Transcript of Episode 530: Lindsey Vonn: Building Mental Toughness Through Injury, Pressure, and Setbacks New

Hi, guys, it's Tony Robbins. You're listening to Habits and Hustle.

Crush it. Before we dive into today's episode, I first wanna thank our sponsor, Therasage. Their Tri-Light panel has become my favorite biohacking thing for healing my body. It's a portable red light panel that I simply cannot live without. I literally bring it with me everywhere I go, and I personally use their red light therapy to help reduce inflammations in places in my body where honestly, I have pain. You can use it on a sore back, stomach cramps, shoulder, ankle. Red Light Therapy is my go-to. Plus, it also has amazing anti-aging benefits, including reducing signs of fine lines and wrinkles on your face, which I also use it for. I personally use Therasage Tri-Light everywhere and all the time. It's small, it's affordable, it's portable, and it's really effective. Head over to therasage.com right now and use code BEBOLD for 15% off. This code will work site wide. Again, head over to therasage.com and use code BEBOLD for 15% off any of their products. All right, guys, so today we have Lindsay Vaughn on the podcast. And by the way, I was yapping before, but I didn't even say how excited I am to have you here because-- no, talk about-- we do all sorts of people on the-- the best in the world, in the world come on this podcast, but you are legit the best in the world at downhill skiing.

And I gotta tell you, I don't know any other person that does what you do in the sport. You've actually made it, I think, popular and famous. I don't know. Am I the only one? Because I don't know. I really feel like I know you. You're such an icon in your sport. An adrenaline junkie, have you always had that type of, like that adrenaline junkiness in it? Like, tell me like how you started, how you became you really?

Uh, I mean, I, I started skiing because I loved skiing, you know, I didn't get into racing because I was an adrenaline junkie. I just, I think I always pushed the limits. Like I was always climbing trees when I was a kid. Like, you know, I was always horsing around and doing things that I was told not to do. Um, and, you know, I think as I progressed in my skiing career, you know, I, I I, there's different disciplines in skiing. And as I grew older and started doing downhill, which was obviously the fastest in the sport, I loved it. The faster I went, the happier I was. And since then, you know, I'm, especially now in retirement, like I just do whatever adrenaline thing I can find, you know, whether it's wake surfing or e-foiling or like whatever, you know, jet skiing, I'm just like always trying to find something that gives me that adrenaline.

But nothing would ever come out. You go down, what, 84 miles? I heard your highest was 84 miles an hour.

That's crazy.

That's crazy.

It's fun. I'd say it's really fun. It's really, really fun.

I mean, how do you even work up to that? I don't even know what can even compare. If you are an adrenaline junkie, going jet skiing is not even close to that. I can go jet skiing. I can go downhill skiing.

I mean, it's kind of like driving a car, right? If you're always on the highway, you're used to driving driving fast, right?

Yeah.

And you see, you know, you see things coming and you can, you know, kind of anticipate what their drivers are doing. It's very similar to skiing. You know, if you're used to going fast, that's your natural speed. And that's why training is important for downhill because you need to go fast. But that just like, that's my natural habitat.

It's going fast. It really is like your natural habitat. So, okay, can you start by telling, I mean, my audience, I mean, most people, if you're if you're not living under a rock, but like, if they, if they are, how did you kind of begin this, this path? Like I started from, I think you were nine years old and you met like your, your role model.

Yeah.

And then what happened?

So I met Peekaboo Street, who she's won, she won the Olympics in 98. And at that time, I think she had won a silver medal from Lillehammer, the Olympics before, but she was the only person that I really knew in skiing and skiing wasn't on TV. So like we used to get the VHS tapes of like all the winning runs, you know, of the season. And so, you know, to actually see someone from your sport live in person, like this kind of mythical, you know, superhero, it was amazing. And seeing her made me want to be a skier. You know, it made it cool, it made it tangible, made it something for me to look up to. And so after I met her, I came home from the ski shop. It was like an autograph signing. And I said, Dad, I want to be in the Olympics. And he, you know, straight face, he didn't even like smirk or laugh. He was like, okay, but you know, it's going to be really hard. Are you ready? And then like, I'm ready, let's do it. So he literally sat down with me and we made like a 10 year plan of like how I was going to make the Olympics.

And because the next Olympics I would be eligible for would be Salt Lake City. 2002, I was 17 years old. So my family moved heaven and earth and we moved to Colorado so that I could, you know, pursue this crazy dream. And then I made it.

And then it worked out.

It worked out.

So before you were nine, were you already, if this person was your role model, your idol, were you already skiing a lot?

Yeah.

At like three, four, what age did you actually put the first pair of skis on?

It was like two and a half. And then before that, I was actually in a backpack. That's probably illegal now, but my, I was in a backpack while my dad was coaching.

Wow.

So, cause he was going to law school and he was coaching on the side. So I would be like in his backpack. You know, he was skiing around.

Really?

Yeah. So I was, like, always on the, on the mountain, one way or the other. And then I started racing when I was about seven, started traveling to actual ski camps in the summer when I was seven. When I was nine, I went to summer camp by myself in Austria with my team.

Oh, my God.

Yeah. And that's when it kind of started to take off.

So did they know that you were kind of a Prodigy already when you were six and seven, five, like, or you're just, like, kind of like every other kid?

No, it was like every other kid. I loved it. And I guess my My dad tells a story that he came to one of my camps in Oregon and it was raining and lightning and all the lifts had shut down because there was lightning. And I was out there on the mountain hiking, hiking up the mountain, skiing down, hiking up the mountain, skiing down because no one was out there. I was like, this is perfect. I have the mountain to myself. I can train all day long and no one's here. And my dad says, it was that moment that I thought, maybe you have something. I'm nine years old, like, out there. I mean, I literally could ring, like, buckets of water out of my clothes. Wow. I was done. But I was happy. I was so happy out being out there.

So that's always, like, the question I always wonder and ask people, right? Like, is it something that's innate in you already, or is it something that you can work on? Like, you already had that work ethic and passion, right? Like, you did. Because if you were doing that at six years old, I mean, everything else is kind of. It's easy to continue and be motivated when you have that.

Yeah.

What's your opinion? Do you think that someone could kind of create that type of drive or is it more innate in them?

I think it's a combination of, you know, environment, cultivation, and what you're innately given. You know, if you look at my family, I'm the oldest of five kids.

Right.

We all turned out very differently, even though we had, you know, the same parents and you know, relatively same upbringing. You know, I, my sister and I, who are closest to each other, were four years apart. My dad jokes that, you know, we wake up eating raw meat. Like we are, like, hungry. We're ready to go, you know, like, we're tenacious. And, you know, the triplets don't have the same drive. They're very talented, they're very smart, but it's not that competitive drive. My sister has it more in business than in, like, she's not as physical as I am. I'm obviously more of an athlete. But so if you think about the environment, we grew up the same, the same opportunities, and I'm the only one that really became a skier. My brother loved it, but he never really truly pursued it. So I think it was I was innately talented. I had a drive within me. I love doing it, and I was cultivated by my parents, by my grandparents, like looking at my grandparents and parents as role models, you know, how hard they worked and that there was so much available to me.

