,
which probably would have been the case anyways, if I
would have gone through the if does that make sense?
So that's kind of like how that worked. And like
I walked into or I walked on the team. I
was kind of reached out of the coach and I

(26:25):
had been to a prospect today in high school. So
my name. I don't know if my name was like
kind of like familiar or like been in any like
records or anything, but I had been in touch with her,
and it was kind of like a slower process like
COVID was happening. Everybody was kind of in this like
state of confusion, and I ended up on the team
freshman year, but it kind of like didn't really work
out at the time, and it just that like fell

(26:48):
apart very quickly, which was a very kind of hard
thing to go through. But luckily I was able to
get another opportunity, like in the fall the next year.
And it's really crazy to look at that when I
got asked back, because I got asked back on the
team for two for two for two reasons that are

(27:08):
that just represent how twisted the sports world can be
in college. Like so it's like I sit here and
I'm like, I'm living proof that college athletics can be
so crazy. Meaning I think at the time, like there
were so many injured athletes because they'd just been overworked
and overran, and that I think came from like some
of the leadership. Like and I also there was parts

(27:28):
with the leadership at the time where you just things
might have been a little bit more unpredictable than they
should be, not probably always in a terrible way, but
I think maybe some good things, some bad things, And
I think I kind of came from like a spur
of the moment, like oh well, we'll just bring her
back in, And so you take like leadership that's super
unpredictable and a team of girls that there's a bunch
of girls that are injured, and like that's the reason

(27:50):
I'm coming back in And I'm kind of like, well, okay,
but I mean we need to also sit here and
acknowledge that while I'm really glad I have this like
this opportunity, I was just kind of like, well, this
is coming out of two like really bad things happening too,
So I definitely like kind of was sitting with that
and but it all worked out and it was it
was great, and I was really glad that I the

(28:11):
timing worked out the way it did because we ended
up getting a new coach my junior year, and I
was kind of already set in stone, like comfortable there
and like felt that like really understood like Okay, I
am a walk on. I didn't get like I didn't
get recruited and commit like everybody else. But I feel
like I can hang like I think like I don't
think there's anybody on this team that's like an odd

(28:32):
one out, Like everybody like does every drill, every goes
to every practice, does everything. And I never felt like
I was like the one person that people had to
cheer a little bit louder for when there was just
every other drill happening, if that makes sense, Like I
I felt comfortable there. I was not a star player,
I was not a starter. I had a lot to learn.
But I think skill wise, and like athletic wise, strength wise,

(28:56):
I was I was tine.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
So right, right, you physically met the requirements to be there,
even if there are other aspects of your game that
you felt like, and I want to emphasize that you
felt like weren't where they need to be, because sometimes
we're our own worst critics, right, And you know, I think,
on one hand, you need to have this critical element
where you look at yourself in the mirror and you're
honest with yourself about, hey, look, here's ways I can improve,

(29:19):
whether that be in lacrosse, in swimming, in entrepreneurship and
being a dog parent, whatever it is. That way, you
have to be honest with yourself and admit the ways
that you can improve and the ways that you can
be better. But sometimes I feel like we tend to
be almost over critical of ourself and we have no
issue just sitting back and critiquing all these little things
about ourselves when in reality we're freaking amazing people. Like,

(29:41):
you are such an incredible person to sit and think
about all the amazing things you've done from sport to
entrepreneurship and beyond, and again you're still just in your
early to mid twenties. You're you know, still just getting started.
And it's like, look at how much you've accomplished, and
look at how far you've come and how much you've
been through and running businesses and playing Division one sport

(30:03):
during COVID while also attending university in a place that
you know was very new to you at the time.
It's just a lot to you know, again, recognize how
much you've been through, how much you've gone through, and
how far you've come that way. So I think sometimes
it's like, you know, we can be so critical of
ourselves when in reality sometimes we need to almost like

(30:23):
give ourselves a little bit more race, I think, and
I think that you know, your element of just like
I guess what I'm trying to say is just this
overall like relentless pursuit of the things that you want
to do has like this. What I want to say,
this overall like a relentless pursuit of anything and everything

(30:44):
that you set your mind to is something that I
just don't see in a lot of people anymore. And
again that's in relation to Lacrosse, entrepreneurship whatever. Like it
seems like you're that kind of person that when you
want something, you put your head down, you go to work,
and you make it happen. And if it's not good
enough for you, and you work even harder to find
a way to make it happen. And it doesn't matter
what you have to give up to achieve it, whether

(31:06):
that's sleep or you know whatever, that way, you're gonna
find a way to get it done. And I think
that there's something to be said about that. There's like
this lost art of being able to take this concept
of all these different incredible ideas, form them, take those pieces,
put them into the puzzle, make them all fit together,
and then make something absolutely incredible from it that way.

