Couple Things with Shawn and Andrew - 195 | Olympic Swimmer Katie Hoff and NFL Player Todd Anderson

Episode Date: December 20, 2023

Today we sat down with two people we are honored to call friends: Former Olympian, Katie Hoff and her husband, Former NFL player, Todd Anderson! We talked about finding your identity again after sports, something that we believe not enough people talk about. We know you’ll love this couple as much as we do! Comment below who we should have on the show next :)  Love you guys! Shawn & Andrew Follow Shawn’s Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/ShawnJohnson Follow Shawn’s Tik Tok ▶ https://www.tiktok.com/@shawnjohnson Like the Facebook page! ▶ https://www.facebook.com/ShawnJohnson Follow Andrew’s Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/AndrewDEast Andrew’s Tik Tok ▶ https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewdeast?lang=en Like the Facebook page! ▶ https://www.facebook.com/AndrewDEast Love you guys! Shawn and Andrew Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you're with Amex Platinum, you get access to exclusive dining experiences and an annual travel credit. So the best tapas in town might be in a new town altogether. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at Amex.ca. what's up everybody welcome back to a couple things with Sean and Andrew a podcast all about couples and the things they go through this interview was long overdue because they are very close friends

of ours we've been hanging out for a long time went to Mexico with them I don't know why we didn't have them on the show sooner but Todd and Katie Todd Anderson Katie Hoff Katie Hoff Katie Hoff is a legend I have known her since the 2008 11 Olympics. She's an Olympic swimmer. Todd is newer to this relationship. Not like with them, but like with us. The girls have known each other for a long time. Yes. Todd and I just met. What a weird way to say that. I know. But we get to know Todd a lot better. I feel like we know him really well as like a close friend, but to hear his backstory, how him and Katie met and kind of a lot of the struggles that they've gone through together was really, really cool.

I really like their relationship. When I think about them, I think about this unrelenting support, which is pretty refreshing to see. Todd and I also just bond over sauna and ice bath. He's kind of the one that got me into that. So anytime Todd and I hang out, we're usually shirtless, sweating, and a sauna. And I don't know what to do with that information, but that's just the way it is. We also did a mission trip with them.

We built a house in Tijuana for a family over the course of a weekend. It was fantastic. But I'm excited to introduce you to these two because we've been spending quite a bit of time with them. Yes. And they just moved to Nashville. Todd will tell you about his experience with the NFL. He tells some crazy stories, dude. Oh, my, I'd never heard those stories.

And then Katie will walk you through her Olympic career as a two-time Olympian, three-time Olympic medalist, eight-time world champion. But, like, all of these stories, there's so much going on behind the scenes that you don't get to see. and she kind of tells those stories and how she overcame them. That's right. So if you want to find out more about what these two are up to, Todd makes some really helpful Instagram videos for those interested in biohacking and that type of stuff. And Katie is getting ready to launch the coolest podcast ever.

Can't mention it yet. Don't spoil it. Please just go follow her because it's coming. Check it out. And these two also have a couple different businesses they're involved with, including one called Synergy Dryland, where they help train, cross-train, swim team. So anyway, they're interesting to say the least.

We hope you think the same. Without further ado, we bring you Todd Anderson and Katie Hawke. How long have we known you guys? Five months? Five months? February? February? This year?

February 9th. I feel like I've known you guys. A lot longer already. I mean, we like made eye contact in 2008. Pretty much that's it. What's the story behind that? I'm curious. We were at the same Olympics.

Yeah. I feel like you would close. ceremonies yeah like we made eye contact you guys are both like the top athlete in your sport too right like pretty much what is that you never gonna you know let's let's let's let's let's get a quote you were the top athlete no no and still are no I'm making a comeback yeah we're actually here to announce that 2024 yeah we're both running yeah yeah oh do imagine I was talking about the Olympics you were talking about present in this seat but yeah that's yeah yeah you got big big aspiration so you guys met in 2008 at the

olympics just made eye contact yeah closing ceremonies and then what was the next interaction between you two in your home yeah 2020 which is also really weird because I feel like I know you so well because I know of you same and I was like oh Katie is in my house but I actually don't know you but I know you I don't know I felt the same yeah I felt the same yeah I felt the same And then we had the most awkward bow towards each other at the end of the night. That wasn't my fault. I'm really about it saying buy on the phone and buy in person. It's like a flaw.

I don't know how to, I don't know how to like depart, wrap it up. A bow isn't in the car regardless. Hey, that was your wife, okay? She initiated the bow. I mean, imagine eight years of bowing like things happening. And I literally bowed back. You did bow back. Okay.

But out of pity. I was like, okay. me and Andrew caught up fast you had like six out of the first eight days I was here I think you're at our house so the way I guess this all came together was sanas Pete our mutual friend who has a sauna company

Sisu Sana said hey I'm going to this guy's house putting in a sauna there come over and check out the sauna and see if you want one so I show up knocking the door Todd answers and like pretty much immediately I was like no dude can hang there's a kettlebell on the front porch

To be honest, I didn't know who you were for like 30 seconds because Pete told me that, but there was like a lot going on. We just moved in and like, he's like, this guy might come over and I kind of forgot he said that. So someone knocked on the door and I was like, what's up? Like, yeah, I was like, it's not DoorDash. You both were like, I think you were like, is this the right house? I don't think it's DoorDash. I don't really know what to expect.

But it was just like kind of just hit the ground around. I'm like, what's up, dude? We got steak on the grill. Yeah. Okay, sick. That was a pretty. Now let's do that steak on the grill. It really walked into, like, a great environment.

Steak was, like, ready. It was on the late. A little late, of course. Of course. Always. A half hour late. Always. Either day, you recently went to the fight together in Nashville.

He said he was beyond impressed that you showed up on time, which was already an hour late. Hour and a half, actually. No, I told him that I was not going to be there at five. You got there wins. Six. Yeah. But you told it an hour before. if it was like the day before I'd be like

that's valid so we were there at six and he's like I won't be there till you brought this up to be fair and then me and Walker were taking bets Walker said I bet he's not here till 8th and then two minutes later

you popped in and he was like the freaking boys baby yeah so how'd you guys meet you always say that I butcher it But I'm going to go. No, let's get Katie's story first. Okay, I'm more detailed. You do cleanup squad.

Yeah. Okay. And I'll fact check. Okay. So basically, I was training for 2012 trials in Naples, Florida. And I, like, um, yes. For those who don't know what you're training for the Olympics for, what's a little bit about your background? If you've been living under a rock forever.

Oh, I was a swimmer. And so at that point, I had made the 04 and 08 Olympics, which is where I met Sean. Yes. Or it made eye contact with Sean. made that content and um i had moved to florida to go back with one of my older coaches um eight months out of trials it was like a like actually kind of like a pivot like didn't think which is kind of cool like that we met because of that um and yeah move there in january left my place in california which is where i was living and moved into this early furnished place just to like give it a go i was really

struggling prior to 2012 so needed a change of scenery um and yeah i was just excited to kind of get out of a rut and see what I could do to make my third team. And I actually met like three weeks after I moved to Naples. A mutual friend, which is how it started. A mutual friend connected me with another football guy who ended up being a total jerk. So I'd met him and he was like, oh, like come out. In Naples, Florida, I was like, are there even bars? Are there, like, is it just old people land? But it turns out it's not. Now it's super not. Now it's like trendy. It's trendy. Yeah. And so I met them out at this bar and I remember meeting Todd and I was like dang it like he's cuter and funnier but like I was already talking to that guy I was there training for pro day yeah

he was training for football I need nothing about football like the guy that I was talking to was like yeah like I ran like a four eight or four seven and I was like is that good like he was trying impress me with his 40 and I was just like I don't even know anything about football or NFL and I was like You know, I bench 225, 35 times. It's way more important than the 40. But basically, like, we at that point parted ways because I was staying in Naples. He was still going back to Michigan State to finish training. And we just kept in touch.