There's never a, my family doesn't quit. We're very driven people. And I look at my grandfather and I would spend every summer with them, my grandparents, and he was basically a construction worker and he left the house before I woke up, and he got back. Yeah. Right before we were going to bed, and he just smelled of Grease and sweat, and he worked so hard. My grandma, my grandmother would wait up for him every night and have a bowl of ice cream waiting for him, which is, like, the cutest, but just that type of work ethic, you know, you see that every day. And my siblings saw it, but it didn't really sink in the same way that did with me. So I don't know. I think it's a combination of everything, but. You can only lead someone to water. You can't push someone into it. My siblings were all very, very talented, but I'm the only one that became a skier.

So that's really, that's so interesting because, I mean, by the way, a side note, do you know that you're, well, do you know, of course you know. You wrote a book called Strong Is a New Beautiful. A year after I wrote a book called Strong Is a New Skinny.

Oh, really?

Yes. And they were both bestsellers. But yeah, isn't that funny? And I never got a chance to tell you that. But that's funny. I forgot to mention that when I saw you. Yes. Isn't that funny? Funny.

We'll have to, like, trade books.

I know. I was gonna say, like, and I keep on forgetting. And then, like, again, when I was reading your stuff, I'm like, oh, my God, I totally forgot about that. And so I thought that was very funny. But, and I, and I, I know. It's not kind of.

Yeah, it's really funny.

But what I, I was gonna say, I digress, but I was gonna, I was gonna say that I'm a big believer that Talent is, is only a small piece. It really is what you do with it. There's a lot of people who are talented that, that basically waste it. There are a lot of people who are super smart, but they're not. Gritty enough and don't have the drive to go after it. So like, it's, it's the people that you could have just a morsel of talent, but if you have the ethic and work ethic, you can go like to like crazy places like you did, like you said, your family, your sister, what do your brothers and sisters do now? Are they in business then or what do they do?

My sister that's closest to me has her own social media branding company. My other brother is an architect. My other brother is a paralegal. And my sister is a consultant for philanthropy. So.

Oh, wow. Yeah. So then your dad, you said, was also a downhill skier.

Yeah.

And what happened to him? Did he never make it to as far as you, obviously?

Yeah. He blew his knee out when he was 18. Yeah. Like he was junior national champion. He was on an amazing, you know, trajectory and he blew his knee out. And at that time, you know, that was, that was it. He went to the best guy at the time who was doing like all the Green Bay Packer surgeries. He was, you know, from Wisconsin and, And yeah, that's a career ender at that point. So he became a lawyer, a litigator, one of the best in the country.

Really?

Yeah. He's very driven. Very driven. Definitely get that from him.

Wow. So you definitely take after your dad. Is your mom like that then?

My mom's very driven. I mean, she's incredibly smart. She actually was the reason why I painted through law school. She's incredibly smart. She's also very talented as well physically. Like she was great at squash and tennis and, you know, she was just, you know, an amazing athlete. But yeah, I think I get my mom's positivity more so than anything else.

Like how did you like, okay, so what was the training like back then? Like what was your day like when you were 10, 11, 12 going to before going to Salt Lake, like, like walk me through a day in the life of a, of you.

Well, I mean, I didn't leave a normal life.

I know.

Well, when my, when I, So 12, you know, my mom and I moved to Colorado. We had an apartment, like we just went out for the winter so I could train, train and veil. I went to an academy kind of part-time and the rest of my siblings were at home with my dad and it was a really challenging time. And then eventually the next year we moved out. Like all of us moved out there together, except my dad was still working in Minnesota, so he was commuting almost every week. Back and forth from Minnesota to Colorado. I mean, I can't tell you how many. It's about 17 and a half hours from Minnesota to Colorado driving. We did that many, many times. My mom, like, raced back one night so I could make my middle school end of year party at the Six Flags. I'm serious. Yeah. She drove through the night, like, straight through the night, and we literally rolled up to Six Flags.

Oh, my God. That is so cute.

And I got out of the car, like, with all our, like, candy, you know, like, keeping us awake, and I. I. Rolled in and I was, my mom was the best.

That's, so I always hear these stories about people like yourself who had a really supportive family that if it wasn't for the family unit being strong like that and do they sacrificing like it sounds like your family did for you. Like then you, then of course, thankfully it paid off for you. So what would happen? So you'd move there, like what time would you have to wake up? How many hours are you skiing? Like what, how many hours are you spending on technique? Like what is the tactical. I want to know like tact, like what is the things that you're practically doing daily to give people that idea, like how much hard work went into it?

Well, when I was a teenager, I mean, it was all still very strategic from like my dad's ten year plan, right? It was about kind of building up to the right races at the right time. So, you know, my preparation period was, you know, summer. We would go to, you know, Mount Hood in Oregon. I would train for like six, seven weeks. I would ski, I would, we would literally be up before six o'clock every day, be on the mountain at like seven, seven 30 and train until the snow was too soft to, to ski. Then we'd have lunch, I'd take a nap, we do dry land training. So working out and we watch video. Um, that's, I'm like, you know, wow, that's already at nine years old.

And that, so that's how many hours before the snow you said would go damp? Like five hours, four hours?

Yeah, probably five hours. Yeah.

So five hours of skiing and then how long dry land workouts?

Um, yeah, an hour, an hour to two hours. It depended. I mean, in summer camp, like when I was a kid, we would go on hikes, you know, and like there's this really long hike that takes you up to a lake and, you know, we would do games and things like that. It wasn't, you know, incredibly difficult when I was a kid, but, you know, obviously as I progressed and got older, The physical training got quite a bit harder, you know, the, the, the on snow stuff was pretty similar. We're always working on technique, doing drills, doing training. That's, that's all the same, but the physicality, you know, off the mountain got a lot harder. And when, when I was 15, I had to make the U S ski team and there's a physical test you have to pass. So my dad, you know, I had me doing a hundred pushups and a hundred sit-ups every day mandatory. And then on the weekends, I would go on the track, the high school. Next to the house and I would run a mile. There's like different tests. I would do sprints 440 and all those things.

No, no, say what they are.

I think this is like, it's like 40 yard dash. It's like the 100, the 400, you

know, like speed stuff.

Yeah. It's like there was a, and they don't have it anymore, but it was kind of a, in some ways rudimentary, you know, test. It was like, how many push-ups can you do in 60 seconds?

Yeah.

Like, it's kind of silly, but at that time, you know, I didn't, I didn't have any structured training. So, you know, it was. It was a hard thing for me to do. And at that point, you know, I realized I needed to shift gears and, and do a lot more than I was to really make it to the next level. And then when I made the team, that's when it drastically changed because changed because they gave me a program that was the same as like a 27 year old. And I'm like, I don't know what

I'm right, right doing.

I'm doing like power cleans and I don't know how to youo were doing

power cleans at 15.

Yeah.

Get out.

Yeah. And I, I, I, I gained a lot of weight. I didn't, I didn't know. There was a lot of new things that were going on.

Totally, yeah.

And they also made you live in Park City, Utah, because it was right before the 2002 Olympics, and they kind of had everyone mandatory living out there. So there was a lot going on and a lot of sacrifice and a lot of me being away. And also without your parents, like I was. So if you think about, I've been traveling away from my parents since I was nine years old.

Yeah.