(31:28):
And I think that you certainly seem to have mastered
that so far that way.

Speaker 2 (31:32):
Thank you so much. No, I mean, I it's definitely
been just like a crazy like my life has always
kind of been chaotic, but I like it that way.
Like I just think that that's I don't do well
when I don't have like structure or like things that
are like bringing me like joy and like passion and
like that doesn't go to say that like when I

(31:53):
have free time as an adult, like I can't manage it.
I mean there's certain times where I'm like, oh my god,
I'm like like I'll like LOLLI dag a little bit.
But when I do have a free time and I
know that there's things that I want to do and
like want to get done, I have like the honey stop.
I have like the motivation to be like Okay, let's
like lock in and let's sit down and get it done.
So I'm glad that now having a free time now

(32:15):
it's not like a I'm like unmotivated. And I will
say too like it's it has been the perfect like
full circle moment. Back in Winston Salem, I'm studying sports
media and documentary film, and I've like I could go
on and on about like film and like filming and
like doing projects and like media and like being on

(32:35):
the job like in the stadium, like filming filming things
like it is seriously and I've never really like told
I never really like told the people this that I
worked with, And I just don't think any of them understand,
like the relief to not only like be in my hometown,
but like be at like Lauren Stol or be like

(32:56):
at the couch, which is like the two places here
in Winston, like where the baseball team plays. We're basketball plays,
you know. I've I've grown up, like going to gamester
all the time, like what five ten minutes away, But
to now be back here, I'm graduated, I have my degree,
I have like the rest of my life. That's like
my time. There's no like opportunities where like I feel
like I'm like I'm really gonna do that, Like like

(33:17):
for example, there's club lacrosse here at Wake, but I
was like I can't. I can't even get back into it,
Like I need to just do me right now, Like
I need to stop trying to do all these things
that I think I can do, Like I la Cross
is behind me. It's done, like I don't need to
add anything else, Like that chapter's over. And it was
like I going into like studying film. It just combined

(33:37):
everything because my favorite part of kind of my social
media and entrepreneurship ventures was the media in the marketing,
and you think about it like you do everything like
there's the inventory, there's the website design. You have things
physically on hand. You need to know the best way
to communicate and reach your audience and like handle customer service,
handle emails, connect with influencers. Like the list goes on

(33:59):
and on. I mean about all the ADHD in that
environment too, especially with ideas coming in left and right.
It's you're like, oh my gosh, like I gotta do
all these things, Like I can only do one thing
at a time. But my favorite whenever I would like
have help. And it's funny because during COVID, when my
joy business was really growing, I had people at my house,
like two or three people at my house for like
five hours a day, probably four days a week, five

(34:21):
days a week, just shipping packages left and right, Like
there were so many sales coming in, and that's when
I needed because I really liked the media and the marketing.
That was my favorite part. Like I wanted to do
the pictures. I wanted to stay in front of the
camera and be like hi, guys, welcome here, like this
is this product. Like that was my favorite part was
just to like promote it and like do the kind
of creative like marketing strategies. And also I love to

(34:44):
be in front of the camera. I mean there's you
can watch home videos of me and my mom like
has the chem cord, and I'm like, I want to see.
I want to see I want to see like it,
And it makes so much sense that I was the
kid that my dad was getting like the two hundred
and fifty gigabyte phone when the other one's one twenty eight,
because I was like, Dad, I have fifty thousand pictures,
like I can't lose them, Like I need the bigger phone,
and like I mean I think I have a bigger

(35:05):
phone than like my whole family, and I think it's
like five twelve, like because I have like ninety thousand photos.
And like I was always the kid that like I
wanted to watch some movie, I didn't want to read
the book. Like I was not much of a reader.
I think I've read like actually three books in my life.
But that's just like the way I'm like, I'm a
very visual learner too, and like I had to see
things like I mean, I'll have scenarios and like visuals

(35:27):
that run in my head. I don't have like just
lots in my head. So looking back, I was like,
this makes so much sense why I like love filming
so much, and especially in sport. But like sitting in
the stands, you show up and I mean, I'm in terns,
so it's not like I'm working there. No one's really
looking at me. I'm just doing what they need showing
up and you just walk in. You're at a sporting event.

(35:49):
You're still on the job, you still have a purpose,
like you're still kind of behind the scenes, like in
the tunnel, you're underneath the stands, like you can walk
around the stadium anywhere you want to go. You're not
just coming in like a fan in a designated spot
like you like walking in and they're like, here's your camera.
Can you just like sit in the lower bowl and
just like just to shoot. And I'm like, yes, I will.

