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Listen to the podcast here:

Team First with Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, and Tisha Hoch

This is the episode we have all been waiting for with powerhouse soccer legends: Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Tisha Hoch.

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I literally could not be more thrilled about this episode for so many reasons. The first reason is that I had the opportunity to meet, greet and thank these three women who have had such a profound impact on my life and also on the game of soccer. This also, number two, was a moment where my worlds collided, my former soccer career, I was a former Division-I college soccer player, and so I have that life coming in and merging with my entrepreneurial life. It was such a fun moment. The third thing is that we are releasing this episode at one of the most critical, one of the most important times in women’s soccer history as we are heading in to the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

The US Team is obviously gunning for another championship, which all would not be possible if it weren’t for these three women. This momentum started with these three women. Also the US Team is looking to close the gender pay gap, expand the fan base worldwide and domestically, and also elevate soccer as a sport in this country as a whole. I am so thrilled. I think this could not have come out at a better time, which was very well-planned out. I wanted to give you a little context for what this actually looked like on my end. I actually just got back from Atlanta where we were recording this episode and I am bowled over by the amount of support that I’ve received from family, from my friends, strangers that have reached out to me and just fans of the game.

I want you to know that I wouldn’t be doing this episode or having this interview if it wasn’t for you. I truly want to thank you for being there, for supporting me, for getting excited alongside me. It’s been such a fun journey. If you’re new to the show, if you’re new here, I want to welcome you into our Unbecoming Community. To continue this conversation and the conversations that we have on a weekly basis, I would love to invite you to join us over at the Unbecoming Community, which you can find online at www.UnbecomingPodcast.com/community. We are a fun, ferocious bunch of entrepreneurs and passionate leaders, people who want to really make their mark on the world. The premise of this show specifically is to create what you want by being more of who you are.

I talk a lot about unbecoming being the process of releasing the judgments, expectations, beliefs that you have that are holding you back from really living that fulfilling, meaningful life that you were born to lead. This interview could not be more applicable, more relevant in that way. Often, we struggle to embrace who we really are for fear of failing or looking stupid, when in reality the only way to fail or look stupid is not to do it at all. The best way to succeed or to excel in your sport, your career, your health, your relationships is to actually, I’m not going to give away any answers. I’m going to leave that to the pros, to the experts that I am talking to on this show: Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Tisha Venturini Hoch.

First, I’m going to go ahead and set the scene. I arrived in Atlanta, I headed over to the Airbnb with my assistant and my videographer to capture the moment to make sure that this was going to be a productive and an amazing experience, and that it was. I walk up to the house and their manager, Cori, who I absolutely adore, she has just been so helpful. She opens the door and we hugged and said, “It’s so great to meet you.” Then I see somebody sitting on the couch and she was on her phone, turns around, stands up and says, “Hi, I’m Mia.” I want to go like, “I know who you are.” I think we all know who you are. It was a testament to how humble she is. Thankfully, what came out of my mouth next was not anything like what I’ve just said, “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Phoebe and I’m really excited for today.”

Then from there I scoured the house for a great place to record this episode. If you have not yet seen our trailer video for this episode, go over to my Facebook or You can find it at UnbecomingPodcast.com/teamfirst. I went downstairs, we’re recording it in this family room and I have all the microphones set up in a very casual setting. The three of them come downstairs and they are so nice. I can’t get over. I can’t explain to you how nice and normal and willing and friendly they were. They sat down and were like, “Let’s get this thing going. Are these rolling? Are we on?” I kept saying in my head, “I’ve got to make sure I hit record,” because this is a moment for me where normally I try to play it a little bit cool. In this instance, I couldn’t help it. I have watched these women on TV. I’ve watched them change the course of the game. I have watched them be role models, not just for myself but for young women, young athletes all across the world. Sitting right across from them was such an incredible moment.

After the episode was finished, I was in a hurry to pack everything up and they just said, “Take your time. No problem.” I had Kristine Lilly, who actually recorded a video for my sister who at the time was pregnant and would have flown down for the episode because she loves Kristine Lilly and Tisha. I got them all gifts and they couldn’t have been truly more grateful that I took the time to get them something. My sister was always like, “Why do people get famous people gifts?” I had to. I wanted to get them something that was heartfelt, something they might enjoy and something for me that represented where I’m coming from and how much this interview meant to me. They get thousands upon thousands of interviews. For them to take the time, this episode went for about 55 minutes, which is so generous for them to give that much time to me and to us. I wanted to reciprocate and give them a token of our appreciation as a community because I want them to know that we are so grateful for their time. What they shared on this episode is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. If you’re like me, you will be very inspired by their teamwork, their mentality, the way that they show up as humans now as moms, as former athletes, as current athletes and the way that they are continuing their legacy with their soccer academy called TeamFirst.

It’s really important for me and also for you that I introduced each player specifically in the very highly unlikely event that you don’t know who they are. I’m going to start off with Mia Hamm. She is one of the world’s best soccer players of all time. Some would argue the best with 158 goals and 144 assists. If you’re not a soccer player, that number might not mean anything to you. If you are an athlete and especially a soccer player, you will know how difficult that is or will ever be to beat. She is the most prolific gold score ever having represented her country, the US, 275 times since making the US national team at age of fifteen. I can’t actually get over that. I would ask you, what were you doing at age fifteen? I was certainly not on the national team at that point. As a seventeen-year national team veteran, which is unheard of, Mia played in three Olympic Games and four World Cups on, which is so impressive.

