Mick Unplugged - Lauren Sisler | Resilience on the Sidelines: Journey of Personal Triumph

Episode Date: July 20, 2024

Mick Hunt and Lauren Sisler delve deep into Lauren's compelling life story, highlighting her rise as a leading sports journalist and her courageous battle against the shadows of her past. Lauren discusses her healing journey and how she uses her experiences to fuel her passion for storytelling and advocacy. Lauren Sisler's Background: An esteemed ESPN reporter who transformed personal tragedy into a platform for advocacy and empowerment. Defining Moments: The powerful narrative of facing her parents' tragic fate head-on inspired Lauren to help others by sharing her story. Discussion Topics:Lauren’s touching personal story of losing both parents to opioid addiction and how it shaped her life and career.Her commitment to breaking the stigma around addiction and her advocacy work through her upcoming book, "Shatterproof."Insights into the challenges and triumphs of a career in sports journalism reflect her resilience and determination.Key Quotes:"Owning my story has been freeing, though it wasn't always easy.""My parents' legacy isn’t defined by their addiction; it's defined by how their story helps others."Next Steps:Learn More: Follow Lauren Sisler's work and support her efforts in addiction awareness.Reflect: Think about the challenges you face and how you can turn them into opportunities for growth and to help others.Engage: Share how Lauren’s story inspires you to overcome personal challenges and contribute positively to your community using #MickUnplugged.Connect & Discover:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/laurensislerInstagram: Instagram.com/laurensislerFacebook: facebook.com/LaurenSislerWebsite: laurensisler.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you ready to change your habits, sculpt your destiny, and light up your path to greatness? Welcome to the epicenter of transformation. This is Mic Unplugged. We'll help you identify your because, so you can create a routine that's not just productive, but powerful. You'll embrace the art of evolution, adapt strategies to stay ahead of the game, and take a step toward the extraordinary. So let's unleash your potential. Now, here's Mick. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged, where we challenge your why and really go into your because, that thing that fuels you into

becoming the person that you are. And today, I have an amazing guest who has a story of incredible resiliency and triumph, from navigating personal tragedies to becoming a renowned ESPN reporter. Her journey is one of inspiration and empowerment. She's a keynote speaker, an Emmy award-winning sportscaster, author of the new upcoming book, Shatterproof,

but more importantly, she's my friend. Join me in welcoming the amazing Miss L Boogie herself, Lauren Sizzler. Lauren, welcome to the show, my dear. L Boogie, I love this. I am so pumped about this nickname. This is great. L Boogie. You can keep all the trademarks and everything. Okay, I love it. So Lauren, let's go into it. You know, seeing you ESPN doing a lot of things. And then all of a sudden I got to hear about your story and I was captivated, like so captivated that I started digging deep into your website,

started looking at the things that we probably didn't know about Lauren. Do you want to talk to us a little bit about your journey and how you got to where you are today? Well, I appreciate that. Great introduction means a lot. I'm always humbled by these opportunities and just thankful to get to chat with you today and share some insights with the listeners. You know, it's been a wild journey. You know, as you mentioned, I'm a sportscaster, ESPN, primarily covering college football. I got the chain back here to prove it, right? The turnover chain. But it's been a wild journey. It's had a lot of ups and downs. And I think that you mentioned that, right? I'm on TV, I'm covering sports, I'm covering college football, bringing people that are at home

watching to the game, telling those stories, and ultimately recognizing that we all have a story. And so, you know, I think that's become the kind of centerpiece for my messaging, right? Is letting people take ownership of their stories, encouraging them to take ownership of their stories, because I believe that we're all shaped by those stories and we're shaped by our experiences. And I have seen that more and more as I continue on this journey in sports broadcasting, as I'm talking to the players, getting to know their why, what fuels them, what motivates them, what gets them out of bed every morning to go out there and compete and perform. And so that recognition for me is seeing that impact, right? The impact of story and then recognizing that, wow, I have a

story to share as well. And so, you know, it has not always been easy. As you said, you see me as the sports reporter on TV, but behind it all, there has been a journey and that journey has certainly been trying and challenging and it is certainly made me who I am today. I love it. And you know, I want you to be able to share this and I know you're writing the book about it and the title is there with shatterproof and all that but losing your parents to opioid addiction right and and i love how you put the shame of that because we all have a thing and this is what i love about you l boogie i'm just going to keep calling you all boogie all day is that you're open and i think you recognize right that there are a lot of people that paint this perfect picture of how they got to where they are. But for most of us, it never was perfect. And I think a lot of us have that shame of opening up about certain things, right?