And basically, like, I saw that he got picked up by the Rams. And so I just texted him, like, that's awesome. Congrats. And I just remember the thing about you I remember is he was just very curious. Like, he was asking me so many questions just about. swimming and my diet and it's just like very interested and I thought that was unique and so right before Olympic trials he was like oh I'd like love to rep like for you going to trials like do you have a USA swimming shirt and I was like oh yeah like no big deal but like XXL is not like running rampant

in sizes for swimming so you don't know for a USA speedo or anything you just said t-shirt that's surprising to me knowing you know but you were a speedo I just figured that I can see you in the stand. I've worn a speedo one time in my life, and it's because someone bought it for me, the USA one. That's not my vibe at all. You should look in that. Maybe we're more speedos. Anyway.

That sounds weird. That sounds weird. Maybe there's more speedos. Anyway. Noted. Noted. Okay. Double XL.

So I like went to all this effort. I ordered it. I got it. I FedExed it and sent it. And long story short, trials did not go well for me I ended up getting sick at the trials and you can attest to this like no one knows what to say when it doesn't go well like people are just like you know all you want is a hug and a acknowledgement and people are like it's okay it's all right and you're like it's not it's not okay

it's not all right and he texted me I remember distinctly sitting there sulking at an ice cream shop with my parents and he just texted texted me thoughts and prayers are with you with three purple hearts and I was like oh like this guy gets it you know like he just understands purple's my favorite color and we just started talking more and more from there and he invited me to michigan state um because i at that point i'm like booking a million trips because i'm like if i am home i'm reminded of the fact that i'm not on the team and i was like i think you think i'm not going to come because we don't know each other that well but like i didn't think she was going to come yeah i'm booking the flight i booked the flight and you know when you're like you come you know

know like it's like she's like no I'm really come I'm like yeah totally but she's not going to come and yeah she came so yeah we uh we were just hanging out we had like a month till like OTAs or whatever and uh we were like going out just having a good time hanging out and actually was like had like a girlfriend and we got in the fight the day before she came we broke up stop yeah so I was actually like going to stay over there and Katie was going to stay in my bed Like, that was kind of the plan. No, brother. What? That was not the plan. Katie's coming in town? I didn't even... We were, like, texting.

It was, like, potential texting, but it wasn't, like... When I invited her, like, I didn't even know that she had broken up with her previous boyfriend. Like, because I didn't talk her about that stuff. It was just like... Hang, yeah. Like, we were having... Like, I knew she was, like, sad. Like, come hang out.

She was being a good friend. But you were interested. You were flirty. I was going to say... I was like back at the receiver. I was just going to say, promise you were breaking up your friend with your girlfriend in the night before. where she came. Good job. That wasn't

the plan, but it worked out very well. He'd be like, hey, I'm single now. Yeah, like, perfect. Yeah. But we hit it, I mean, instantly hit it off. Yeah. Yeah. What? Well, I mean, it was a good timing, though, with the whole drug testing thing. I mean,

not many people even know, but like I, the reason I didn't ever, the NFL kind of stopped is I failed a drug test. What? Yeah. I mean, this is a, I guess not that many people are going to go for. Yeah. So, like, back, back then, And this was like way before, and the rules were all different.

Everything was the same. Like everything with a four game suspension, like a performance enhancer. I had a month off. We were going to my buddy's place on Lake Michigan, had to wake up super early and drive. And I had some of those like oxy elite pro fat burners on the counter, like a sample from the Arnold Classic. I was so tired. And I knew like they were kind of sketchy, but I'm like, I have a month off, whatever. Take them just to wake up in the morning, get halfway, NFL calls drug test.

pull over try to throw up drinking out water this is what's crazy though this is how like it you know it's meant to be the NFL had my wrong number the last four of my number is 4504 they called 4505 randomly the person they called happened to know my parents who gave my parents number my parents gave the NFL so if like they didn't if they didn't like it would just have been flagged just like incorrect information nothing would happen parents gave the NFL my number drug test. So this had just happened the weekend before and I was like freaking out in my head because I'm like, you know, the process takes forever of, you know, months. And like as soon as she landed, like knowing like, you know, she's been drug tested a million times. Like, you know,

I'm like, at soon as she landed, I'm like, I don't know. I need to talk someone about this, but I'm like freaking out. I think of fill a drug test. Like I don't know what happened. And, uh, I got in the car. He's like, I failed a drug test. I was like, I wasn't sure. I'm researching, but it was just like, you know, It, you know, that weighs heavy on you. And so, yeah, ended up, like, three months later, like, when I was in camp and going to get invited back after, for, like, you know, practice squad stuff, like, it went through. And sure enough, that was it. And then they were like, we're going to call you back and practice squad regardless, whatever. And Cole never came.

And at that point, I was like, I was pretty, I was ready to be done. And then moved in with Katie. Did the fat burners work? I mean, clearly not that well They didn't back then I was before about 270 But no I mean they woke me up enough Thick neck

Like really thick Well as soon as I got that call I didn't need them I was awake at that point Yeah Dang bro that's a bad feeling I will say If I that 10 seconds Oh my gosh

I will say not many people Unless you've been in like the WADA Usada or an FL program Understand the drug testing that's involved I mean they drove my buddy's house Yeah Two days in a row. Yeah.

I also like now I would have had three slap on the wrist before anything happened. Back then it was four gas suspension no matter what. Mm. So. Ugh. Oh. But with Wada, you can't eat a poppy seed muffin. Yeah, you're like, I remember visiting him going into GNC is like, you want to get like a power bar?

And I was like, no. No. No. Absolutely. Like you're so paranoid. So you guys kind of met at vulnerable times and pivotal times in both your lives. Yeah. I feel like that's why.

So, yeah, the end of the story, it's why we were kind of just, like, yolo. I ended up, we left Michigan State. He told me the story. We had a great time that weekend. And then we were keeping in touch, like, FaceTiming every day. And I was, like, just feeling awful for him of how he was feeling, like, feeling like this, like, pit his stomach. Because I'm going through camp knowing at any moment this could happen. Like, which is awful.