Kristine Lilly is the most decorated women’s soccer player of all time with 352 caps. If you don’t know what a cap means, that just means an appearance in a game. That means she actually showed up, played in a game. She has the most international appearances in the history of the sport for men or women. That is awesome. She scored 130 goals and had 105 assists since making the US national team at age sixteen. As a 23-year national team veteran, Kristine played in three Olympic Games and five World Cups. She is also the author of the book, Powerhouse: 13 Teamwork Tactics that Build Excellence and Unrivaled Success. The third one, Tisha Venturini Hoch is perhaps the winningest player in the history of women’s soccer. She scored 44 goals and represented her country 132 times since making the US national team. As a nine-year national team veteran, Tisha played in one Olympic game and two World Cups. She is an absolute. She is so much fun. Her enthusiasm is contagious as it is for all three of them.

Now that you know how amazing they are, you’ll probably understand why I sound a little nervous at first because the truth is I was. It was terrifying. However, they put me right at ease. I felt so comfortable, so welcome, so heard. That is important, especially as a podcaster going in. It’s on both sides. It’s the part of you that wants to do a great job and then there’s the other part of you that wants to represent yourself and them well. The reason I felt so comfortable wasn’t because I came in with all this confidence. I was overly prepared, which is a great thing, but I don’t want to discount to how comfortable they made me feel. They made me feel like I deserve to be in the room and I did and I do, and they deserve to be in the room too. It seemed like four good friends getting back together and having an amazing conversation.

I have included a little recap and a summary after the episode is finished with a really good prize or an invitation. Be sure to stick around to the end of the episode, read the entire thing. If you’re like me, you won’t be able to stop reading. I’ve actually read this episode several times and get something new out of it each time. Without further ado, let’s go ahead and jump in to this episode with Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Tisha Venturini Hoch.

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I can’t tell you how much you have impacted my career. I’m a former soccer player as well. What I have seen and experienced through the lens of you has been so amazing what you’ve done for the game. I’m proud, honored and a little nervous. To be very honest with you, I feel like my face is flushed. I know you guys are very warm and welcoming, that’s nice. To give people context before we jump into where you were in terms of your careers and where you are, I want to give our audience a little bit more context going back to the beginning. If you had to sum up your childhood in a couple words or phrases, how would you do that? How did you grow up and what that environment looks like?

This is Kristine. Growing up and summing up, we’re playing soccer. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for girls who are playing with boys. I grew up playing with boys from second and eighth grade. I played baseball and all different types of sports, anything my brother did, I wanted to do. My life was filled with a lot of athletics and fun. It leads me to these two, eventually on the national team and in college. Sports was the main focus in our family of our activities and having a good time out there. It’s very competitive in our house. Even board games, anything you played. There were usually tears at the end of a game and now with my kids, it’s the same way.

For me, it was probably in a word, a mobile or transitional. My dad was in the military, we moved every two to three years and sports was a great way to connect with a new group of peers, friends at the new base or new town where we’re stationed. That created not only being the backbone of your activities when you were younger, but it also helped ease the pain and the nervousness of moving to a new base. It created comfort because you have that commonality with the new group of friends you were making.

Mine is similar to Kristine. We were always outside playing. I had an older brother and older sister. We were outside all the time, as these days, I’m like to my kids go outside they don’t know what to do out there. When we were outside, you had to beg to get me to come inside. We were outside playing with the neighbor kids, swimming in the back and my parents would try anything. We played every sport. I played in the band anything that I could get my hands on. I tried and wanted to do to meet people and do stuff. The shame now is these kids don’t have time to do. They’re so focused on one thing and being the best at one thing. They don’t have time to get involved in music or drama or art or anything else.

As I look back, I was well-rounded and I got to participate in a lot of different activities. My parents were like, “Great,” and they didn’t know anything about anything. Now everybody is an expert in everything. They took me to practice, left and came back to get me and there was no, “Did you win? How was it? Let’s get you some private lessons.” We grew up in a great time. The three of us were a little bit shy especially growing up. Being able to be in sports where we excelled, helped build our confidence and make us feel like we belonged, which sports can do for girls.

Team First: The shame about today is kids just don’t have time to do sport. They don’t have time to get involved in music, drama, art or anything else.

I want to put a pin in what you said about focusing on one thing because I pulled my community and asked them for questions and that was a big one. Should kids focus? We will come back to that. I want to bring us now to a place where you guys had the call that you were called up so early when you were fifteen, sixteen and nineteen. You’re called up to the national team. What does that moment feel like? Do you remember the call? Do you remember where you are?

I know Kristine and I got called up at the same time. It was a long summer of Olympic Development Youth National Team. They had decided that summer to involve the U19 national team in a full national team tournament. The senior women and our U19 team did better than the senior women’s team. The next thing, that team was going to go on to China. He cut five years and brought up five players from the U19 team. I remember I had a passport, but I don’t think it was redone in a long time and trying to get that done. It was just chaos. At the same time, you went with it and figured it out. I know personally, it was a learning experience because I always felt I was a good athlete where whatever sport I played. What I realized going into the senior women’s national team was I was not a very good soccer player. I could hold my own based on my athleticism but technical or physically, I wasn’t where a lot of these women were. It was pretty overwhelming. I didn’t know after the first couple of trips if I’d be asked back because I was told that.