With a lot of unsupervised time. So I kind of had to figure my way out through life, you know, on my own, to a large degree.

Um, yeah, like, so you're, you were independent, like, by yourself.

Yeah.

So then you had to, like, legit, like, give up everything in your life, like, social life.

I had no friends. I never went to any proms or dances or, like, I never, I, I maybe had, like, three sleepovers my whole life. Like, I never, as a kid, like, I didn't have those same experiences, but. But I also was traveling the world at nine years old. I had my little wallet of all the different currencies, and I was so proud of myself. The Italian lira and the German mark and Austrian shilling. I was very independent, and I was proud of that. Even though I missed a lot, I still learned a lot. I wouldn't trade it. I think I get sad more so sometimes that I missed on the educational part of school. Not so much as socializing because you can do that anytime.

You really can.

I mean, you really can.

Life is about choices though, right? You make choices and you and sacrifice for it, even like that's a microcosm of everything in life, right? If you want to have this, you have to sacrifice that. Nothing in life is just free for all, especially at this level of what you were talking about. What was the one quality that you think is why you were able to make it to the level that you did, besides the work ethic and the drive and the grit.

I mean, it was a lot to do with grit. I think I also, my dad would say mentally tough, you know, and he would say, he said that to me so many times as a kid, like, you have to be mentally tough. And, you know, I, as a kid, you don't really know exactly what he's talking about. I'm like, yeah, okay, I'll do the push-ups you know, I'll do the, the running, you know, and that's. Tough, you know, but you don't really know what that is until later in life when things really get tough. And then, you know, that's a quick way to separate yourself or not.

Right.

Or not, you know, so it's sink or swim. And so, you know, I had to figure my way through it. And, and I think that mental component, like being, being mentally very strong was something that separated me from the pack.

And also like that, all the injuries that you endured and still had the resilience to come back and go. That's what I think makes you forget about distance skiing in general. I don't know anybody who knows how to ski. No one of you seriously, I don't know about skiing people as much as I would other sports. But how do you even train for that type of that stuff? How do you teach people how to have that ability to fall and then have the confidence to get right back up again and try again and not let that deter you from keep on trying and trying.

I mean, listen, life is about falling and getting back up. That's what life is. And I think that's what sports teaches kids very well. It teaches them how to fail. It's not about the winning or being the best at something. It's about, I failed at something, but that's okay. We're just going to pick ourselves back up and keep going, keep trying. And I felt a million times in skiing, you know, all, some of them were very bad. Some of them were not that bad, but, you know, it's, it's, it's about that process of, you know, don't let it hold you back. You know, otherwise you're never gonna do anything in life. You know, if you're always afraid of falling, then you're, you're not actually living. You're not skiing. You're, you're, you're just living in the past. So I'm, I'm very quick to forget. About mistakes, I learn from them and I move on.

Like, was there ever a time when, like, in all of that time that you fell and you were injured, that you had any self doubt or that you were like, you know what? Like, I can't do this again. It's too much, it's too hard. This injuries, like, you had those neat, like, you had some crazy shit happen to you.

Some really stuff. Yeah.

And like, it didn't ever, but you're still up there doing it and then you win again. I mean, like, it's, It's like it's legit crazy.

I never thought that I couldn't do it. I was worried that my injuries, when I blew out my knee for the second time, I was worried that my meniscus was too damaged and I wouldn't be able to ski the way I wanted to again. I never thought I'm not capable of coming back. And then once I'm on the snow, that's my happy place. And that's why I work hard. I am passionate about what I do. I love what I did. I loved racing. There was no part about it that I did not love, even the hard work. It was not just about the winning, but the journey. It shaped me into who I am, and it is why I fought so hard to keep what I love. I would do anything, work as hard as humanly possible to come back from my injuries because I was being taken away. From something I love doing.

And like you just said, you just like said something that was I think very true and I can and very it's it's for anybody like that's who you are, right? Like how do you even separate like your Lindsay, like regular Lindsay, this normal person from like this like crazy legendary skier like that is your identity, right? So if you're not doing it and now you're not even doing it because you retire, like I can't imagine on a like, like just on like a mental like level, how are you How do you cope with that? Or how do you kind of transition from that to now?

It has been really hard. It has been really hard. I mean, I always knew that my career would end at some point. Every athlete, their career comes to an end. But to not have something that you love doing so much, not having that there anymore is really hard. And I had to figure out what is my identity? Outside of doing what I love. You know, it's for me, I had the analogy of skiing was my son and everything else revolved around it. What time I woke up, what I ate, how many business deals I did, or interviews I did, or how many hours I spent in the gym. That all revolved around skiing. So every decision was actually really easy to make because skiing was always my number one priority.

Wow.

And so when I literally went to bed and woke up and the next day it was gone, and I am like, Whoa, okay, well, I have all these things. I have all these amazing opportunities. What do I do? How do I organize it? What is the priority? What is my passion? Who am I? It is a lot to take in. It took me a year and a half to really get my feet underneath me.

Really? That is it. I thought it would take way longer than that.

That was a long time for me. I move at a fast pace. You really do.

Exactly. I was going to say, like, I forgot who I was talking to. Right? Like, it's a dog year. It's like a year and a half for you. It's like 12 and a half for most people.

Literally. Yeah.

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Go to prolonlife.com/jennifercohen and use Jennifer Cohen to claim your discount and bonus. That's prolonlife.com/JenniferCohen and use code JenniferCohen. So, like, what did you, what did you figure out? Like, who are you? Like, what is your identity without having that?

Well, you know, a lot of people said, I need to slow down. You know, it's, it's not good to lead such a fast-paced life. And I realized, why is it bad? Why can't I work really hard and go after things that I want to achieve? And so I've really leaned into that. I felt like I was being pushed to stop doing things that I loved. And now I realize that, again, that's who I am. That's my personality. And I also, through therapy, I'm like, what is it about skiing? What is the feeling that I get from skiing? That makes me so happy. And I came to realize that it is the feeling that anything is possible. So when I stand on the starting gate, I look at it as this opportunity. I can do anything I set my mind to. And when you work hard at something, you can do it. And that is what I miss. So I try to find that in things that I am doing. And it is not my identity, but it is what drives me. And I am always the same person that I always have been. I am just a girl from Minnesota who likes skiing fast.

-Oh, yeah. And skiing's not my identity, but it's also like part of me. And I don't, I don't think that's a bad thing.

You know, it's so interesting because like when people would talk about you to me, like Brad or whoever, everyone said the same thing. Like she's so nice, she's so down to earth. She's a girl from Minnesota, like a normal person, you know, and like, I wonder like, how do you keep your feet like on the ground? So, and it's authentic and it's real. I can vouch for it, right? Because when you've, when you've reached such highs like that, and you've become like the best literally in the world at doing something, And, you know, you don't know any different, right? Because like you said, since you were nine years old, you were like doing all of this. You've never had like a regular life like most people in the world.

Yeah.

Right? Like, how were you able to kind of be that way? Is it just because you had great parents? I mean, it has to be more than that.