Horrible. Horrible. So I was like, okay, I got to do something for this guy. Like, what can I do? and if I wanted to surprise him at a game and it was Kansas City versus Rams and but I was like I didn't know him that well and I was like again like coming from the athlete perspective I don't want to just show up at this game if that's going to distract him so I somehow got his mom's number cold called his mom and was like hey I'm your son's friend um and she said she tells us so she's like yeah okay yeah I was like I just want to like I want to surprise him at the game like will you guys be there like how do I go about it how do I book a hotel um would this distract him and she's like oh my god no like come come so i end up meeting his parents they picked me up at the airport um and surprised him at the game wow they put me up with like a small ram shirt and i'm like i have lats out to here like great i'm like stretching it um yeah

like diesel lats um and then yeah like he ended up getting cut because of all of that like two months later flew back out to michigan and we decided we're in a bar and he's like just can't your flight. I'm like, okay, so I call, because back then you can't do it via half. I call, cancel my flight, and we convince his parents that it was a good idea for us to drive 20 hours from Michigan to Naples, Florida, where I still had a place and move in together. This is how soon after you met? We've been dating like a month. Wow. Yeah. You came a visit for like a day after I got released though. Yeah. Yeah. So it was like very, yeah, very like. I was pretty sad then, though. I remember I got released, like, got released, called Katie, had to drive home

from St. Louis. Stopped at McDonald's. Big Mac fries. You were done like seven minutes. You call me back. I was like, so I'm from like the smallest town. Like we didn't even have a stoplight. We have a blinking red light. Like, you know, one of my best friends had rodeos at this house. Like that's the kind of small town I talked about. And I remember it was like midnight and I call my best friend. I'm like, I'm going to get some beer like you got to come over. Like this sucks. And I stop and I have a ram shirt on still. And I go into the gas station. My small time is like did you hear a guy from napoleon that's my town is playing for the rams and i was like nope they didn't hear that because no one's playing there now based on this moment so

yeah what was it like getting cut for you like the actual moment yeah i had jeff fisher i mean he was well it's weird because it was like hey we're going to release you but we're going to bring you back so it wasn't really like i was getting cut you know but it was some it wasn't jeff fisher no it was he called you into no he in the office yeah yeah um but it wasn't like i was that sad because like you know i thought i was going get brought back for practice squad and i did pretty well and i fit the offense really well i mean there wasn't that many teams using a fullback but you know brian schottenheimer was the offense coordinator and it fit really well and then literally from i got released on whatever day that

was and then you know they did practice squad stuff i think three days later in between there is when the drug test came out that was it that just made me think remember the first time i got cut in Kansas City. We were in the hotel room that had us up at and I saw the call come through they just called me and I like that's like

I didn't pick it up the first of them They didn't even have a meeting and bring you even have a meeting They brought you in to return your playbook and everything But that was it. Oh wow Seahawks cut me over Twitter

Kid you not I got a call from my We found out I got a call and they were like Hey I just saw a tweet It's X Yeah my bad But I remember I didn't pick up

We didn't even all anymore in Kansas City I just like didn't want to pick up the phone like like that would like that wouldn't make it happen anymore that would actually solve my drug testing problem but then you're like reflecting back on that moment it's like it feels like the end of the world yeah you're like oh man this is the end of life as I know it and all my plans and hopes end here yeah and then you're like wait a second it goes it goes through like you know maybe it's like an hour of hurt maybe it's less could be more but Then you're like, at some point I was like, well, what the frick am I going to do then?

Here we go. It was weird for me, though, is I think this is how I knew I was ready to be done. It's like, it was like borderline, a sense of relief. Because like my body, like, you know, I was at surgery and my quad. Like, I just like, I was barely hanging on half the time. So you had multiple concussions. Like, so after those four games, like, I just, I didn't even like try to, you know, to do the whole, you know, free agency parade. I feel like the, especially with your career, having, like, gone the way it had and you had ended with the Olympic trials, I remember after Andrew got the call, there was a big group of Kansas City Chiefs players that we were meeting at Top Golf, and it was like tradition at this, on this day, on cut day, you would always go there with this big group, and it was like celebration and grief almost, but you were always together.

That's kind of cool, though. It wasn't cool if you got cut, because everyone's like, you know what to say. But it was very 50-50, and it was a lot of people who were, who understood the process. But I remember walking into the top golf and just seeing on people's faces, it was kind of like, oh, you could tell. But there's something about being a former athlete of, like, knowing. Because you know the weight. Whether you're done with it or not, you've invested so much. Yeah.

And I could just tell. especially the first time because you weren't ready to be done you thought you were signing an eight-year contract and we were going to be there we were looking at houses the guy who knew me out is still there like it would have been a 15 year career like

I blew it literally I blew it yeah and that the chief story was it was meant to me I lost my marbles too if they would have kept you way more Super Bowls for the chiefs so many more I think it's a dynasty it's nothing

but it was something but the look on your face and like understanding the weight that you felt of like knowing everything that you had ever trained for was done for in that moment yeah how did you as a new girlfriend like console him because you want to be like oh it's not a big deal but in your heart you're like I know you're dying inside a little bit the problem was that we were both dying yeah so like I had made the team he you know got cut I feel like I mean I feel like that piece like brought us together so much because it it was just like okay and for better for us we're just like let's we're just going to move on

together we're going to distract ourselves you know I think just having his presence and like you said having me it was an unspoken thing which is I understand you I don't need to and I think yours mine was like pow I'm like having an emotional breakdown like crisis his was like almost drawn out because he went in and like lingered for seven years like gradually and then mine all yeah but yeah like you he went in and started interning um with a performance facility that he trained out so you kind of just buried yourself and i actually remember thinking how is he fine like you know like we just have different ways of dealing with it but i just remember thinking like feeling bad like how am i this upset and just thinking like based on our conversations that he was good because he he

he buries I eject and yeah and I thought that was good you don't you know you think you're good till you're not it's kind of like you don't realize you were out of shape until you're in shape again yeah but yeah I just remember being very impressed with and I still like even though you were going through I feel like you did handle it so well of being like okay like you know I I went from walk on to being playing in the NFL and like having gratitude for that and then transferring into normal life but yeah there were a lot of i mean like we watched friday night lights together on one date night and we both started bawling like just bawling and i was not the movie to watch in that situation tim ever like puts the ring on his finger after they lose i was like

just like i'm like trying to like look away and like my contacts are just shoot i've been wearing these for three weeks i really need any of the first time i saw you cry yeah well as i get older happens more and more. Oh, it happens more. We watch a TikTok and just be like, I'm on the airplane watching TikTok and I'm just like crying. I had to emotionally consult Todd

over text history. Yeah? We made it through. What? Just said. I did text your brother yesterday or two days ago and I said by far Andrew has taken the crown

for the worst text or I know. No, no, here's the thing. People call it bad texting or. No, he just chooses. He chooses not. That's worse. I know. Because that's borderline disrespectful.

People say I'm a bad texter, but I call it unapologetically unavailable, bro. And it's like, here's the thing. But are you unavailable? You just don't care enough to respond to certain texts. Is that something different? No, I have different things. There's, I, no offense. Like, I got kids running around.

I got Sean. Right. I'm my wife. And it's like, there's a hierarchy of things that I'm concerned with. So I'm below on an algorithm based on the lot. No, you text me yesterday. He said, hey, what's going on? I take care of things.

But if it's like, you're going to the sky. If you go into the soccer game, I'm not going to respond. It's like, not important. Or like, hey, did you see that? Not important. Sean and I leave. Anyway, no, no, this is good. I am curious, though, because the story goes both ways.