It challenged me to make a decision on my commitment to my development. Did I want to be fitter? Did I want to be better on the ball? The answers kept coming back. Yes. I had to figure it out myself. We were lucky from the standpoint that the national team, we went to maybe one or two trips a year. It wasn’t like it is now where you have three weeks off and you’re back in for an intensive month session. You had to learn how to train on your own and to be accountable. That allowed us to make the choice for ourselves if that’s what we wanted to do.

I remember being in the room when we got asked to join the national team and I didn’t even know it existed. I didn’t even know who Anson was. Mia and I were walking around on the campus. I forgot what campus it was, you probably remember.

It’s University of Northern Michigan up in Marquette.

This man walks by me and Mia says, “Hi,” and I’m like, “Who is that?” She’s like, “That’s Anson.” Maybe I should know him. I know him now. I remember being in the room and he was like, “We’d like you to come on a trip to China.” I was like, “I’ve got to ask my parents.” I was sixteen. Mia was fifteen. Julie was sixteen. Joy was eighteen and Linda Hamilton, the five of us that got asked up from the U19 team. My parents, they grew up in New York City had nothing about soccer and they’re like, “Sure.” You’re going to just let me go to China. I told them, “That’s great. Thanks for that but I didn’t have a passport.” It started. I remember being there. I was so nervous. I knew Mia just a little bit for the time we had in the summer and Julie. I’m a homesick kid. It was just torture to be on honestly. After being there and around these women, I was suddenly inspired because I’ve been playing with boys. In high school, I started playing with girls but they weren’t at the level that these were. I was like, “It’s so great to be around people that were so similar to me.” It was empowering. It’s very humbling in the same aspect when you got women that were 23 or 21. You thought they were old. They’re in college but it was also inspiring. I remember that it was every emotion you could possibly have in one trip I had and now here we are.

Mine comes a little bit later. I met these guys. They did an under 19 national team on paper and we went to Bulgaria. I went to that with these two, Mia, Lil and Foudy from the national team. You guys were the only ones that were on the national team. I was a senior in high school, maybe that would that have been ’91 or ’90. It might even be ’99. I might have been a junior in high school. I got to meet these guys. I never knew there was a national team. There barely was until I got almost on it. I knew these guys and they were part of the national team. I knew a little bit about it. It’s not like now when you get a phone call and it’s on Instagram. I made the world cut. It’s like, “I’d like to do that. That sounds great.” You get to go hang out with people. They have a lot of similarities because you’re competitive and you’re athletic. Everybody is different personality-wise. You finally get there and you’re like, “This is where I belong.” It’s like I’ve been looking for this. It’s a lot different than it is now. It was a great time to come through and we didn’t know anything. We didn’t know any better.

When you think about the ’96 Olympic team and the ’99 World Cup team, what was it specifically that made the team so unique or so different that went on to achieve such great things and is the reason why it put women’s soccer on the map? What was it about that specific team?

They’re different teams but the gist was, it was a bunch of hardworking, humble and hungry girls that wanted to play and cared about each other. We were tight in every way and including our coaching staff, our massage therapists and security. We brought on our sports psychologist, Colleen Hacker, before the Olympics and she just brought it all together. We realized it wasn’t about soccer. It was about being a good teammate and doing everything you can for your team and that was embedded in us. When you see a team that’s so tight like that and cares about each other, no one cared about publicity, who was the hero and who had all the money. We wanted to play and win. That makes all the difference in the world.

You won the respect of your teammates. When you stepped on the field, you wanted to make sure that you are earning their respect. Your effort was there pushing each other to be better. If we’re on a field going at each other and I’m not giving 100%, I’m not helping me to get better to just get better. If I’m giving 100%, we’re raising each other.

It was almost like in a sense you had to push each other to be better. You may lose your position because of it, but overall the team is getting better. You’re a part of that. That’s one of the strong things about our group through the years from even ’91 through 2004, ’99. Half the team we lost probably moving on after that. It was more about the team and that’s how our company, TeamFirst, got started too. Our mentality that we wanted to share that to the young people about the importance of we’re going to learn soccer, but we learned to be a good team.

We had a ton of fun, which is half the battle because you’re grinding out. We were in Florida. It was 105 degrees. We’re just in the middle of the day. We’re out there running fitness or whatever we’re doing and somehow, we ended up laughing. Foudy would say something stupid. Carla would have everybody so fired up, she’d be like, “No buddy works this hard, nobody.” We’d run another one. We’ll be like, “Let’s do one more.” Everybody’s chat like, “Let’s go one more.” It was competitive but we had more fun than probably allow.

We’re all different but we’re similar. When you’re around people that are like you, this is so great. We think it’s a common thing you pick up, going to the gym or running or whatever it comes to think of it the personality shine and that’s what attracted the fans as well.