I think, you know, it's my family. Like my siblings definitely are like, I don't care how many times you've won, like I will always kick your ass, you know? Like, it's that type of, love that we have. And I think I go back to Wisconsin with my family and my cousins and my aunts and uncles and it's all the same. We're all just roasting marshmallows on the fire pit and talking about life and it's all the same. Nothing changes. I'm not any more special than anyone else just because I won a ski race. We're all the same. You know, again, I think skiing, I ski because I'm passionate about it, because I love it, not because I'm searching for fame or, you know, my priorities, I think, have always been in the right place. And so I've, I've never deviated from, like, my morals and values and who I am. And, you know, I, I don't know. All those things, I think, together have helped us, just maintain who I am.

Did you have to retire because of your injuries? Yeah.

Because I would have just kept going.

Yeah. Like that was basically like, you would have kept on going for sure, right?

Oh, yeah. Like the year I retired, I retired in February of 2019, and that was my last race as the World Championships. I'd had three surgeries that summer, and I crashed in November, and I tore my LCL, and I had three fractures in my tibia. So I was skiing on nothing, and it took me a month just to have rehab, just to get back to where I could. Ski like moderately okay. And then I had to train just to get back like that last race. And so it was, I was, I felt like I was being held together by duct tape. Like I was, you know, yeah, I was hanging on by a thread.

Legit, like literally.

Literally. So I, I knew when I crashed that last time in November, I was like, I can't, I can't do this anymore. And that was in my documentary that was kind of that moment when I'm in the hospital crying and, and, I realized then, I'm like, this is it. I can't do this anymore.

I mean, but so Lindsay has this great, it's a great documentary, by the way, on HBO. It's great. And your last book was called Rise. And the first book was called Strong as the Doo Beautiful. Yes, I think hilarious. I just wanted to say that I guess, technically, you can still ski leisurely, right? Like, you're able to do all that. But you talk a lot about your mental health and depression and anxiety. And I would imagine skiing was a really amazing outlet for that.

Yeah.

Right? Because, and also it's a great distraction. You have something to do.

I'm great at distracting myself.

Yeah. Yes, I would imagine. What do you distract yourself with now then? Just fitness stuff.

Yes.

You're a hardcore fitness person now too, right?

Mainly. I mean, I still work out as hard as I do because I need that kind of physical outlet. And again, deep dive when I'm thinking about it, when you're racing, you're also very present. There's no room for social media or what people are saying about you or what I have to do tomorrow or what business deal I have. You are so present, there is no room for anything else. Otherwise you literally could die. So for me, I miss that as well, just being able to block out all the noise. And when I'm in the gym, I have that same feeling. Like I am just focused on me working really hard and it's nice to shut. It's like my meditation almost, you know, everyone likes to do that Zen stuff and I, I, my Zen, not me, kicking my own ass, you know, that's, that's, and people, you know, again, it's like, I don't know, some people criticize me for it, but I really don't care. It's, this is what I need to do.

I mean, that's, to me, this whole, it's such nonsense. What, like, because you're, you, 'Cause I always say also, also my meditation is like running because it zens me out and I get my best ideas and I think really well.

A lot of people say that.

Right? Yeah. And they're like, no, you have to sit there on a pillow and do this whole, I'm like, Everyone's different. Everyone's different. I think it's so ridiculous to think that that should be working for everyone across the board.

Correct.

Are you able to run with the knees that you have?

Absolutely not.

No, you can't run.

I haven't run, I've run once since 2013 and it was a horrible, horrible idea.

Oh, I can only imagine.

I made it eight minutes and then I was like dragging my leg behind.

I can't even imagine. So what do you do for cardio then now?

Biking, elliptical.

And how much would you do a day?

I mean, I minimum do 30 minutes, biking, elliptical, minimum 20, and then I'll usually go an hour if I have the time. But I would rather do like 30 minutes and then do like a hot cold.

Contrast, right?

I was gonna ask then, like, an hour and. And no contrast. I think for me and, like, the inflammation that I get in my knees and my body, it's important for me to do that. So it's a time management. Like, I do as much as I can with the time I have.

I was gonna say, so, like, how much time are you dedicating to. Okay, I want to know all of that stuff. I want to know, like, exactly what your. How your workout, because this is, like, now this is what I like to do. Right? So do you, like, how much you're working out? Like, what is your daily regimen now? And then, but before you tell me your daily regimen, now I want to work chronologically. You said what you were doing when you were 12.

Okay.

Then when you were like hardcore, like in the midst of like really in it.

Yeah.

What was the day in the life? Like how much were you training? What were you doing? Were you working on balance? Were you working on like hand eye coordination? Like I love all this. Have you watched Formula One?

The, you know, these, I know those guys so well. I don't want to watch.

You don't want to watch.

It's like going to ruin me. Yeah. I'm like, I'm the only person in the United States that's like watched Formula One since forever. But I, you know, I've watched like, what's good for people to understand the drivers and like why it's so difficult.

Yes.

You know, the complexities with the team and, and it's, it's very, it's very interesting. But yeah, if you're talking about like me in my prime, I was doing three workout sessions a day. I would work out before breakfast.

Um, which is what time like, I need the details.

Okay. Details. So I would work out. Usually eight to nine cardio, and then I would have breakfast.

What kind of cardio that would you do?

Usually biking, usually interval biking so that I could get my metabolism going. It was more of like a, like a hit, you know, workout.

Hit training for an hour.

Yeah.

Okay.

But not, you know, I was, it was, all of my cardio workouts were very controlled. My heart rates. So, you know, I did, like, steady States. So, you know, you're going five minute intervals at 150 to 155. Beats per minute or, you know, I was doing threshold workouts where it's a shorter time, like two to three minutes at, you know, 170 to 180, you know, I, it was very, very specific and very specific reasons, you know, in ski racing, you're only actually skiing for about two minutes.

Yeah.

But you have to also sustain that type of endurance for the whole winter. So we obviously, you know, you, you, you train for three to four minutes, you know, that same pace so you can maintain that endurance throughout the season. So, yeah, cardio in the morning for an hour, usually breakfast, you know, what

would you eat for breakfast?

Usually eggs, some sort of, you know, vegetable omelet, whatever, and fat, like almond butter and a banana as well, something like that. Now I do a lot of protein shakes after my workout. I still love working out in the morning.

Okay.

But protein shake right after. Then I would take a little break. I would do weightlifting. Usually two hours of weightlifting at least, or else athletic training. So I'd be on the track doing, agilities, sprints, hill sprints, sled pushes, like

kind of all that functional stuff.

Yeah. All that functional fitness. So again, it would rotate between strength and, and functional fitness. And then I would have another snack break, a nap, and then I would do another afternoon cardio session. And then after dinner, either I have a protein shake and massage, or I would have dinner and then a massage.

And what would you have for dinner?

Protein. I tried not to have carbs at night, so I would always have carbs in the afternoon. In the morning, sometimes I had oatmeal as well. But... Wow.

Okay, so how about fruit? Were you a fruit person, though? Not really. That was never your thing.

I don't know. I like the bananas and almond butter thing. But it's not really my thing.

So then how would you like fruits and vegetables? I know, well, now do you eat the... But look, I mean, listen, you're still like in amazing shape. I mean, it's like you're probably not doing the three meals.

I'm definitely not as regimented.

I mean, why would you be, right? But wait a second, so I'm like so fascinated with this. So then you do these three workouts a day, then you're eating very precisely. So that even then, like you can't go out for dinners, you can't do anything because it has to be...

