# An Olympic Champion's Mindset for Overcoming Fear - TedTalk <iframe width="390" height="230" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iIne-UO7wUo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Notes - getting pregnant can be a kiss of death in women's careers - women face tough choices when balancing careers with personal responsibilities - the promise of 'having it all' is misleading - women should never feel the need to hide a pregnancy - Allyson Felix called out Nike's maternity policy in the New York Times - many sponsors are now offering new guarantees for female athletes who start families - when female athletes have babies, these children do not just disappear when competitions begin - having it all does not mean doing it all - we have got to stop forcing people to choose between parenting and doing the work that they love - creating a new normal after the pandemic - that feeling of being terrified is your invitation to create change %% ### [[getting pregnant can be a kiss of death in women's careers]] > Getting pregnant in track and field has been called the “kiss of death.” And it comes with a lot of fear, just like for women in many professions. ^phaj3 [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwa352xjxzjrtytzfhgv4qeh) ### [[women face tough choices when balancing careers with personal responsibilities]] > I've seen women have to make gut-wrenching decisions like deciding whether to recover their health or return to the sport. Deciding whether to stay in the hospital with a sick child or go to a race so that they don't receive a further pay reduction ^v62k7 [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwa36jm731g78fk347h9be16) ### [[the promise of 'having it all' is misleading]] > Sports companies love to tell women that they can have it all. They can do it all, they can be it all. We've all seen those inspirational ads. I remember meeting with Nike leadership in 2010, and they told me about an initiative they sponsored called the Girl Effect. They promoted adolescent girls as the key to improving societies around the globe. They said they believed in women and girls. And if I joined Nike, I could empower them. And I believed that. But guess what? Girls come from somewhere. (Laughter) And women having babies during childrearing years is something that should be celebrated, not punished. ^v-ve- [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwa37gp1bkxfx3trm9sb280e) ### [[women should never feel the need to hide a pregnancy]] > It should be a part of a normal, thriving, professional, athletic career. And women in all fields should never feel the need to hide a pregnancy, at 4am, in the dark, so that they won't be photographed doing that thing that they love. ^uvpux [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwa37xm36sne7ynftrhvxvmr) ### [[Allyson Felix called out Nike's maternity policy in the New York Times]] > I wrote an op-ed in "The New York Times" calling out Nike's maternity policy, and I wasn't the only one. ^f4-u5 [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwa39gbj66fmvq7sr4f3x5sx) ### [[many sponsors are now offering new guarantees for female athletes who start families]] > Now, Nike offers eighteen months maternity protection and other sponsors -- (Applause) And other sponsors like Altra, Nuun, Brooks and Burton, they came forward and they announced their new guarantees for female athletes who start families while being sponsored ^6omhq [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwa39zhb4pscsg8203fejdvb) ### [[when female athletes have babies, these children do not just disappear when competitions begin]] > And they helped me challenge the International Olympic Committee's childcare policy. Together, we raised 200,000 dollars for female athletes to be able to afford childcare when they go to races. Because women have babies, and these children don't disappear when the races begin. ^2oxlb [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwa3bfvxwgrc8pkygv7bwjhn) ### [[having it all does not mean doing it all]] > During the pandemic, we all saw what happens when that thin line between our professional and personal lives permanently blurs. We have seen women step back, give up, drop out, as having it all became doing it all, and doing it all became impossible ^e42ic [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwa3d2n0ph4ng10c6p9kenzq) ### [[we have got to stop forcing people to choose between parenting and doing the work that they love]] > We have got to stop forcing people to choose between parenting and doing the work that they love. And we've got to stop pretending that we're not making those decisions because the results affect us all. Not just women, but men and our children, too ^ml9dp [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwa3dz69s6r8w7t920xak7tq) ### [[creating a new normal after the pandemic]] > We should say what we will tolerate. And as we all recover from the pandemic that has flattened us, let's just not rebuild the same version of the broken system that we had before. But let's learn and create something new. Each one of us has a role to play. ^3wdor [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwa3emegbmpfamfdt9br0rsc) ### [[that feeling of being terrified is your invitation to create change]] > That feeling of being terrified is your invitation to create change. You have to acknowledge those feelings, you have to brave them, and you have to fight to move forward. ^qafs6 [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwa3jz89jagytb16mz01mbb8)