Our individuality was celebrated. A lot of the times, you’ll have leadership or coaches that want a certain type of player. Tony, the staff, Julie and Carla is our captain, who did an amazing job celebrating what made you special. At the end of the day, everyone wants to be valued and understand what they bring to the team and how they can impact winning. I felt that whether it was said or through team building experiences, which is one of the things Colleen brought in that you learn so much about your teammate, like Joy Fawcett, who didn’t say a lot. We went and did I remember in one of the team building exercises and she was so good about solving problems. She could see it before it happened. It allowed us to appreciate people’s strengths off the field and how we all can contribute. When you feel that way and that the leadership is allowing you to be you, you’re willing to give more to put yourself out there and say, “Whatever it takes. Even if I don’t start, even if I play five minutes or I get hurt in the process, it’s all worth what we’re trying to do.”

One of the things I find interesting now is young girls that are either reading this or want to be higher level soccer players, they have you guys to look up to. When you were starting and you were getting in this, you were at the forefront of it. Was there someone specific that you were looking up to? Was it former players? Was it current players on your team? Who were your role models at the time?

Initially, my role models were males. I was a Yankees fan and Willie Randolph was my favorite second base for the Yankees. I thought one day I was going to play second base but obviously, that didn’t happen. Pele was the only soccer player I knew of. Cosmos were vague. It was all male role models. When you joined this team, you suddenly were inspired. The inspiration came from these guys every day. We weren’t competing very often. We’d be home training and you’re thinking, “What’s Mia doing today? What’s Tisha doing today? What am I going to do today to make sure I’m ready to join with them?” It’s the inspiration definitely. To this day, it’s pretty phenomenal. To be able to play with these guys but to work with them, teach kids, be still inspired and know they have your back is powerful.

Continuing to learn that’s another thing that both in terms of accountability as Kristine was saying going home, working and seeing how to fit a player was or how to technically sound and talking to them about what they were doing. That growth and development with TeamFirst, every time we come together and I hear how they explain a drill or a nuance to a move, it’s like, “I never thought of it that way or I never thought of approaching or explaining to a player that way.” For us, the other part of it is being okay with not knowing everything and understanding that we can all continue to get better, educate ourselves, evolve and to have players and friends as part of your life. That’s an important part of it.

One of the things I noticed in interviews and obviously having watched you for so long is how humble and how part of the team, obviously as you both so eloquently said. If you had to say either for yourselves or for the other two in the room what you feel like you are uniquely gifted at, what would that be?

Do you mean in soccer?

All the things. This isn’t always a soccer podcast.

These guys are funny, witty and smart. The great thing working with these guys, playing with each other, we had different strengths on the field and now we’re working with each other. We let the strengths shine. Tisha is great with the kids talking. Mia is great with speaking on behalf of all of us all the time. Tisha has a great manner about being the face of soccer for so long and doing that. It’s so fun in the sense and obviously, on the field, she tore it up. I have funny stories that I have because I played behind her a lot. Sometimes I would watch her tearing her counterpart and be standing there watching them. I need to follow up to say in case they might get a toe on it. Tish dominates in the air and never lost the ball. She danced on the ball and it’s even fun when she’s with the kids trying to show them how to turn and stuff and she’s like, “How can they not know how to do this?” It becomes so easy. Not just come so easy but easier and we work at it.

I was saying, I thought I was a good athlete until I met Tish. I was like there’s nothing she can’t do. She can do a back flip. She can skateboard, skiing and shoot hoops. It was whatever she picked up. Lil besides her incredible dance moves, she was by far our most consistent and most reliable player ever and most versatile player to ever play on the women’s national team. If you needed someone to score goals, you could move her up top and she would make a difference. If you needed someone to stretch them on the flanks, she had the fitness phase, the competitive spirit and the 1v1 ability and the speed to get past anyone. There were times when we needed her to mark one of their personalities and she can do it as well as any 1v1 marking back. Obviously, it’s no surprise to any of us in the ‘99 World Cup final that the person who’s asked to have one of the most responsible jobs of being on the line and saved our World Cup.

If Kristine wasn’t there, we wouldn’t be sitting here. Once again, it comes back to everyone doing their job. Kristine embodied that for all of us where no matter what she was asked to do, she did it and did it to her the best of her ability. When we would break down into our small-sided team, you would try to get Kristine on your team because you could put her anywhere and she would help you win. It was as a player with no real position but dominating every single one.

When you play with people, you get to know them so well. It feels like you guys were always together for so long and the fact that you work together still.

If you talk to my brother, Scott, Mia and I have known each other since we were ten. My brother likes to exaggerate stories. It makes what we do so much fun. Selfishly, we started TeamFirst because we want to see each other. We think we’ve been together for seventeen years playing and obviously time after that and then not seeing each other. We’d see each other every month.

We had a reunion with the 99ers and all of our girls they were a pack. They know each other, but they don’t see each other a ton. They’re there. They were off and running. What makes these guys both unique is they’re humble. They don’t want any credit. Do this one person who has more caps in anyone in the world that no one will ever touch or sniff and look at her?

This little animal right here, she doesn’t get the credit that she deserves. She doesn’t ask for it. She doesn’t care about it. Same with me, the most dynamic soccer player and the most popular shot putter in the world on the women’s side. She doesn’t care. She’d rather talk about our teammates. It was with the majority of our team was like that, but to have two of the most well-respected athletes ever and they don’t want any credit. Let’s talk about the team. It’s all about the team. That says a lot.

I remember when you got your 200 caps. It was important.