You mentioned you were sick in 2012 for the 2012 Olympics. You did write a book called Blueprint, which we can link information for down below. You share a lot of this. But your story is in and of itself a wild ride. Could you share with some of that? Yeah. I mean, I feel like roller coaster is the best. like metaphor of my career um so i mean oh so i made the team i can relate to your story of being

young i made my first team at fifth just turned 15 made this huge improvement leading up to 04 um not expecting to make the olympics and suddenly it was like i won to avenge at trials now i'm going the olympics you know my coach isn't there like it just was a crazy experience ended up being top eight getting seventh but still the media kind of coming after me for not meddling pick myself back up had like a really amazing four years leading up to 08 and just kind of like raise the bar on myself again so not now it wasn't just like okay like you know win your first Olympic medal win some gold medals it was like oh I'm breaking world records and I went of five events at trials I signed this long speedo contract and all the parallels are perfectly aligning with

Michael Phelps like every single thing like training in Baltimore speedo contract young you know young Olympian which super big honor but not like I was I didn't have five world records I didn't have that type of accolade but you did have world records at one yeah I mean that's something no for for sure but I'm saying like I always was like how people would start saying female Phelps and I was always like thank you but that setting like he's he's going for eight gold medals like that is whole thing in 08 and so for me like thinking about that it was like okay so if I do anything less than that or even like you know greatly less than that it's a fail and so I win five events at trials in 08 it's going great stars are aligning um go to the games

and have actually like which I can now reflect back on as like a really successful meet for me like right off my best time which was the road record in the 4 a.m. It just happened to be that two girls were better that day and I won my first Olympic medal with the bronze. I never forgot like walking through the maze and the media at it in every single part. No one was like, great job first Olympic medal. Everyone was like, what happened?

Like, are you, are you okay? Like, all right, brush it off. Day one of nine. I ended up winning my first international on the four hundred free. Get touched out by seven hundredths of a second for gold. So I get silver.

Seven one hundred. Seven hundredths. Zero. Seven. Wow. Yeah. So that was a stinger. End up breaking the American record,

which was mine and the 200 free. Get fourth. three other girls were better that day our relay breaks the world record in the four by two I anchor in the fastest time but American the Aussies and Chinese also break the world record and we get bronze

so it's just like I was having great swims it's just on that particular day I wasn't at that moment the best in the world and so I ended with three medals American record but it was just like everyone I left those games

like just sad Like when we saw each other, like I was so sad at those closing ceremonies. Like I was just like I failed. Like I failed. This was my moment. I screwed up. And I always talk about like I wish I had the maturity and perspective that after those games to like take a second not go right back into a training and like deal with it.

Like deal with all of the baggage that came from that. And I didn't. I just like went right back into it. So, oh, oh eight or after the Olympics to 12. was like a train back. I just like couldn't find my like couldn't find my rhythm just you're still young you're how old now I'm at that point I'm 19 yeah so couldn't find my rhythm moved to California like switched coach it just had no self-esteem just felt so much like I failed everybody hit trials in 12 got sick at the trials I didn't make the team and then was like I'm done like

I must be a masochist like why like I'm not enjoying this. That's when we met. It's like the silver lining of like why I didn't make that team. And then kind of like slowly but surely like through the year and a half, two years off, I was like, man, like I don't know if I like fully am done. Like I would love to be in Olympic games and just stand and look around and be like, wow, this is so cool. You know, like I, people always like, you're an Olympian. Was the Olympics so amazing? And I'm always like, it was stressful. You know, I'm never like. I don't remember. It was so fun. You know, I wanted that. You know, I wanted that moment. So going into, so I decided to make a comeback basically in 2014. And he was so

supportive. Like he didn't rush me. He was just like, I just feel like how you talk. Like there's like unfinished business. And it was going so well. Like I was enjoying the process. I was, I felt like I had this awesome relationship with my coach. Or was that partnership. And then a year out from no year and a half out went to this national championships which is like the qualifier for world championships which is the kind of the precursor to the Olympics sorry I'm not getting emotional I just was sick last week and had this like weird pain in my rib and long story short ended up having a pulmonary embolism in my right long which is for those who don't know because I didn't is a blood clot so I had two blood clots in my right lung

which which is very very dangerous very like 100,000 people yeah yeah every six minutes one and three people yeah every six minutes someone someone dies when a blood clot um and so ended up being like okay the whole point of this is I'm trying to make a comeback to enjoy this and I was just like struggling breathing every day and basically the doctors were like yeah you can you can try this but like you know having reduced lung capacity is kind of an issue when you are trying to make an Olympic team and be the top 0-001%. And so ultimately I ended up retiring in 2015 and I was just like, I just, I mean, I was the verse version of my,

I was depressed. It was sad too because like, one, I was excited to kind of like see the, like go through the process. I hadn't been to a game of the third and just like, you know, just experience it. It would have been so fun. And also. Anderson, I'm like half instead of a haw. Yeah. Well, then also like before she had the pulmonary ambulance up into that point,

people knew she was kind of making a comeback but like she was like going fast and it was like going to be like her coming out party like after this this uh meet people were going to realize like oh she was like back and uh it just didn't work out yeah yeah and i feel it felt so bad like we were at we weren't even engaged yet and i had a not a spasm but like the blood clout i don't know if it hit on a nerve it was so painful i couldn't take an air so I passed out like face down in our hotel hotel room like pitcher and my coach of the time was just like Todd like what do you think like he was like having to make like this her boyfriend I wasn't like I don't like like I don't know like because you call an ambulance and you know you're not going to be able to compete like people don't think of that but you know how it is at that level like yeah calling an ambulance then you're not going to be able to compete that day and like which doesn't seem that important but like when you put your life into something yeah it was heavy for sure I mean I feel like we got to know each other real fast in the beginning.

Yeah. But it was tough. It was tough. It felt so bad for you. I feel like so much of your guys' story is something we talk about a lot, which is like, which is what we bonded over pretty much. Trauma. Trauma.

Is this identity crisis that all athletes go through. A lot of athletes fail to ever talk about it because they don't want to like recognize it. But I mean, I went through a horrible depression when I retired. I tried to make a comeback for 2012. end up retiring, lost every ounce of who I was. Didn't know how to function as a human being. And that's when I met Andrew,

which is funny. I feel like we have very similar stories. And I even tried to hide it from him, but you guys went through it together. And to a certain extent, like, you got to see her almost try to come back from it. Like she started regaining confidence. Yeah.

Back in her sport, though. Not as an individual as a swimmer. again yeah which is my whole reason why I went back into my sport I lost who I was and the only time I knew who I was was when I was a gymnast yep and it I feel like to a certain extent being both professional athletes it makes sense like you can support it you get excited for it because that's how you define yourselves yeah when you finally retire you get healthy you guys have moved past football you've moved past swimming how do you build a life together without either This episode is brought to you by Defender.

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Tim's new protein lattes, Protein without all the work at participating restaurants in Canada I'm training for fall camp right now I've got a great therapist for you I mean I feel like it's taken us so long I mean I feel like we took bait we kept it was almost like two steps forward one step back like we moved I move to Chicago we moved to New York we moved to Michigan

And I always felt like, I don't know how you guys feel about this. It's like, I feel like right now is the first time ever that like we're both like in a good spot. Because throughout, you know, we've, what, married eight years, two days ago, been together 10 years. Happy anniversary. Thank you. And I think it was always like, okay, like he was doing good and I was in crisis. And then like when I was doing good, you were in crisis. And I remember we even said like, my God, can we get?