I do sometimes, but only on the weekends. In the prime. Yeah, but okay, seven days, there's seven days a week, obviously. So I would do those three sessions probably Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, half day, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, half day, Sunday off.

Did you ever get tired? Like, was your body tired?

Like, I had built up, like, you work out your whole life and you build into that. Like, you don't just wake up one day and say, I'm gonna do three sessions today.

No, of course not.

But like, you get that there's a physical in endurance level, you're able to sustain that type of working out. I think there was a point in which I was working out too much.

Yeah.

But I was just winning all the time. So I was like, why am I changing my routine if it's working? But then obviously I got injured then and I had to change everything I did.

So when you get injured, are you not able, like when you broke your ankle, I mean, that's a massive injury. How long does that take you out for months, right?

It was like six weeks.

That's it.

I mean, I'm in a ski boot, so it's kind of like a cast.

It's kind of, yeah, you're right. So you can get away with it a little bit more.

I like the push limits. It's always a negotiation.

This is amazing. This is like the part that I find fascinating.

I go into a doctor's office and like, okay, you tell me eight weeks, I tell you six weeks. You know, like that's, we go back and forth and every doctor knows that I'm going to push, push the limits. But I always know, like, I know my body well enough and I also know medicine well enough. I can read. If you ever get hurt, I'll read your MRI.

Really?

I know what I'm talking about. Like, I don't just, you know, blindly say, you know, I don't care what you say. I'm going to come back faster. Yeah. Yeah. I know exactly what I'm doing, and. And I will read the MRIs, and I'll. I'll know I've made mistakes in my life, and I will not make that mistake again.

Because, you know, it's just saying, like, God, like, you know, you're very lucky because you did. As much as you've gotten hurt. Nothing that was catastrophic, like going that fast.

Yeah, I mean, people have been paralyzed. People have lost their legs. I've seen it many times.

And like nothing like that, thankfully, has ever happened to you.

That's my perspective. It could always be worse.

That's a great mindset.

No matter how bad of a day you're having, it can always be worse.

That's a great mindset to have. And you really think this way all the time?

Yeah, I got that perspective from my mother. She had a stroke when she gave birth to me, and She was disabled with her ankle, so she couldn't, her balance was really bad, so she couldn't run. She never skied with me. Like, she, she really struggled physically. And, you know, she was brilliant. She's a lawyer. But, you know, she, because she couldn't do those physical things with us, you know, that didn't stop her from trying. And it also didn't stop her from being positive. She was always positive. And so, you know, when I get injured, I'm like, well, if I have surgery, if I work hard, I can come back. My mom doesn't have that luxury. So I owe my mother and myself to push myself to get back.

See, I love that. I love your attitude and your mindset. And what it's also like, it's because it's real, right? Like, this is like, no, you're, you're like a living proof of it. Like, you actually live it. You're not just saying these words. Like, a lot of people, like, motivational people, like, oh, yeah, just, they've never done a damn thing in their life. Right. But you actually have. I mean. Where did the depression and anxiety kind of start coming in? At what age? And it does not sound to me, I do not know you that well, but it sounds like you already have trained your brain to be very positive and to look at the glass half full. So what was kind of happening that that was...

It was when I was a teenager, I was living in Park City by myself when I was 16 years old, and it was really hard. I had no support, really, and I was really depressed. I was just pretty lost. And my depression ebbed and flowed in my career. There are times when no matter how successful I was, I felt extremely alone. Also, after so many injuries, sitting at home in your bed by yourself in pain, it's not a great place to be. So I think I've, again, learned different coping mechanisms. And when I skied, skiing was an outlet for me. Like, I find so much joy in skiing also because eventually, when I was older, I used it as a crutch. You know, that was like my, that was me dealing with everything that I had going on. Like, any personal. The reason why I always still was successful despite all the that was happening around me is because I I internalized it. I used it as fuel. And then when I skied, I let it all out.

Right.

So that was my therapy.

Totally. And then what is, and now is the therapy. And then do you feel like the anxiety has subsided because it sounds more circumstantial based on where you were in your life?

I think it was pretty circumstantial. But again, like it ebbs and flows. And I think it's always, for me, I try to just have a balance.

Yeah.

You know, I, I've been, I've journaled. Since I was nine, and it's just a wave. I didn't have anyone, really, you know, especially when I was on the road. So, yeah, it's like that was how I balanced everything, and I still do it. And so I think it's. Everyone finds their, you know, their way of managing themselves, and so I've had different escapes in my life, but now I feel like I'm in a good place where I really. I'm very. I'm pretty balanced, you know, even though. Like if I, if my mother had died and I wasn't in the place that I was, I don't know if I'd be functioning, right? You know, so I, I'm happy with, you know, what I've learned in my life to get me to this place where I'm okay.

And what, like, what is the, where are, like, where are you now? Like, I mean, I don't mean, I don't mean like physically, but I mean, you know, you, you know, you wrote, you write the books, you start a production company, you invest in businesses, you're very entrepreneurial with the goggles. And what else do you have? The goggles.

I have my ski line.

Ski line.

Yeah, I'm now an advisor to a sports fund actually with Avenue Capital. So there's like a lot of things that I'm investing in.

That's amazing.

Yeah, I'm really excited about it. Like Michael Strahan and Candace Parker and Steph Curry.

That's a great, that's great.

Yeah, really excited.

Are you going to be doing like

the sports vertical, I guess, of just, we're solely sports. So Avenue is like, you know, such a successful group and we're just specifically on a sports fund.

Wow. So does that mean all investments that you do will go throughout Avenue or.

Sure.

Yeah.

Well, at least for the sports side.

Yeah. For the sports side.

I still will have my individual, you know, investments. Like I invested in LAFC and Real Salt Lake.

And I saw that. That's so cool. I love that.

I love investing in women.

I love, you're also a great, I mean, like legitimately a great role model for women, right? Because like I said, like there's so, especially like here and with social media. And there's so many people who are posers or like they say these, they, they talk a lot, they give a lot of advice, but they've never lived it, worked it, done it.

I think it's hard for kids is also decipher, you know, what that means. And, and there's so much disinformation, and Instagram is not reality. And most people, you know, even, like, the last couple days, you know, I mean, like, oh, you're everywhere. You're doing everything. You're so, you know, you live such I'm like, I'm fucking tired.

Yeah, exactly.

You know, like, I'm so tired. I've been traveling nonstop and I love it, but it's also not glamorous. You know, it's, I'm trying to get from point A to point B as fast as I can to get to something else. And I love that. I love that hustle, but it is not glamorous and Instagram is not real. And so I don't envy kids these days because it is a very hard world.

It's terrible. And especially even just talk about mental health, right? Like the mental health has gone up.

Like, for me as an adult to like mentally be okay reading the comments that come on my feed and especially terrible for kids, that's come, those bullies are coming from their inner circle. I at least can pretend that's some, you know, somebody living in their mother's basement, you know, 100%, you know, it's easy for me to pretend, but For kids, like, no, these are, that's actually my classmate that I thought I was friends with. 100%.

It's really, really awful and it's horrible. I, I, do you spend, do you spend a lot of time on social media though or not really?