I got carried off the field.

That’s crazy because when we started, when we were young starting, you didn’t know where it was going. I remember after the First World Cup in ’91, I was like, “Now what are we going to do?” I went back to college. I didn’t finish our exams because it was in November. I was like, “That was fun.” The Olympics happened and we were like, “Maybe we can keep playing.”

Transitioning from past and how awesome you guys have been into where you are now. Obviously, you’ve mentioned TeamFirst. I want to hear about that. I also want to hear first what does life look like for you now?

I wish we were on the road.

Team First: It’s a challenge to balance teaching and having fun. There’s that fine line of letting the kids have fun, letting them grow in the environment, and letting their talent come out.

It’s funny. It’s not about us anymore when we were training. It wasn’t about us, it was about the team but now it’s about our kids and our families.

We call each other because we’re coaching our kids and we’re like, “What do I do? This is what happened. What should I do?” We’re asking for advice or not even soccer related, like the girls or this happened and we call each other like teammates, “I need help.“

Remember we called Tish and I was like, “What happened when Sadie when she was like, I don’t remember.” I’m like, “What do you mean you don’t remember?” I couldn’t grasp that she didn’t remember something and then I’m like five years in like, “I don’t remember anything.”

It’s carpooling and shuttling kids to where they need to be. My kids seem to be a little bit more confident and grounded than probably I was at their age, which is wonderful to see. We talk about it. We wouldn’t want it any other way. Being around them, being able to be home and at the same time do our TeamFirst stuff but be involved in our kids’ lives because I know I’m one of six kids. My mom saw me play a handful of times growing up. She was busy. She loved to teach dance. My dad was coaching my siblings or one of us. It’s nice to be able to say because I can like, “If you want me to take you to practice, I can and be involved in their lives as much or as little as they want me to be in there.”

I’m Mia Hamm. You should want me in your life.

“You don’t want soccer advice from me?” “No thanks, mom. I’m good.”

Can you call her?

I have her number so I can text her.

I would just plaster my face.

We’re a mom to them.

They come to a lot of camps in like Mia will be explaining something and Kristine and my kid will be like, “Do you understand who’s talking to you right now?” They’re like, “I’m good.”

We’re here as mom or mom’s friend.

I’m assuming the expectation is so high for one or maybe it isn’t for what you would assume to your kids, you want them to work hard and you want them to be whatever, success in whatever they’re gifted in. I can imagine, when I hear about your kid, it’s so much pressure to stand in your shoes and to live in your legacy. What does that feel like for you? Has that been a consideration for how you’ve chosen to parent or to show up for partners or friends or anything like that?

One thing that I struggle or is a challenge for me more so is the balance of teaching and having fun. I think that’s overall with not only my kids, but the kids in general because we have all this knowledge and we’ve been through it all. We want to share it with the kids. They’re still kids. They want to have fun. I coach my eldest. It’s a challenge because I know what she could do because I’ve seen her. She’s fooling around with her friends, dropping grass on their head and like stuff. I’m like, “What are you doing?” It’s the fine line in having the fun, letting them grow in the environment and letting their talent come out. My husband’s on about like, “She’s got to work hard.” When you hear other people say the things that sometimes you’re like how schools should sound, I catch myself in, “If I heard this, what would it sound like?” It’s not easy. When you’re a player playing, you can control the effort and you can do it all. As a coach or parent, you’re giving information and sharing it. Is it too much sometimes? Is it too little? Are we having fun?

Sometimes everything you know is bad. We might know too much. I know what it takes or whatever, but our kids are young and maybe they don’t want to play soccer. I’m always like, “Do you want to play? Let’s play something else.” My kid wants to play soccer but Mia’s kids play baseball and Lacrosse. They don’t love soccer as much, which is maybe a blessing. I’m trying to ask my kid if she wants to play. Let’s play Lacrosse. It is hard when you’ve been where you’ve been and you have the knowledge but you want them to be a good kid. At the end of the day, I want a good human being who cares about people and is a positive influence on the world. When you look at the big picture, that’s all you want.

I started off from neither of my parents played soccer. My mom was graceful but she was a dancer and my dad had really good hand-eye coordination. He was a pilot but I wouldn’t say he was an amazing athlete. If you start from there going, “I’m their offspring.” Our kids, in the end, they’re their own people. As a parent, you want them to choose their own path. I want sports to be a part of their lives because of all the health benefits and what you can learn through adversity team building, communication. As Tish said, “In the end, I want my kids to be good kids.” You can still be afforded on the national team and be a punk. I would rather them not be disrespectful and not be grounded because sports will leave you but what will stay with them is, how do they treat other human beings? We talk to them as parents about that knowing the difference of what’s right, what’s wrong and how you want to be treated in your approach to how that impacts the way you treat other people.

Team First: When you enjoy the game and feel like you can make mistakes, your development goes up and you take that next step to make yourself better.

If you look at where we are in time, we’re headed into the women’s World Cup. Where do you see the future of women’s soccer going?

What’s exciting in this 2019 World Cup of France, it’s the biggest World Cup. They have 24 teams. It seems like every summer World Cup things are changing and hopefully for the better, but this is a World Cup that you have a different amount of teams going in. You have five countries at their first World Cup. That’s exciting for them and also for the game because when that happens to organizations they are like, “Our country is in it, we’ve got to start paying attention.” There is more focus on the women’s game than it has in the past and for me, the conversation about the women’s game is like, “We’re tired, we need this.” They’ve been more proactive. We’re at a stage where hopefully that’s starting to happen more about supporting the financial side of it.