on the same page like what is happening um and i actually always felt like my crises happened more often which always gave me a lot of guilt um but i think it was i think for us as as a couple it was just the underlying foundation of we are here for each other no matter what we're going to grow together we're going to take risks together if someone wants to go out and quit their like i quit my job and was like i'm going to write this book he was like do it you know it was never like uh i think both sides it was never like uh like selfishly like don't do that because i want to stay in this city it's like we want to move to new york and we need to do it you know that was always how we have operated it was wild i feel like even like from the point where

i was released and we were like kind of going to move in together even though we were like a month in it felt like from that point forward no matter what happens like we're in it together like it didn't ever feel like it was a we were dating it was like we're we're going to get through and put any task at hand it might be horrible but it never felt like that was ever a question no like from honestly from the get-go um which we've done a lot of scary stuff i would say that you know moving and different risks but like when you have that you know when you always have someone to fall back on in the support system and like a consistent person in your life i mean there's very few things more powerful than that and it allows you to take risks and like you know it it it

you know for me at least just knowing you know I always had her like there's so many things that I wouldn't have done if that wasn't the case I mean I probably would live in Michigan never have done all the stuff that we've done so I'm from a small town I'd probably be back in my small town you know which isn't necessarily a bad thing but super grateful for the you know the the confidence that gives you to kind of like go after things and Katie's a go-getter like she puts her head down and you know just goes for whatever um so like sometimes I need that push and so it's been we're good ying and yang I would say sometimes I need like all right you're out of 10 this is really a three I got like I feel like we are like I'm like urgency aggression yeah and you're like okay like stay stay steady stay calm he's like the rock of the relationship I have another question sorry I feel like I'm taking over um the other thing I'm curious about with you too which we've had to learn firsthand when I was finally like completely retired when we started dating and then watching him go through the career and now we do like the whole yin-yang thing with like businesses and like whatever it is

how do you guys tame the elite mindsets that you are capable of of pushing each other and supporting each other at the same time because there were times within the NFL I was like what are what are you doing I can tell you're not giving it you're all yeah and I'm like you need to train harder but in the back Am I know it's like I want to hear about this Little to Sean know I literally I've never had this like Intensity that she taps into and I feel like You both have this as well oh no I'm on a different level than me intense oh so I'm like I'm like 80%

Like I got a diet plan I'm gonna do it 80% and I'm good with that dude I'll do it 80% for the rest of my life Sean is like I will do it I will do it more intense than anyone's ever done this And adhere to it to a T yeah but then it's like it has a this interesting effect where I have that's why there's Olympians and that's why there's guys who got released you know what I'm saying but Sean is like you're not giving your all I'm like yeah I mean it's just not as good as yours yeah like it's just different because I think I think you are just like you guys are you're but we're all capable of tapping into an extreme mindset

the fact that you guys even went for the NFL and we're in the NFL means you have an extreme mindset yeah and which like you can't downplay the NFL is the Olympics. It is the NFL. But there's a really hard dynamic that we've had to work on of trying to figure out when to tap into it as a teammate and a coach and a supporter and also realize, oh, I'm also your spouse and I need to make sure that this isn't like an identity crisis and I need to be holding your hand and we need to talk through this. Yeah. Which would be hard coming from both of your backgrounds. starting new businesses, going for comebacks. How did you guys figure out that dynamic? Are you still working on it? Because we are.

Well, I would say, well, ongoing. Definitely. I mean, I think that from a sport perspective, like Katie, I've been around a lot of elite athletes. I have never witnessed anything close to the level of dedication. And not dedication, the willingness to take yourself to a place of like, like Katie would die to accomplish goals. in the pool. It was crazy to witness, honestly. Literally almost did. Like, I was trying to get

back in the pool. Yeah. And so, like, and obviously I'm, I'm, I'm her husband, but I'm very fair. And when things are not, I'm not, honestly, I'm the least biased spouse out there, I swear. And I've never witnessed anything like it. Because you'll call me on it when I'm not. Yeah. So, as far as, like, sport, I didn't have to say a thing. Like, I actually trained her in training side at the end. And I, I mean, I had no question she would do exactly what was asked. So that wasn't. So that wasn't. hard. I think the hardest thing was just honestly keeping perspective outside of it and getting you to do things just to enjoy yourself.

So that wasn't too hard. But now. I think honestly too it's kind of good when we started dating because with football you don't really know enough to like even get involved. You know so. Yeah you mean like yeah I don't feel like I ever I mean I feel like for me I've grown like you do operate differently like think about like the way that they're like we opt like in terms like I'm very task oriented like check check check check check check check like I want to do it right away and so you know we have our business together and so he is like creative does it on a different schedule

and so that is definitely I would say an area of conflict that we've had to work through where it's like trust that okay he's going to get it done he's going to do it at a high level trust in that he's not going to do it your way but that doesn't mean it's better or you know and so i think that's been i mean i think our biggest thing is like um coaching each other or giving each other confidence like i think that's what we do the best i think both of us are like driven enough or they're going to go after it but we sometimes we'll have imposter syndrome or self-doubt and reassuring people like even like what katy just said about her swimming career she's like oh like i wasn't at Michael Phelps's level.

But the time that she's talking about that, she won USFC sports woman of the year two times. Yeah. Which is the best female athlete of any sport. Yes. Which is at the level of that. So like even to now, like she doesn't fully give herself credit then or in business and beyond.

So I think reassuring each other actually is probably what we do the most of. I also feel like we because we're so, I don't say hard on each other, but we're so honest of like, yeah, babe, like that was Roth for like you know like we're really honest so that the times when he does reassure me or vice versa I know it's 100% the truth and he's not just trying to gas me up like I've heard the bad and then when you say like wow that was really good you crushed that I'm like

okay like he really means that you know so I got to say Katie uh known Todd for whatever it is seven months six whatever we said and every time he talks about you it's really tender loving and like supportive and I uh it's not always a case that's not it's not always how husbands talk about wives that's not always how I talk about my wife and it's uh been inspirational for me so I appreciate that we've sat in this room with a lot of couples and and one of ander and I's like love languages is like trash talking each other yeah in a loving way yeah but it is really cool to see how you talk about Katie it's not something we've I've actually seen in this room it's rare yeah it's really special. What do you guys attribute?

So you say you're on the same page, maybe for the first time ever. Yeah. Why? Man, why? I feel like... I think... You go ahead. I think we both took leaps

at the same time. I mean, you wrote your book. I stopped doing it. I was doing it with Equinox and, you know, started different things, and I think it just kind of aligned. think it was intentional, but I think we kind of both sorted out what we wanted to do. And like you talked about, like sorted out that kind of not identity, but just, you know, what brought us joy. And it just aligned like at the same time. I also think because we've moved around so

much, like we've kind of tried so many different things that we both came to a point of like, all right, here are our eight priorities, values, you know, where we want to live, what we want to see in our life what we prioritize i mean moving to nashville was a big piece of that like we remember sitting at a table in a coffee shop we were going to move to austin and you were like i have a bad gut feeling and i'm right you're right i kind of do too i don't feel like it's going to incorporate everything we need and obviously like so so happy that we made the pivot and moved to nashville but yeah i think we just kind of got just like our it's weird i actually haven't ever thought of it like this but we met and our pals were like very at a similar point we were just kind of at low point and i

feel like we're now have timed it up that we're both and we have our stuff and like our challenges but like we're both at a point where we're like okay like we're in a really great spot together and then and then individually um which is why I think the first time like we've talked about this like we want to have a family we want to have kids and like it's the first time we felt like okay like I think we're in a good spot for that which is a really cool thing to say the meeting you guys I mean as far as the move goes and just like you know having a a support group and friend group like super impactful so you guys have such a amazing community here yeah yeah we worked really hard for it i just wish i would see todd more

you know i would open up that i would wish you would text him back more what we're i'm curious we'll have to figure this up you did that i want to revisit the uh the sauna ratio of the visits so you guys got here so we can come back to that what we're you said eight things you don't have to list them all But what were some of these things that you contributed to you moving or that you were looking for? I think it sounds kind of crazy. Like just energy of the city, energy of the people in the city. I think it's very apparent of the people that are here that, you know, they're all all driving towards more. Like no one here is ever just settling, right?