(36:11):
I will sit and enjoy the sporting event, not really worried,
not have the stress of an athlete, not like sit
on the bench or like I have to stretch left
and right if I think I'm going in the game
like it is it is. So it was really like
such a relief for me because I was like, I'm
in my hometown, but I'm like doing something I'm not
just like backfloating in my hometown postgrad, Like I have

(36:33):
a purpose here right now. And it's the best part
about it is that you do when you're on site shooting,
you're just shooting and like taking it all in, taking
it all in with your own eyes and on in
a lens. And then you get to go hang out
and like unpacked like everything that you shot and like
figure out how you're gonna like style it. Like the
way I was explaining it to my mom, it's like, Mom,

(36:54):
I want you to imagine you're with all your girlfriends
and you've been shopping all day, and you like everybody
kind of goes out buy the different things. You kind
of like disperse and like go in different spots, but
you all get back to the hotel on your girls'
weekend and you all just kind of like unbox the
things you bought and like figure out who's gonna borrow what,
who's gonna style what, how are you going to use that?
And like that's what it feels like. So I that

(37:18):
was the best way I could explain it to my mom.
So I was like, this is how fun it is.
Like I genuinely love it so much. And I recently
invested in like camera equipment, So I'm hoping that I
can kind of build a career in videography because I
really I love it, and I it just makes sense
to me, like I just kind of see it. I
haven't learned all the tools yet. I'm still still rookie,

(37:40):
but it's been a great year here back in Winston.

Speaker 1 (37:44):
I love that. I love that so much for you,
and I cannot wait to see the success that you
experience on that endeavor. But again acknowledging the success that
you've already experienced and running you know, a business and
being an entrepreneur from a young age that way, That's
something that comes a lot when I talk with athletes,
is they want to make it on their own. They
want to have their own business. They want to kind

(38:05):
of have that control element in relation to their future
financial and career decisions. That way, What advice do you
have for other athletes based on your own experience running
a business that way that you feel like carries over
from sport into business.

Speaker 2 (38:20):
Okay, well, I will say to it. It does kind
always depend on what people major in, but I think
that every I think that with every major in college
should come with some type of business class that has
a little mix of like consumer behavior, communications, psychology.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
And marketing include marketing and content creation in that absolutely marketing.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
I think that there's one class that just has bits
and pieces that maybe has no homework, no tests, like
because to me, like wherever you are like nowadays, like
content creation is obviously huge and so I think that
you know, you can do yourself like such a service.
Imagine somebody that is a doctor and let's say they're
in the process, they're like they're in med school, Like

(39:08):
I I am so fascinated to like scroll and like
see your day in the life of your med school schedule.
It also just brings awareness to like what that life
looks like, which can really help somebody else like figure
out like if that's maybe something that would like suit them.
I think that content creation. I heard this recently and
it was like stop creating, Like you need to spend
your time documenting, not creating, So like just document your time,

(39:32):
document what you're doing, and like the right audience will come.
And that's what I think was like really important too.
And I remember in college I started doing these blogs
like senior was a senior year and they basically were
just like a day in the life at Wofford, and
they were I they were very they were very accurate
to a tee. But I kind of the reason why

(39:53):
I wanted to start making them was because I knew
how like Chaon it was, and I was like, I
just hope somebody can watch this and like understand what
this looks like. And the video is like if people
want to go to my TikTok, it's just everydo and
they're all at the bottom and there's like twenty five
of them that are day in the lives and they're quick.
They're an easy watch. They're like a minute in Liken

(40:15):
ten but don't blink because you'll miss like a spot
because I did them very like crash course. So I
just think that content creation, like is something that a
lot of people should I know, just a little bit about,
because if you love what you do, you shouldn't Like
I would be surprised if somebody didn't want to share
with more people what they love to do. So that's

(40:36):
what I think is interesting. But the advice that I
would give somebody for just kind of entering into business
or any degree, like did you did you want it
from like playing a sport or just like in college
in general, or like athlete to.

Speaker 1 (40:50):
Any way you want to go about it. It's your world.
I'm just living in it.