FIFA is a big part in that and growing the game of soccer and obviously a little more attention to the women’s side. I’m excited for the summer to see how all these teams are going to compete. Obviously, the US team was announced. They’re very excited to now have a focus and know who their 23 players are. To keep the sport growing and be visible for young girls because we talked about earlier how we didn’t see any soccer on TV whether it was men too. Now young girls can see women doing stuff and when they do see women doing something that lights a fire in them and that seems like, “I can do that,” and that’s powerful.

How involved are you? Will you be at the World Cup? Are you guys going? Do you mentor people? How involved do you get with the team?

I think it’s more. You have your own interactions with players and Kristine played with a couple of the players that are still on the team, three months with Alex. Carley had played with a bunch. Those two I can connect with and like Tisha, we were out there. We’ve met them along the way but got the time where you could spend and connect with them a bit more.

I will say that this World Cup prior to, there’s been a conscientious effort to connect the program together. At times, it was more like we want it. Everyone talked about creating their own legacy. Now there’s this sense of, “We’re all the same program.” That’s awesome to be a part of because, as former players that have worn the jersey, we’re cheering the hardest for these women. We know what they’ve had to go through. We know the sacrifices and the difficult decisions they’ve had to make. If there’s any way we can support them with a tweet or a text to give them the strength to be successful, that’s what we’re here for. I love the new environment that’s taken place with the current players that they reached out to us and said, “We want you guys to be a part of the program, this team.” It’s come from the players first and foremost.

As you said, it was released the team going. Any surprises, predictions, anything that you guys have on the team?

I always believe in the US. If we play our best soccer, we can win it. They have the talent too. It comes back to coming together as a team and doing it together because it’s not easy. It’s not easy at all and they have a game in and game out. There are probably top eight to ten teams that could win this World Cup. Back in the day, it was maybe the top five. France is hosting in there, looking pretty good and you’ve got Holland, you’ve got England and you’ve got Australia. My bet is still on the US. I still support my girls.

Where people lose track of is it’s natural to get nervous and like a little saying, “It’s how you insulate yourself and the environment that’s within the team.” I felt in ’99 we peaked at the right time. We all came together and we were able to deal with an injury like Michelle Acres where I felt in ’95 we weren’t ready for that. We were like, “She’s our star and everything revolves around her,” and that was so unfair to her because she went down in the first game and we responded pretty well. When she came back, we were like, “Michelle is back here. She can take it here and carry us to victory.” She was playing with a severe concussion, half of her MCL was gone. We didn’t know any of this, but she couldn’t do it. I felt ’99, we were just a better team. This team has to come together but also leadership has to create an environment where we’re good. Health is important, but also you’re dealing with family and friends who are nervous too.

A lot of them have never dealt with the situation. A lot of the comments that are made are like, “How are you feeling? Are we going to play? Do you know where my tickets are?” You’re like, “I don’t want to deal with it.” “Mom, trust in the coach. We got this.” The parents don’t know how to deal with that nervous energy. Usually, they’re focused on the wrong thing. There was a parent and our sports psychologist, who are the go-between because they were like, “You will not talk to your daughters about tickets or where they’re supposed to meet you or who’s injured or who are starting, absolutely not. The first person you go to is the team parent liaison and she comes to me and that’s where it stops. You don’t need to talk to the coach. You don’t need to talk to the players.”

He didn’t even tell them our code names. You have to have a code name to call our rooms because we didn’t have cell phones. We didn’t tell them.

We never felt it was because if we didn’t do it this way, we were going to fail but it was set up for us to focus on what we are there to do.

This team has a lot of veterans on it. This team going into this one, which is helpful. Some people look at the roster going, “Why did they pick her?” There’s a reason these guys got picked and they’re valuable to the team in some way and so when they pick the team, I don’t go, “Why is she on it and what happened there?” The coach knows, the team knows and they’re picking the best possible big group as they can because it’s going to take everybody. When they have a lot of experience, then a lot of these kids have already played in World Cup that helps.

I want to make sure that we talk about TeamFirst because I want more people to hear what you guys are doing. It’s great that’s actually why I started to reach out initially. I want to talk about this and to share more of your message with my audience, who may or may not have any idea what you guys are doing. I would love to hear a little bit more about what you’re excited about, what it is and where it’s going.

We started at TeamFirst Soccer Academy. It’s an academy or camp. We travel around the country and teach kids soccer. It started back in 2010. Our coach from Tennessee is our partner in this. She was coaching in college. We were done playing and we were trying to figure out ways that we can help the game and selfishly see each other. We met at a Mexican restaurant in Tennessee and talk the talk and we’re like, “Let’s do a camp.” Let’s travel around the country and teach kids and they’re like, “All right.” We figured that out. They were like, “What are we going to call it?” Tisha said, “Let’s call it Mia Hamm.” Obviously, Mia, it’s never about her and we grew up playing with her knowing that our message is never about the team. We’re going back and forth and finally came up with TeamFirst because every time we train whether it was at home or on the field, it was for the team and we put the team first. That’s how we got the name and then it’s been several years when we traveled all around the country and world. A part of TeamFirst went to Iraq. We’ve been to Alaska. We’ve been to California, the East Coast, Texas. Our messages for the kids is to obviously teach the game but to see how we interact with each other and the fun we have. That is important to be a good teammate and not focus on yourself and to make them want to come back again and play the game. We’ve had some good comments and we have a staff that we’ve built that have like-minded mentality and philosophy and that brings the energy.