I try not to. I mean, I can't say that I'm immune to it. I definitely have a lot thicker skin that I used to. I, I have to. But, you know, I, I try to use my platform in a positive way. You know, I try to show people like how hard I'm working and what you can do. And, you know, with my injuries, you know, there's, I get so many messages. Especially from teenagers who are in high school or college sports, and they've blown their knee out, and they're asking me for advice or help, and even professional athletes that are asking me for help. And that's what I love. I think social media can connect you in amazing ways. It's not all about people hating you, but sometimes those are the only comments that you see. And it's hard to shut that out of your mind as well.

I agree. It's always that way. You could have a million positive, but

you just see the one.

You just see that one negative, and that can just spiral you out of control.

I have like a filter on like things that if people say, I don't see it.

Could you, how do you filter out just negative comments?

It's just keywords. You have like a keyword filter.

Really?

Yeah.

I didn't know you were able to do that. Oh my God.

Get into that.

I know. I had no idea. I should really kind of, can you tell me afterwards how to do that? Show me.

I will.

I had no idea.

Yeah.

That would be so helpful.

People swear they say like, I hope you die.

Like that's, but, but also some of this is this nonsense. Like these are people most of the time.

There's some pretty fuck, there's pretty messed up people out there.

It's, that's, that, it's actually dangerous more than anything. Like I find like you have to be super, super careful because now people are so much more, you're easier, like

it's easier to, that's why I have a defense dog.

You what?

I have a defense dog.

You do? Yeah.

I just, I feel safer. Because, like, with social media and, like, everyone knows where you are, and, like, it's just. I. I feel safer.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

I love that.

Yeah.

I didn't know this. Oh, wait, so she's not here.

I don't feel threatened.

You don't feel. I'm glad. I don't. I I don't. I don't think that.

I think that you could probably cuddle with you.

Okay. I was gonna say, but I feel, like, faith that you could probably, like. Like, demolish me yourself, because, like, I. But. Okay, but what's. Okay, what's your routine now that you said, like, you. So you don't, you're not as obviously as vigorous as you were, but you work out every morning for how, it was your schedule.

Not every morning, but I mean, it's like, depends on travel. Like, for example, this morning, how long

are you away now, this time?

This, in this location, I'm here for two and a half days.

Okay.

I go to another location for two days, another location for two days, and then I'm home. God, Christmas, I'm so excited.

Oh my gosh, that's crazy. It's a schedule.

Yeah, but it's good. I mean, like, I'm gonna see my dad on, on the weekend, so that'll be nice or on Monday. Forget what day of the week it is. Uh, get to see some kids. I'm going to stop by this, the ski school and say hi to some kids. It'll be good. But, but like for example, this morning, so I woke up at 7:30, I was on the bike by eight. I did 40 minutes of cardio. I did 10 minutes of sauna. I jumped in the pool, which is not heated. It's really, really cold.

Like a cold plunge then. Basically.

Basically.

Yeah.

And then I took a shower and was on a, on a board call at nine o'clock. I had hair and makeup come at 10:15. I was on the board call while I was finishing hair and makeup. I left at 11 o'clock, went to my first TV show, and then I had another podcast, and then I had you.

What podcast did you do before me?

Dwayne Wade.

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Trust me, you'll be happy you did. Do you do the red light? Do you believe in the red light for, like, a. Like a.

What red light?

Like, in general, infrared.

Like, no, just like red light therapy.

Like, would you ever, you know, I. Like, I have a bad. Whatever. Ultra violent. No, just like a red light. Like, I guess you would call it,

well, I have like an infrared light set, like sauna, that those, you know, yeah, that's infrared. Yeah, but I'm talking about a red

light for your face. Like, do you ever do any red light for injuries, for inflammation? Well, listen, I think there are some

strong enough lasers or red lights, however you want to call them, that can stimulate healing.

Yeah.

Is it going to fix you? Absolutely not. No, they're not going to fix you. No, it's going to make it feel slightly better, maybe. Is it worth it?

Probably not.

Probably not. Right. Like, if, normally, if, if you have a problem, like, if you, if you have pain somewhere, it's usually coming from somewhere else. So, and normally, I would say most people can't figure out what, where that is, where it's coming from. So you need to go to, that's a hard thing. I can't even recommend somebody or something because most people won't be able to figure it out. But chiropractors are pretty good at figuring it out, like when my rib goes out. Yeah. It's because my right hip is too tight. It's pulling me. Yes.

So, you know, but that to me is it.

I agree with you, but you have to be, you have to go to someone who's really good and knowledgeable.

And that's the really hard part. So sometimes I just say, you know, manage it the best you can because your, your body will adapt unless you can really dig in and do the

therapy to get it back.

You're better off just kind of adapting to the way it is. Unless it's pain, it's super painful. But like when my ribs go out, it's really painful. So I have to figure it out. That's really painful. Did you ever get sciatica?

No.

You ever get that? Do you prefer sauna or the cold plunge? What do you think is a better, I guess like a more like a better modality if you have to pick one or the other? Well, so you're not supposed to do

cold

plunges after you weight lift. Right, right. Cause it doesn't, it doesn't, it stops you. So when you, you're actually tearing your muscles. Yeah, I thought it also stops your bleeding. So it restricts your, your vein. So like you're not, you're not able to recover, you're not able to repair.

So it's like you're not building anymore. It stops. Okay, wait, wait, wait. Say that again because that's interesting because I want to make that into a,

a clip for people because I'm not a doctor. So, no, but you're probably no more than most doctors, by the way. But say that again. So if you, this is what my trainer told me and I believe everything he says. Um, but if you go into a cold plunge after you weight lift, it's, it's, When you weightlift, your muscles are being torn apart. You're actually tearing your muscle and then

it rebuilds on top of itself to make it even stronger. So if you jump into a cold plunge right after, you're stopping not only the tearing, it's bleeding, your muscles bleeding, it's not going to be able to repair itself.

It's not going to be better than what it was. It's going to stop the healing.

So normally you should get in a

cold plunge, you know, like After cardio, cardio is fine. You're not building anything besides cardiovascular strength.

Totally fine to jump in the cold plunge. The sauna is good, but sometimes like for me, if I jump into the

sauna without the cold plunge, I'll get too inflamed.

Really?

Yeah.

If you jump into the sauna without the cold play. Yeah.

So I'm a little bit odd in the, in that with all my surgeries, when I go into a hot tub, when I go into a sauna, my circulation gets going and then my knee starts to blow up. Wow. So I have to be really conscious of how long I'm in there and make sure I get into the cold plunge after. My body is a constant, it's a job to work really hard just to maintain it.

And part of the reason, not only

for my mental sanity, do I go into the gym, but I also have to to not hurt. after cardio. Cardio's fine. You're not building anything besides cardiovascular strength. Totally fine. To jump in the cold plunge. The sauna is good, but sometimes, like, for me, if I jump into the sauna without the cold plunge, I'll get too inflamed.

Really? Yeah. If you jump into the sauna without the cold plunge?