Speaker 2 (40:55):
Okay, I think big is it? Vice would be to
just understand somebody said this to me one time and
I thought, I mean, it made so much sense. It
was like when you enter postgrad. It's not like a, oh,
we go from fourth grade to fifth grade to sixth
grade to seventh and then every like blah blah blah
thro high schoolveryone goes to college. This is like a
you might have some people like going abroad, some people

(41:16):
wanting to go like start a business, people that might
want to start a new job, like move to a
new place, like everybody, yeah, people in grad school, Like
everybody's on a different path at this point, like there's
no really timeline, Like you might have people like twenty
eight that are getting married or might have kids, and
you might have somebody twenty eight that is like still
in med school, Like you really if there's no path,

(41:38):
And I think that never like compare yourself to like
what other people are doing, because no nobody's path is
supposed to look the same at this point, like you
all follow the yellow brick road until you it did
they all just like disburse like it's not there's literally
no reason to compare anything or be like, well she's
doing that, like I want to do that? Like does everybody?

(42:00):
Life is supposedly different at this point. And that's probably
the advice that I would give, absolutely genuinely, what you
want to do, don't don't follow the path of like, well,
this is going to leave me to be more successful,
like and it's going to pay a lot of money.
And I get that, Like finances are really important and
like providing for like what you need. But if you

(42:20):
if you can find any way to balance like getting
what you need to support yourself while doing something that
you love, do it. Like you might have a finance
degree and you might make a lot of money in
investment making if you're able to get a job there,
because I know it's a really competitive field. But if
you also have a finance degree, and let's say you
love to work with children or you love to work
with students, and you find a way to like use

(42:41):
that finance degree to teach other people, and that's more
fulfilling and you enjoy it more. Do that, like that's
stop like following the the winners and like the monopolies
of the business like or of anything like just do
what you want to do if you can. I mean
that that's my advice.

Speaker 1 (42:58):
Go where there's no path, make a trail forward. And
I think the more you do that, the more you
pursue whatever you're passionate about, whatever truly keeps you going
in life, the more fulfilled you're going to be, and
the more successful you're going to be in any endeavor.
That way, right, And as you're talking about that kind
of like hypothetical or proposed like class that I think

(43:21):
every university ever should have, like something that combines business communication, psychology, marketing,
maybe even a sales element to it, and also like
some elements of entrepreneurship, like hey, this is how you
start a business, this is how you do business taxes,
some of those different things. That way, like that creates
such a broad, diverse skill set that I think anyone

(43:42):
in any profession could benefit from.

Speaker 2 (43:44):
Right.

Speaker 1 (43:44):
It makes me think of the quote A jack of
all trades is a master of none, which everyone's heard,
but they forget about the second part of the quote.
A jack of all trades is a master none, but
oftentimes better than a master of one. Right, Are you
going to go to someone who can only do one
thing or are you going to go to someone that
can do twenty different things? Right? I think, at least

(44:05):
for myself, one of the many reasons people seek me
out from a PT standpoint is not just the knowledge
that I have in the rehab space, but the network,
the communication element, and the collaboration elements that I can
bring to the table that other people are just not
willing to do. Right, even if I'm not the best
from a rehab standpoint in the area, I make no

(44:25):
claims to be, if I can do all those other
things exceptionally well, then people are gonna seek me out
because I can provide things that others can't. And I
think when you do that, when you have such a broad,
diverse skill set that no one else can compete with
the amount of things that you can do, you put
yourself in your own category. You're one of one. You know,
at least from a business standpoint, or even a skill

(44:48):
standpoint from sport recruiting for that matter, you can't compare
you to anyone else, as you mentioned on the comparison side,
because you have such a broad array of skills that
run wide also run deep, that no one else can
touch that, right, It puts you in a league of
your own.

Speaker 2 (45:06):
M for sure. I agree. I think just like doing
what people want to do is just the best way
to go about life.

Speaker 1 (45:16):
Absolutely absolutely. I realized we're probably running short on time,
but we could literally just chat all night long. I
would have no problem with that whatsoever. I find you
so fascinating and I love everything you're doing in life,
whether that be from the entrepreneurship side of things, to
the lacrosse and sport background, to the fact that you're

(45:36):
literally putting off jumping on an online class right now
to do this podcast. Like you are literally so freaking impressive,
and I just really love everything that you've been doing. Avery,
Is there anything we missed in our discussion today or
anything else that you really want to bring up?

Speaker 2 (45:53):
So, but thank you so much for having me so.

Speaker 1 (45:56):
I for people want to find out more about you,
where can they find you online?

Speaker 2 (46:00):
Honestly, just go to my main Instagram. It's just Avery deal.
I did get lucky when I signed up for Instagram
when I was thirteen.

Speaker 1 (46:06):
Just perfect. We'll link to that in the description below.
That way, if you didn't quite catch it, you can
just click there and see everything Avery is up to Avery.
This is amazing. Thank you so much for your time.

Speaker 2 (46:14):
Thank you so much. Hamas forming on

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