They may come because of us, but the rest of our staff adds so much. Every piece of the staff makes a difference and that’s what makes our TeamFirst Soccer Academy so great because it’s not just for us three here knowing the game but the rest of the group that we have that complete it.

Is this designed to be a feeder program? No, this is just fun.

Another thing we stress when we come in because a lot of these kids we get, some are at a high level but most of them want to play either make the A team on the club or are working towards trying out for a club. We want them to feel that these two or three days are safe for them to make mistakes and not be so result-oriented because they’re constantly being evaluated in their club programs. Whether they’re going to move to a different team or be picked to start or go to a tournament that these kids are constantly feeling that they have to perform. When they come into TeamFirst, it’s like this is where we want you to grow and mistakes are a part of it. No worries. If you don’t get the move right, we’ll work on it. They feel more relaxed. They’re willing to take more risks. We talk about playing outside your comfort zone. We’ll take care if your parents want to come up and talk to us about how to help you improve. For you, this is to enjoy the game and when you feel like you can make mistakes, your development goes up, you take that next step to make yourself better.

We want these young players. We have boys and girls come into our camp to commit to that aspect of it because we talk about how we failed all through our careers whether it was failing a fitness test or missing a sitter or not coming through in a small-sided game for your team, but it’s how you rebound, how you re-focus and commit yourself to be better. In the end, feeling good about what you’re contributing.

I have two final questions. The first one is, my audience is a lot of entrepreneurs, people that want to make a difference in the world, are trying to improve themselves. I talk about creating what you want by being more of who you are. This conversation has lent itself to that. Being an individual and also being part of a team, which is important or being part of a cause. If there was one thing that my community of people could do to support you and what you guys are building here personally, professionally or whatever it is, what would be one thing that we could do to help you?

It’s to buy my book. It’s called Powerhouse. It’s about teamwork and it’s about these guys and they’re in the book. What I loved about working on the book, I co-wrote with someone, Dr. John Gillis and his wife, Lynette. What I got so much out of writing it was when I asked these guys to do interviews. It was immediate like, “Sure, when do you want to do it?” I was like, “They get so bothered with stuff.” You didn’t want to add something else to their plate but these people, Julie, Michelle, Brandy, Abby, they’re like, “I’m in,” and that to me showed what we were all about. It was about each other and supporting each other. I want to say thanks. The book is great but you were talking about young people and entrepreneurs and working together. It’s about the strength we had in ’99 and that team and why we were successful. There are stories in there that we share with people that you can do this in your organizations whatever you’re a part of.

It’s lifting people up. That’s all we’ve ever done. In the world, you’re always criticizing because you want to be better than them. You criticize the other person where we’re always like, “That was the greatest thing I’ve ever seen or Mia has a great game. I’m as happy for her as she is.” Instead of people going, “She did great that means I must not have done that greater.” We’re always looking for great things and especially young girls. My girls are in sixth grade. They’re getting ready for middle school. It’s like, “It gets nastier.” If you can just stay positive and hang around the people that are positive. Surround yourself with good people and lift each other up and try to see the best in it. That’s how we grew up that’s good advice for anyone.

One of the things at TeamFirst that because we’re reliant on local organizations and clubs to bring us in, to create that relationship and that partnership to bring TeamFirst to the community. There are so many camps here in Atlanta in the local area whether it’s club programs or professional teams that are holding camps. A lot of people are like, “You’re no different.” What we sell in TeamFirst that’s different is we’re present the entire time. We don’t show up, sign autographs and get on a plane. We are involved every single minute of every single training session. It is our curriculum. It is our voice. We understand the value of being present because the kids whether it’s ten seconds that you’re able to connect or walk over and show them something that’s what they take away. It’s hard to get people to understand that until they see it. Like most of the comments we’re like, “We didn’t know you’re going to be on the field all day.” We’re like, “It’s ours.”

In terms of the people that listen to you, it’s very important to be present. If your name is on it, don’t let someone else determine what that reputation is going to be. It’s yours. You have the responsibility and the opportunity to build your name, your brand and your reputation and we take that very seriously because we know how it can impact someone else. That’s why we are extremely present. The other thing we’ve done a good job with is we empower our staff. We don’t micromanage the staff that we have because we know them, we trust them and we understand what their strengths are. One, physically we can’t do it. We’d be stressed and we wouldn’t be able to do what we do well but knowing that we have this group of people involved, Cori does an amazing job. I can’t do what Cori does and she feels empowered to make some tough decisions that she doesn’t have to call us because we trust her. That’s important when you’re present and you interact with your team, your staff, your company. They know that they’re able to be who they are. It makes our product so much better when we’re out there.

The final question I have for you is what I ask all my guests, which is if this episode we’re broadcasted to the whole world for 30 seconds, what message would you have or what would you share?