And I think that's how we feel of like, okay, you can have it all. You could have a family. You can have an amazing relationship. But you can also, you know, start a business. and go after that. And I think we hadn't really felt that anywhere we've lived. And part of it might just be us and what we're putting out. I think just space, like we had thought about moving back to New York.

But we work from home having our own offices and having a place, a home where we- Having literally your own spa. Literally our own-womeness retreat, yes. But just like just feeling like we used to want to travel all the time. And now we're like, can't wait to get back home and just being. in our kind of sanctuary. And I think there's like values down here. Like people treat each other pretty well.

Everyone's pretty friendly. Everyone's so kind. Yeah, that's, um, if you're listening, don't move here. Yeah, yeah. There's pros and cons of every city, but this seemed to be kind of like in the middle with all the pros and, you know,

what we're looking for. Yeah. You said in 2012 that it wasn't okay. Like after that, after that, how do you view it now? now I think I think the 16 is the more one that stings I think 12 I was already in a bad place like mentally my passion for the sport and so I actually view 12 as just a blessing because I got to like if I had made the team and gone off like I don't and gone off to London I don't think I would have not con and visited you you would have gone off to camp like I don't know if we would have connected maybe we would have but I view it as like well I got an awesome husband out of it like i'll trade that all day long um you'll take a husband over a gold yeah this one i'm just it's into i mean it is like that's what i love about getting old that's what i

love about getting older is like perspective uh yeah and like the things that you were bummed about you get a different take on it like oh wow might not have met tot if sean was competing in 2012 we wouldn't have met yeah and that was a biggest blessing of your life for sure the biggest blessing ever made for sure i was going to say it's funny because we have any we've never even talked about the olympics together ever no no um we have very similar stories it's actually not like hearing you say like oh 2012 2012 like our proposal story like everything there's a lot of alignment it's weird but in 2012 i was trying to make it come back clinical depression horrible yeah lost my identity found it again

kind of got this like F.U mentality in gymnastics just took off I was like stagnant for a while and took off the year before and I was like on the route loved it had figured out my rhythm had figured out everything and just didn't have the support from our federation

in horrible ways and I was just like peace out went to the Olympics and got to go see a USA cycling event Because I was just, I just went to watch. Yeah. And met his older brother, who set us upon a blind date there. It's so crazy. Like, had I been competing, there's no chance.

No. But. Blind date. It meant to be. Yeah. Pretty much. I started my first social media account because I heard. Really?

Which was what? He de-ended me. No, MySpace? No. I was after MySpace. I was my space. Twitter and Facebook. Twitter was big when I first met you.

member yeah because he was like in 2012 yeah yeah it was like the big thing that was yeah the uh yeah like the self image thing is so interesting as an athlete like because you've succeeded by all measures yes you know what i'm saying you're katie hawf come on i'm sorry that was a slap to the face it's like what what are you benchmarking against though katy anderson is i didn't even want her to change a name i didn't care yeah he really didn't he was like change if you want you i'm like no You don't know you ski off, so, like, I mean, it really doesn't matter me at all. Yeah. But I was like, I like Anderson.

But, yeah, I mean, I feel like it's something I've recently discovered. It's like, I mean, everyone talks about it, right? It's like there's documentaries. Like, every single athlete talks about it. And it's like, where is that coming from? Where is it sourced? And, I mean, I feel like it, like, for me, it was just this addiction to the affirmation to people saying, like, it was, I don't ever, yes, I swam for myself. but like I mean starting at like eight or nine years old it was like oh my gosh you won that race and

people are like overwhelming you with good job that's amazing and like so the intertwining just becomes so knotted up and tangled because you're eight or nine years old like how can you be like okay people are saying great job to me and liking me just because I'm me and like the you know winning a race is just a a cherry on top it becomes oh no that's why people like me so I need to keep doing that and I need to keep you know upping the ante on myself no longer is breaking a state record I've done that so like in order to get people to still keep liking me I mean I need to like go and like get a national age group record you know like you just keep raising the bar and I think that's why you know after I mean 04 I felt that way and then after oh oh 4 it was similar to you

say like an FU attitude it was like no no I'm going to prove to everyone that I'm here to stay this wasn't luck like I just I mean I came back and I just trained like a savage like for four years and I was like on this redemption revenge tour which is not the reason you should be doing things but it fuels it for a short time but um I don't know how I don't I thought about it a lot like how do you prevent that because part of it is part of that obsession is also why athletes are the best of the world like it's very very like I know a few people have done it but it's very difficult to be like oh I'm going to have balance while I'm trying to be the best in the world like it doesn't really work um so i think i mean i think the awareness piece is key like people i didn't really have

like a coach that was like okay like but like you're still great like even if you don't break this world record you know it was no like break the world record i go warm down next event you know there wasn't that appreciation and so it just became untangleable i felt like i'm thankful for you Katie. I'm thankful for you. Yeah. Do you deal with a, well, like, the, I've thought about this with my own life. It's like, okay, because that, that amount of identity tying to performance does push you to, like, a further place, maybe, out of, like, fear.

But then when that ends, it's like, so does your identity or self-confidence. I don't know what the balance is, but anyway. Yeah, I mean, I think self-confidence is always something I have a hard time with, which is funny, because people always think the opposite. If people are like, Todd's not short on confidence, and I'm like, he's pretty good at faking it when he doesn't happen. Well, I feel like even from the beginning, like, you know, I never had any scholarship offers.

I'm always, like, thrust in these situations that I'm not quite ready for in, like, every step of the way it's been like that. So there's always this, like, I lucked into it, or I'm, like, I'm sneaking by type of situation. So I always feel like that. But it's not necessarily true. Well, and he always says that. I'm always like, okay, so you just got like lucky situations like eight times.

Like, no, no. Like you create that. Like you bring that. You work your butt off. Like who goes from a walk on to an NFL player? Nobody, you know? So back at you with the, I read the quote. This morning I read it.

It was such a good quote. Oh, about imposter syndrome? It was like imposter syndrome goes away when you wholeheartedly believe in your end story. It's just true. So in some sense, it's just like, you know, where I want to go, what I want to do, there's the self-doubt that that's how it's going to end up. But I think the more and more you start to believe in that and you get the momentum, like that kind of goes away. But I think a lot of people often define or think about what that end story looks like or even know what they want. And they just kind of, at least I did that, kind of drift through, you know, you don't have an identity because you don't really have an idea of what would make you happy or what's fulfilling and what you want in life.

so you're never going to have an identity because there's no path to that there's there's not even a finish it's just this wandering looking for probably things like affirmation and you know you play like football for example you run out in front of 100,000 people I mean you know that's that's a feeling that you you kind of like it's amazing and it's a world class experience not many people get to experience but I think sometimes people try to chase that type of like high and that feeling and it's you have to like reroute and and you know find that in different ways. That's interesting. I think there's a, you mentioned when you and Katie met there's like, you're just,

there's no question you're in it together. And then like that, when you have an envision that you fully believe in, I think that's such a powerful concept that I've been intrigued in by the past couple months in relationships and business. It's like, it's the ability. to say no to all the other things and yes to the one thing that you do want increases your odds of that working out

like the odds of success drastically because you're like burning the boats going all in on this and so I'm going to do whatever it takes to make that work as opposed to always peeking over your shoulder and looking at other options like oh maybe that's a better one jump ship you have to restart it's like almost compounding

you know people talk about compounding interest with finances it applies to other areas of life relationships it's like you stick to doing one thing long enough it's going to be successful like it's going to work out it's going to grow in whatever sense of that word but i think even in business people don't even have like the they don't even think about what what what what what's the end goal that you want why are we doing this yeah i think a lot of times people are like i want to start business i'm going to raise money i'm going to grow it and make a hundred million well it's like well why do you want to sell it for that amount like why do you need Like, what would make you happy?

