What advice do you have for other women, especially those in sports, who struggle with going back to work after giving birth and feel that same type of stuck?
For me, the biggest realization was that there’s power in choosing to do it your way. You don’t have to do it the way everyone else has done it, or the person before you. This game of comparison is where we get stuck. We get wrapped up in comparing ourselves to the versions of it that we see around us that we forget that there’s always space to do it our own way. When we create space to do it our own and stay true to who we are and what our desires are, that’s where we start breaking through.
Speaking from a personal experience, that was the shift for me; that permission to every mom’s going to do this differently. Every woman is going to do this differently, and that’s okay. There’s a million amazing ways to do this. You just have to do it your way and what feels right to you. And when you stay true to that that’s what helps.
You’re also hosting NBCUniversal’s Paris Olympic coverage on CNBC and E!. What are you most excited about in this new role?
Being a host for NBC for the Olympic Games is an absolute dream. I love broadcast and have wanted to continue that part of my career. I’ve had the honor of working with them in the past for the winter Paralympic games as an analyst, reporter, and correspondent with a number of different duties between the 2018 games and 2022 Winter Games, but to now transition over to the Olympics side and have the duality of doing it in the same game cycle I’m competing in adds a logistical hitch, at times, but also an excitement.
The opportunity to a host a studio show, that in of itself has been something that I have long put on the vision board. There’s something so special about sitting in studio and getting ready to go live on air and know that in that moment you get to be the conduit to bring whatever it is that you are telling to viewers far and wide in their homes. It’s also so exciting because when I leave the studio, I go to the pool and train and getting ready for my moment as an athlete. What more motivation do you need than watching all of these athletes completely kill it over in Paris? It’s like, now I got to go do my part so I can do the same thing. I’m really excited for it. It’s a really unique opportunity; an active summer athlete has never done this.
We’ve never had a disabled host in the US for the Olympics before either, I’m doing what I love while also serving as path forward for the disability community in a world in which we’re yearning to see representation and media and entertainment. That’s really special too.
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