People take life too seriously. Everything is serious, especially with our youth. People need to have some fun, lighten up and not take yourself seriously. You don’t have to be the best in everything. Do the best that you can. Obviously, it’s like your personal best. Mine is different than Kristine’s and Mia’s. I’m good at some things and I’m not good at some things. Just be okay with that. Find something that you love to do and then pour your heart into it. For the parents, not everybody’s going to be Mia Hamm. I hate to break it to you, but it’s not going to happen. Let your kids be your kids. Give them the love and support, but you don’t have to push them where you think they should go or where you want them to go.

Let people develop into the people that they’re going to be or they’re not going to be happy. You want people around you to be happy and successful. Letting them carve out their own path and just supporting and unloving them. Our parents didn’t know anything about sports, which was great because they just said, “I love you. Good job.” They did or not, but they gave me that support and look what happened. They weren’t sending me to private lessons, putting me on a special diet, doing speed training and whatever else crazy stuff people are doing. I could use the speed training, mom. I’m not going to lie, I could use the speed training. Just let people be, be positive and supportive to others.

Be around with people that you enjoy, love, want to support you and believe in you and you believe in them.

Thank you so much. I’m grateful. Truly, you three have made such a difference in my life personally, in my soccer career, which was short-lived, but I made it to college so that’s fine. I’m grateful for your time. I’m honored to be here and to share you guys with my audience, to introduce them to people who carved an amazing path and puts women’s soccer on the map. I’m grateful and honored to be here. Thank you.

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Was that not the best interview that you have ever read? I hope so because I had such a blast doing this interview. If you’re anything like me, you’re feeling super inspired and excited and fired up as I am. In an effort to support these women and to thank you for reading and being a key member of this Unbecoming Community, I have teamed up with the TeamFirst ladies and more specifically Kristine to offer one signed copy of the Powerhouse book to a few lucky audience as well as a couple additional prizes. To enter, all you’ve got to do is to share a screenshot of this episode on Instagram, on your Instagram Stories, on Facebook. Just snap a photo or record a video about why you loved this episode and you will be automatically entered to win a signed copy of Powerhouse, Kristine’s latest book, 13 Teamwork Tactics that Build Excellence and Unrivaled Success, and of course maybe a couple other prizes thrown in for good measure.

The only thing you have to know is that you’ve got a tag me on it. My handle is @PhoebeMroczek. Then you can give a little #UnbecomingPodcast. That’s going to help us find you and make sure that you’re registered to win because I would love for you to win one of these books or any of the other prizes that we have going on. To be honest, the reason I have chosen to do this is because I want to give back to them. I want to promote soccer, promote the sport, promote real teamwork, especially as we head in to the 2019 Women’s World Cup. The winners will be announced on June 7th, the start of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, which I thought was very appropriate, just a couple of days before my birthday. I want to let you know, I am so grateful that you read this episode and I cannot wait to share in this excitement with you. I hope you win. I’m rooting for you.

If there’s only one thing that I got out of this episode, which there are a million other things, but the one key thing that I got out of it was that we need to lift each other up. We need to help each other outside of our individual and focus on the team. If you heard in that episode, they’re so supportive of each other almost to a fault where nobody wants to take credit for all the amazing things that they’ve done. I even gave them an opportunity to brag on themselves, and they used that time to brag on each other, which says so much about who they are, about how they have grown up in this what should be a competitive environment, but they’ve turned it into a supportive one.

Imagine what we could do as humans, as friends, as family members, as entrepreneurs, if we adopted and adapted this same mentality in our workplace, in our relationships, in where we spend our time. Please help me help them help you. It’s a win-win situation. Please share this episode. If you want to leave us a review, I would so appreciate that. You can do that on iTunes at UnbecomingPodcast.com/itunes, and share this episode. Please let people know that this is an important conversation that needs to be heard. Thank you for doing your part. I really appreciate it. I am so grateful to you. Good luck in the contest. I look forward to seeing you soon on Unbecoming.

Important Links:

• www.UnbecomingPodcast.com/community
• Phoebe Mroczek on Facebook
• Mia Hamm
• Kristine Lilly
• Tisha Venturini Hoch
• TeamFirst Soccer Academy
• Powerhouse
• Team First with Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly & Tish Venturini-Hoch
• http://TeamFirstSoccerAcademy.com/
• @PhoebeMroczek on Instagram
• UnbecomingPodcast.com/itunes

About Mia Hamm

Mia Hamm is one of the best women’s soccer players of all time with 158 goals & 144 assists. She is the most prolific goal scorer ever, having represented her country 275 times since making the U.S National Team at age 15. As a 17 year National Team veteran, Mia played in 3 Olympic Games and 4 World Cups.

About Kristine Lilly

Kristine Lilly is the most decorated women’s soccer player of all time. With 352 caps, she has the most international appearance in the history of the sport for men or woman. She scored 130 goals and had 105 assists since making the U.S National Team at age 16. As a 23 year National Team veteran, Kristine played in 3 Olympic Games and 5 World Cups.

About Tisha Hoch

Tisha Venturini Hoch is perhaps the winningest team player in the history of women’s soccer. She scored 44 goals and represented her country 132 times since making the U.S National Team. As a 9 year National Team veteran, Tisha played in 1 Olympic Games and 2 World Cups.