How much do you need? Do you ever, do you need to sell? Do you want to sell it? Do you enjoy what you're doing? Like, I don't think, I think people just, it's just like more, more, more, go, go bigger, bigger. But really, like, have you ever thought about where you want to end up? I also think that's like, like, you have that such a good skill set. I always say, like, he has, like, I feel like I'm like a, like, grind it, put my head down.

Like, he has such, like, like, CEO vibes of, like, being able to see this big picture and zoom out and see a 30,000 foot view. Like, that is not my strength. And I always lean on him for that. It's like you're able to like zoom out and be like, okay, like let's look ahead. Like let's see like, you know, why we're doing this and like what goes into it. And like you're able to, even with the podcast like you're the podcast now, like you're able to do that. And I'm not. And so I feel like that's a huge skill set that you almost take for granted that like everyone kind of has that.

But it's a very specific skill that I think you've grown, but I think it's innately in you. What are you guys goals now? well we would like to start a family ASAP so that's one I would say I'm excited I can't wait any tips any tips twice a value game oh my gosh I mean proof is in the pudding yeah it works ovulation tests oh yeah I don't temperature I got the whole I mean month one I was like casual about it and then I was like order this order that I'm in this like aggressive getting all these boxes showing up and I'm like, I have no idea. He's like, what are these strips that doesn't want

ovulation sticks? Also, reduce your caffeine, boys. Oh. That's huge. That's huge. I didn't know that. I'm going to go hide all of the caffeine. You'll hide all of it.

You've got to have energy, too, though. It's endurance. Moderation. It's two times. It's making me tired. It's thinking about it. I'm so excited to listen to this in like two years when they have a baby. I know.

I will say this is. Just forecasting, because I believe you guys are going to be phenomenal parents. But I think our stories are very similar in this identity, not issue, but just like journey. I'm trying to figure it out. Kids changed the game for us. Really? We were paralyzed, terrified of having children. I had never babysat before.

We had never changed a diaper before. It's definitely scary. I'm not saying I'm not scared. And it changes everything. but it changed everything for us it puts so much into perspective that you're just you never realize as an athlete and it's it's just the coolest coolest part of life yeah we're excited i mean huge step like you're mad i show this but like um at missy missy and hayes uh kate's birthday party like kate is obsessed with him like even last night like she was like pick me up pick me

up and he was just like it didn't freak me out then I was holding a baby I'm always like holding him like I'm gonna break this thing same the first few times Andrew held like our friends babies before we had babies he was like holding them like this and I was like it's okay you're they're not

gonna hurt them they're resilient little buggers yeah well especially he's like he's like the block guy from Avengers it's just like running through everything it's been cool though to see you guys guys and then a lot of people you know down here in the friend group like doing really cool stuff

all different avenues of life but then having like amazing balance because I think that's pretty rare a lot of times like you know they're very career oriented or you know I don't know I just think there's like it's it's cool to see such a spectrum of different things people are doing but that balance and like the you know values are so consistent especially you in your guys' circles. So that's been inspiring. Like the fact that you got, like I know for a fact that I am covered.

Like any possible question I have with pregnancy or, you know, right when the baby, like I feel like I'm good, I'm good to go. So you're from a guy's perspective. It's rare to have a group of guys so that you can like talk about being a dad and like feel comfortable about it.

Like that's not normal. Like for most guys, I feel like moving here, like from a wanting to start a family perspective has been super, super inspirational. I will say that was one of our biggest motivations in starting the game nights, like building this community, was we had so many, we were one of the first one-step kids in our group, and we had so many people telling us that, like, our social life was over, our careers were done, like, all of these things. We weren't going to travel, and we just kind of made it a point as soon as we had kids. We were like, nothing, we don't have to change anything.

We had a friend. I actually remember who it was. who is the one that was sitting there with us waiting to get the call from the Kinsey Chiefs. She's the one who said, your life is whatever you want to make it with kids. I like I love that. Shout out to Amy. Shout out Amy. Yeah.

It actually sharpened your focus. It does. And says, this is what I want most. And then so it's like we had six different projects we were trying to work on when we had kids. And I was like, then you try to, the tough part with transitioning into being a parent is like you try to maintain. all the things you were doing before for a little bit, while also adding this massive responsibility.

And then at some point you're like, can't do it anymore. You prune the activities a little bit. It becomes very apparent what you truly are passionate about. Which is cool. Honestly, one of my biggest fears is lack of sleep. Oh, yeah. He's like, I feel like you have to surrender to the fact that...

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insurance, investments, advice. Have your teeth always been this white? They're fake. Because I hope for the wrestling. broke them in wrestling high school and then they like they just fixed it and then I had to, do you have to brush them? Yes. What do you mean how to brush them? I don't know how fake teeth work. I mean, your mouth is

gross. I guess you pop them out. I got you dinchers? No, no, they're permanent. They're in there. They're like if you broke. Have you just been staring at them? Touch them? Yeah. Oh my. Andrew Dean. It's like feels like a normal too. That's what Clint did For your tooth.

It's like if you get. They're amazingly white. Literally, you're a chip. Well, when you have to get them all done, then you can... Because it would have been, like, it would have been bad. They would, like, just do the whole thing. But exactly what Clint does for your tip? You just do that for, like, all.

They went a little on the white side, but... No, I disagree. I think it makes you look... It makes you look to have to get the bottom done. Oh, I am pretty tanning. I'm a little slumber that run the other day. What do you think is more effective to, like, make your teeth look wider? Whitening your teeth or just getting a tan?

that is a bombshell question probably whitening your teeth I think you brought up teeth like probably four times in general so I'm just curious like are you going through like are you thinking about doing teeth whitening or like what's going on have I talked about teeth a lot

I don't know no like not just this time I'm saying like in the past I just appreciate a nice smile Honestly, I think it might be the first feature that I look at in someone. It's like, do they smile a lot? Done. Also, I'm going to go full circle real quick and share something with you. The first month we were dating, I think it's the first week we were dating.

This is just something about Andrew, which you've already learned firsthand. He told me, and we were long distance. So I would fly out to Nashville, I'd see him, and then I'd go back home because I was living in Des Moines. He said, I don't text. I don't text. He said, I feel like texting is this like super, or like superficial level of conversation. He's like, I would rather stockpile all these in-depth conversations

that will have face to face. And literally from the first week, because I was a textor. Were you like, oh my God? It, once I got past the trust issue of it, of like, why aren't you wanting to, like, communicate with me living a thousand miles away, whatever. I was going through yesterday. Yeah, but it is interesting.

We can walk me through that. I'll walk you through it. It only took me 10 years. I only have nine years and four months. But I say that because like, what is interesting is every time we ever got back together and you'll learn this firsthand, he will have his list. He's like, we need to talk through all of these things.