Yeah. So I'm a little bit odd in the. In that with all my surgeries, when I go into a hot tub, when I go into a sauna, I'm not doing the posterior chain work. It's all correlated and every cause has an effect. And when you understand your body better through working out, through therapy, you can self-heal yourself in a lot of ways. You can figure out how to make things better on your own without therapy. And I have to do that because I don't have access all the time to therapists anymore. But it's something that you learn. I didn't just wake up and I am a professional athlete, so I must

know what I am dealing with. A lot of professional athletes do not know. They could not tell you why something hurts or I have back pain and they have no idea that it is coming from their hip flexors. There are a lot of athletes that do not know.

It is something that you can learn. It is not just professional athletes. Everyone can learn more about their body and being more in tune with it and feel better because you understand it better. Is there anything that you can tell us? That you found that works really well, that maybe is not so mainstream, like a sauna or a cold plunge, that it's a different modality that like another type of, honestly, because when you sit, like I sit a lot, I'm in planes a lot, you know, most people sit a lot in the office. Any type of like chest stretching, like open your thoracic, that changed my life. Because I'm always, and I'm hunched up, you know, my hip flexors. So if I can do like, you know, lunge stretching with like, my, you know, my arms, like getting like my, my, I don't know, lats, my lats, my lats, my chest, like my stretching my chest helps me so much. Really? Which is, I honestly never would have thought of that. But I have this amazing therapist, Lorenzo,

and he He's like a chiropractic, he's a freaking magician. But anyways, most of my problems come because my chest and hip flexors are too tight. Are too tight. So like stretching, it's not like muscular stretching.

It's like your... Mobility. Mobility. Yeah. It's mobility stretching. Do you believe in supplements? Do you take anything like collagen or omega threes or... I feel like I'm so broken that that's just not gonna help. Duct tape my knee. Yeah. I mean, I do still take like collagen and protein powder and I, I do B12 and like vitamin D3 just because in the winter I don't see the sun enough. But nothing like, nothing more than that. I could get more into it, but I honestly, and a lot of people, a lot of studies, a lot of doctors tell me that it does help, but I honestly just don't think it does. Yeah. You know what's so interesting? I find, cuz I find that the biohacking group people, I speak to so many of these people and. They'll tell you 97 things that they do in their morning routine where it's such a long list where it's practically dinnertime by the time they finish their morning routine. People don't have that kind of time. I mean, that's what I'm saying. It's so unrealistic. But the people who are actually like

you, let's say, they don't buy into this. They don't believe in that. A lot of it's like a moneymaker, really. You know what I mean?

It's the basics that really work. Everyone wants to be young.

Everyone wants to be young.

Exactly. There's a lot of money to be made. People want to profit and use you for that. And honestly, Honestly, it's like you gotta live your life. What? There's a balance, you know, take care of yourself. Yes. Eat right, you know, do the things you can do, but also like have some ice cream. Do you eat ice cream? Yeah. You do? Yeah. Like how often are you eating ice cream? Like my friends for my birthday, they

Instacarted me like eight cans, containers of Ben Jerry's. Did you eat them all? Not all of them. But like, I sit down, you know, and I'm like, I have a really bad day and I'll watch Law and Order and I'll watch a lot of Law and Order. Yeah, it was something like my family always did together. It's like both my parents were lawyers and the only thing we ever did was Law and Order Saturday Night Live. And for some reason, like it makes me feel better.

Right.

Like Olivia Benson, Mariska, now that we're

friends, like it literally makes me extremely happy. Wow. But like she makes me feel better. That is amazing. My family would watch gold, me and my sister, my mom, my dad never watched it, but golden girls. And it's because of that, it's like it's so nostalgic.

If I see it on TV now, I still like it makes me feel so much better. Yeah, yes, exactly. Yeah.

So you're not someone who's like, I'm a vegan, I won't eat this. I'm like an intermittent faster.

Balance, you know, like are you an intermittent faster?

No. Okay, good. No, thank you. I, the only thing on this podcast isn't, the only thing I do, I would highly recommend, like I did the, the glucose testing. I did a couple of that just to like see, you know, what my, what my body was reacting to. One thing that I recommend not doing is eating any food on a plane ever. Well, because of the, of the high sodium or is it, I don't know what they're putting in it, but it is, it did not sit well with me. My, that is like, I could eat three gallons of ice cream and it wouldn't spike my insulin as much as like, anything I ate on an airplane.

Really? Like anything? So, like, I don't know what they're putting in it. I don't know. Any airline does. I'm not naming any. Like, it was anything that I touched. And I don't know. Some people say it's because it's high altitude, which I think is totally BS. I think it's mainly just there's preservatives and sugars and because they want it to taste good, of course, all these extra things. And my insulin just spiked so high.

So I do not eat on planes.

I always pack my own food that I carry with me.

Even if it's a short flight, I'll

have some almonds, but I never eat on planes.

That's a great tip, actually. That's a really great tip. Lots of water.

Yeah.

And also, because you can feel it, right? Like, you feel when you eat that. I feel so bad. Like, if I am, if something happens and I don't have my food and

I'm starving and I have to eat something, I feel horrible. Yeah.

No, I totally agree. It's, it's, and it's like you feel horrible for, like, days after, too.

Yeah.

It's not just, like, for, like, an hour. And my knee, like, my knees swells, you know?

My knee is like, it's kind of

like a little like health meter. I was gonna say it must be right. Like, that's crazy. I travel too much. Like any of the, any of the things. Drink too much wine. It's just, it's like, do you drink alcohol often? Not often. Only tequila. Lobos. Oh yeah. Okay, right. Only tequila. That's right. Yeah. What's it called? Lobos.

Yeah.

And I'm an investor. You are?

Mm-.

Okay. it Is a premium tequila?

It's premium. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they have, you know, Mezcal and Anjeo, extra Anjeo, Hoven Reposado. See, if I, I'm not a drinker,

but if I do drink, that's the only thing I'll drink. It doesn't make me swell. I checked my insulin. Like, it's the only thing that doesn't spike me.

It used to be a really heavy gin and tonic or gin and ginger ale. And gin, I love gin, but it's a pretty big depressant.

More than like vodka.

Yeah.

Really? Vodka is just alcohol and water. And so what is gin? Isn't that the same? I mean...

I don't know. It's a longer fermentation and there's also

more sugar in it. So that's why it becomes more of a depressant. I think so.

I'm pretty sure.

Really? To my knowledge.

I didn't know.

How about whiskey?

I know nothing about alcohol. I listen to this podcast, but I might have to... I don't know about whiskey, but I'm 99% sure that's accurate.

Really?

Okay.

So you eat every meal. So you eat your breakfast, your lunch, your dinner.

You eat meat, you eat chicken, you eat everything. I eat vegan. I have beyond meat. I have just eggs. I have a balance.

Like, I'm not, I'm not crazy about the food. No. Were you ever, when you were in

your prime, prime training, like, did you ever get body issues or body image issues? Yeah, sure. I, I, when I won the Olympics,

I, you know, I was on, I started to be on, like, red carpets for things, and I'm like, I look around me and like, I don't look like anyone else here. And, you know, I would go do fittings and they're like, yeah, this sample

size doesn't fit you. And I'm like, okay, what do I do?

Can I wear something?

Like, you know, it was definitely apparent

that I wasn't the norm and I

definitely had some body image issues after

that, but it was only like two-year stint and I just was like, F it, I'm good.

How did you get over it, though? That's like one thing that I would think. I lost the World Cup title by

three points and I got over it real quick. Really?

Yeah.

So do you think that was a,

do you think that affected your really? I didn't eat as much as I should have and I just, I was more conscious of the way I looked instead of just working as hard as I could.

And I definitely think it had an effect, especially on the beginning half of my season. And I lost by three points and, and it was a tough pill to swallow, but I, I got over it pretty quick. And then ever since then, you're like, I'm not doing it anymore. I'm not, you know, my body has a purpose and I want to win. And, you know, if I don't look the same, that's fine. You know, it's so interesting to hear you say that because I remember, like, the, like, the things that, you know, you kind of hear in the back is like, you were, like, you were known to be, like, the hottest, like, girl athlete.

You don't, you're looking at me like, I'm crazy. You were like, don't you, you must

know, you must have heard this. You were like, Sports Illustrated swimsuit. You did a maximum stuff. I'm also like, like, I don't know.

I'm not. I don't have, like, a. You never heard this before?

This could be the first time you're hearing this. No, I don't view myself in that way, but, okay, I'm happy to be, like, I'm happy that, you know, a strong athlete is in, like, swimsuit issue, because I think that's important. 100 agree with you, but I don't

look at myself as, like, ooh, but

you don't remember, like, maybe it just goes in the zai.

You know, you hear these things and

it's because it's you, you don't realize it's you. You know what I mean? It's like that was you. That's you.

But that's how it's interesting when you hear girls like yourself who had a bot, like who had that body image or you had that like little bit of that stint of insecurity with how you looked when you're obviously so beautiful. I mean, you really are. And that's- Tell an eye of the beholder. It's not obvious. Yeah, but that, but I'm telling you, like that's like, that was like the,

you were like the hot, like super hot, Girl athlete. You don't remember this? No. But like, am I, this is also the problem.

Am I, like, do you know me

more for that or do you know me for winning? I know, I, personally, I remember you for being like the, like a badass. Like if there's going to be a

real female badass, it would be you.

Like, that's what I remember. This girl was like, fear, like, that's

how I remember her. I can accept that. Fearless. I accept that. Resilient. Because I remember you just kept on coming back for more, more, more, like you would get hurt. Like I thought, wow, this if talk about a role model for women and for girls and for young girls, this is like, there's no one better. Because like you would show like, you know, it doesn't matter. Like if you this if you had if you got knocked down, you got injured, you got hurt, you got right back up. And not only did you get back

up, you proved that you can still

be a you can still win, you can still do all these things. Yeah, like to me, That's what makes

you legendary in my mind, because no, it's the truth. And so, like, I have a little girl, and funnily enough, I think that

you're on, there's this app called, actually, you have to get involved in this app now. It's called Legends. And it's, oh my, you should be, I'm not even joking, you're perfect. The app is basically a confidence app for kids.

No way.

Yeah, and you do five minutes, of these very specific training sessions, and it helps build children's confidence at a young age, because it starts when you're young. Yeah, of course. And they have all the best, like the people from Scholastic and all these people who help put it together. And they start them by giving people these very powerful stories of people, like role models, like they did a Michael Jordan one, I really believe that you are, you are one of them. Well, I honestly, I want to, like, get in touch with them. No, I have my Foundation. Like, our purpose is to help underserved girls and, like, Empower them through scholarships and programs. So I've been trying to find a way to build a community of girls and Empower them, and I want to. Yeah, I'm gonna get it. I want this app. I'm telling you, like, you would be a perfect person to be partnered with them because. With your foundation, especially because you are like, like, like you are the legend that they are talking about. But like, I will tell you, because like my little girl, she's eight years old, and it gives her like she wants to be a dancer, like, you know, she's eight years old.

And she hears these stories from women and girls who've gone after their dreams and like actually like accomplish them and it changes It changes their their mindset. It changes their brains and she believes now that she can be a dancer

or she can perspective. It's all perspective. Yeah, I'm gonna get you in touch with them.

Okay.

I really wanna do that. No, I'm not to be on it, but like I wanna give that to my girls. You should. How big? So can you just tell 'em? I know it's probably like I'm gonna wrap this right after this, but I

wanna hear about your foundation 'cause I think it's a really beautiful thing that you're doing. Thanks. Well, we have scholarships and empowerment programs for underserved girls. And we've given over a million dollars in scholarships. Wow. I'm at every camp. So we have these like weekend camps where we have a curriculum, our own curriculum. We just developed our own curriculum and we just basically teach them about grit and how like to be confident and build good friendships. And we'll also talk a little bit about like financial literacy and cyberbullying, like just giving them the tools to be able to navigate life and Tell them that they can. You would not believe how many kids that I have spoken to where actually their parents told them they will never be good at something.

And they quit. They will quit soccer because one person told them an off-handed comment, like they are not good at it.

Totally. And they are so sensitive, and especially in this world with social media, like one little comment and they are done. And so I am trying to give

them the tools to be able to to reframe that negativity and, you know, allow themselves to believe in, in, in what they're doing and who they are. So I do not know. It is more than just scholarship. It is really about empowerment. What would be the one tip you would tell young girls, young people who have self-doubt, that they did not have a dad like yours who said, you, know what? Let us do this. Let us write out a 10-year plan. Well, my dad was not always there. And there are a lot of people that told me that I could not do it. And if you do not believe in yourself, no one else will. So you have to believe in what you are doing. It is easier said than done, but if you truly want something, then you have to believe in it and you have to go after it, which means working hard. A lot of kids, especially kids, expect that when they say they want to be something, it is going to be manifested and magically appear. Nothing in life is easy. We just have to work hard to get to where we want to go.

If we follow and get back up, I love them. And that's it. I love that. Thank you. My God, Lindsay, I'm so happy that you came on this podcast. No, seriously, I'm so glad we got introduced to each other. I really am like, I love, I

think you're so inspirational in a, like, really, I really do for old women too. I think it's amazing because you are like, you're just such a great role model for someone who says they're going

to do something, follows through, does it, shows people that they can. I really think like, you're just You should be very proud of yourself. I'm serious. It's amazing. I'm thankful that I had a good family teaching me. Yeah, but you know what? True, but you really are super inspirational. And I've never really, I wouldn't say that if I didn't believe, I'm not just saying that because you're sitting on this podcast. I don't think you're the kind of person that would say that. I wouldn't, I wouldn't at all. At all. So I appreciate it. Thank you. No, it's amazing. Guys, you have to watch the HBO. I love all those kind of documentaries, but yours is really great. Her book is Rise.

Of course, the other one, Strong is a New Beautiful and the Strongest.

We should do like a buy them in bulk. We should buy them together.

Who's your publisher? Harper Collins. Okay, mine was Random House, but that is hilarious. That's really funny. And you know what I would always tell people? Oh, sorry. Okay, guys, so get her books and we'll check you out later. Oh, also on social media. What is your handle? It's just my name, Lindsay Vaughn. Or Lindsay Vaughn Foundation. Oh, yes. The foundation, which is amazing.

Thank you. With an E. Oh, with E. That's

true, because I always would, I spelled it with an A and I couldn't, I got screwed up. It's a thing. It's with an E. It's an E, I know. And two Ns, right? Yes, V-O-N-N. Good. Thank you. Thank you.