It's like an agenda. See, the problem is is when on the list is like what time am my coming over today. You can't really bank that for four days later and you talk on the phone. See, we're still working through that. Got it. Yeah. We could cut all that.

But you mentioned sleep. I want that in there. Wait, we got to let them go. No, we have to talk about what they're freaking doing because they both have massive things. Massive, yes. They're going through because you mentioned sleep. And you, I love your videos that you create. It's super crispy.

Teeth look great. The lighting is on point. It's all about. it's all about health and now you're pretty deep into the sleep game tell us how yeah i mean so i got to meet with dr jennifer martin from UCLA probably i don't know seven or eight years ago and spend like a few days with her she's one of the top sleep psychologists in the world and i think that's like why i'm super passionate about the stuff we're doing now is because the psychology side of sleep is way more important than the physiology and the data right so like your mindset but

that like really sparked my interest and then I started speaking on it and speak I spoke quite a bit teams and companies in New York on the stuff and um just seeing what like massive impact changing someone's sleep has like as far as like changing one behavior like when you when you talk to somebody or they're using different products and like you're getting messages about how life changing it is it's like it's super fulfilling so started doing that and then I never did any content any video on it I mean going back to like the self-confidence thing yeah I can make excuses but it's hard to put a camera up and just talk about educational topics and started doing it, you know, in November and, you know, it really went well taken off and get a lot of

great feedback from people when they implement it. So like that kind of drives me to keep doing it. But yeah, I think sleep is like if somebody isn't sleeping well and then they can change that aspect of their life, like every bucket in the life gets better, which is rare. There's not many like, there's not many silver bullets like that. And that's why I think I just hone in. because the impact it has. Do you want me to mention the name of your company? Go ahead. At my mind, I'm like, that's great.

We're like... Take us to the next step. Dream recovery. Dream recovery, yeah. So all holistic sleep products. I'm really excited we're coming out pink moth tape next month. So we're donating 10% of profits to breast cancer awareness. And, you know, I think, I honestly think with like sleep and stuff,

the female demographic especially is. It's kind of been neglected a bit from like a snoring and just breathing issues and, you know, support on that end because it's more like a luxury thing, I would say on that side. But, and a lot of guys struggle more snoring, which is an easier symptom to pinpoint. But, like, you know, there's a lot of females that mouth breathe and they use the mouth tape and they feel significantly better. And just because you don't snore doesn't mean you're not, you're not breathing through your mouth. And, you know, nasal breathing is kind of the king for solid sound sleep. So it's cool. Like the pink, I think, will help kind of spread the awareness on that side of things.

I am 100% bought in because he slept the other night with mouth tape on the whole night on his back and never snored. And I was like, this is the greatest thing ever. So now she'll hit me at like midnight. Put it on. She's like, put some mouth tape on. Yeah. Stop snoring. Do you feel a difference like when you wake up?

You know what, the most interesting, so first of all, for those listening, do yourself a favor, go look up Cliff Notes version in the book, Breathe, you'll learn about nose breathing and the importance of it. James Nestor. And then try out, go to Dream Recovery and check out Mouth Tape. Pretty reasonable, approachable price to experiment with. That was a goal. And there's some other sleep products on there too, but I was intimidated to try sleep tape for the first time. Because it's like, what a while you're breathing, covering up one of your inhale exhale. outlets right um but the biggest thing that i think i get from it is not having and i didn't

know until i did it but not having this feeling of disgusting germs in my mouth like i'm not i'm not a germ guy but my mouth i will get like canker soresors right which i think maybe is related and um and so the i think having that orifice that a weird word that's a great word it's it is but it can be weird it can't be having that tape did like less bacteria yeah so like when you think about that well when you're so um when your pH of your mouth right so 7 is basically like neutral like waterish and the pH of your mouth is under like 5.5 it starts like deteriorate like you're it creates overgrowth of bacteria and your teeth break down you're it's like you bad breath and like basically the

microbiome of your mouth is going a bad direction and when you mouth breathe it all night they've measured it at like 3.4. Your pH drops way down. So when you're mouth breathing, morning kisses. It's not just like, it's not just like dry mouth. It's like,

oh, you're like basically creating an environment that for bad mouth health. Yeah. And so, yeah. But the one thing with the mouth tape, though, like people use like all sorts of crazy tapes

and like that was the one. Like it's on your face for eight hours. Yeah. So you need to know like what's on it and in it in the adhesive. Like that's the sketchy part. If it's a pretty natural transition though, like you tape that off and then your body automatically just knows and it's nice but yeah it's just

it's just getting people to try it I mean I was like I mean it's my husband's company and it took me like 30 days like I tried once I'm like I've so much anxiety around this we launched me at the same time she was trying it for the first time and I've been doing it for a long time because it is a little scary I recommend people that you know put it on watch TV for 30 minutes and just you'll start to realize like I'm fine but now I like I don't even I don't know how you feel about it but like I forget when I wake up in the morning I forget that it's on and I'm like oh you know I literally do and I go to say something to him and I'm like oh I sewed the mouth tape on it's actually really nice too because when I'm ready to go to bed I'll just put the mouth tape on

and there's no more talking yeah if you're in an argument it's just go to bed and he's actually done that we're like in the middle of like talking like and he's like don't you put that mouth tape on he puts it on no yeah it's tough when you need to say something afterwards we all like text each other yeah to say something but we are going out with like ear plugs no strips performance pillowcases a whole bunch of stuff next month so say we'll link it down we'll give you the whole you know package to try out you got to have all sorts of stuff all over your face you'll just have to press pause on the earplugs for a little bit for the babies yeah yeah gotta hear the crying oh just for andra he'll just knocked out respect

You mean just for me. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You have exciting stuff going on too, Katie. I do. I mean, I don't know if we're supposed to know. Yeah, so Missy, another Olympic teammate who has been on this podcast, we are coming out with a podcast as well. Not sure if we're supposed to announce this, but, you know, we'll go for it. Why not?

Why not? So, yeah, I just really, it's been really cool because Missy and I were, I was 0408, she was 12 and 16. I actually knew Hayesmore, her husband, and I've gotten to know her on such a deeper level since moving here, which has been, I feel like we are really similar, like a good yin and yang of personalities and strengths. And so we've been kind of working on all the logistics. As we've been calling it, like in swimming, there's Christmas training,

and it's like all, it's just hard and it's grueling. And you do it so you get to taper, which is like before a big meet. So we've been saying all right now is like Christmas training, we're getting everything in line and making decisions and we have a pretty aggressive launch date, which is going to be not in 2024. So we are pumped to be able to provide a space for swimmers and athletes of just kind of like we've been talking about, going beyond, how do you feel about that record, how do you feel about

that race? What are you interested in and what makes you you? And being able to provide that, I think, just gets us, like every time we talk, I just got such a dopamine hit. We met on Sunday and we're going through details and to have that. Just a goal that we're both so pumped about has been really cool. It's also cool knowing Missy's story a bit and Katie. Just that you guys are both in a place that you're excited about that five years ago.

That would not be anything you'd be remotely interested in. Yeah, we're excited to go to trials and be back in the swimming world. And like that's, yeah, from a healing journey perspective for both of us, like it's a massive step. And it's just kind of happened super organically. I like text her. I'm like, I don't even know she's going to say yes to me. And she was like, yes in all caps. And so that's been fun.

We're excited for it. Thank you. Thank you guys for the time. Thank you. Thank you. So fun.