And so the fact that you were being honest and transparent, I salute you for that. Well, I appreciate that. And honesty and transparency has been very freeing for me, but it wasn't always that way. And I think that I was imprisoned to the shame that I felt for so many years because of opioid addiction being attached to my parents' name, right? I felt it was up to me to preserve their legacy at all costs. And I felt like I did everything I could to mask the truth of what happened to them, because I think that's what they would have wanted. Or in that time, that's what I thought they would have wanted because they did the same thing, right? When they were here with us doing everything they could to mask the truth of what was happening as they and just the stigmas that are associated with it, right?

And so I recognized that they must have felt that pain and that shame. And I wanted to, I use this word, and I think it's a very powerful word, exonerate myself from that shame, right? Exonerate. You hear that word a lot when people are exonerated from their imprisonment, right? When they are given a chance to release themselves, to go out into the world and get a second chance or a third chance or a fourth chance or whatever that is. And to me, I believe that's so powerful because I do feel there's so much freedom that comes with honesty, with truth, with vulnerability, transparency, and owning my story, owning the truth of it all. Because yes, I go on TV and on the outside, I look like, oh, this sports reporter that's out here

having a great time, L boogie shimmying on the sidelines, all the good things. But it has taken me a long time to get to this place, to be able to feel confident and feel open to sharing all of me to the world, right? Because of that shame that I felt, losing my parents within five hours of each other to fentanyl overdoses.

You hear the word fentanyl in the headlines now, it is sad, it's devastating, it's heartbreaking because people are losing their lives to this epidemic that we've been under for many years now. And my parents were at the beginning of that, right? When fentanyl was just now being prescribed. So they were kind of at the beginning of that, right? When fentanyl was just now being prescribed. So they were kind of at the beginning of that pathway as, you know, the Oxycontin and some of these other opioids had hit the market and were being prescribed at an extreme level.

And then they become addicted. And then my mom can't manage her medication with the Oxycontin. So then she gets prescribed fentanyl in a patch form. And eventually she becomes addicted to that. And both my parents begin taking it, misusing it, abusing it. And ultimately it takes both of their lives because it is an extremely powerful drug. And you know, I think that that is to me, what is so important is, you know, number one is, is education, right? Understanding how this can happen, right? And that nobody here is exempt from it. I think that it's easy for us to kind of get into this mindset

of like, oh, that's not me. That'll never happen to me. That'll never happen to my family. Without the education and understanding of what's out there and what is possible and what these drugs are capable of doing to us, it would be easy to get steered in that direction. You get an injury, an accident, something happens. And next thing you know, you wake up and you feel like you've got to have this drug to help you function. That's wild. And hearing that, number one, thank you for sharing that depth with us. I really appreciate that. And I don't care when loss happens in your lifetime. Like, I believe as humans, we never stop growing up, right? Like some people say you never stop

learning. I like to take it a little bit deeper and say, you never stop growing up, right? You never stop maturing. How did losing your parents shape your life and career? Like what's changed for you since that moment? I love that. I love that idea of we're always growing up because I think that our growth and our healing are always evolving, right? We're always growing. We're always healing, right? And so I would say that my experiences after losing my parents that have shaped me tremendously have been in that process of growth of realizing like, wow, like this awful tragic thing happened, but now I can use it for good. And, you know, getting to that realization obviously takes a lot of time. So I'm not going to mask over and gloss over the fact that like, we are 21 years

removed from the passing of my parents and I'm still growing. I'm still healing. I'm still learning. I still cry. I still laugh. I still find joy. All those things work in synergy together, right? And I think that's the beauty of this life, the ebbs and flows, right? You're never going to be on a high. You're never always going to be happy. But also those trying times, the storms will pass. And I think for me, really just how I got to this place, again, I'm giving you the very condensed footnotes version of it, but being able to really just kind of step out of my fears and own my story. And I think really where it came from is I get into sports broadcasting

thinking, wow, like I get to interview coaches and athletes and be on the field and confetti's falling on the field. And this is so exciting and all these wonderful things, but then realizing it's more than just a game. It's more than just a championship. It's more than just the trophy that is being hoisted in the air, right? It's the stories, the layers of stories, the people that bring this championship to fruition, right? It's not just the player himself and herself. It's the coaches, the assistants, the academic counselors, the, you know, nutrition staff, the medical staff, the community, the parents, I mean, everybody that makes this possible. And I think what I realized in this journey is that we are all shaped by those experiences. And losing my parents the way that

I did has certainly shaped me. And I could have done one of two things, right? I could have let it own me and take me down and take me in a different direction to a different pathway. Take that step forward and say, you know what? I'm not going to let this own me. I'm going to use this to shape me and make me a better person and guide me in those steps. And so that was really instrumental for me because when I would see the impact that, you know, a player comes to me, shares their story, I have the opportunity to share it with the audience. And then I see the response and the residual impact, the ripple effect that it has. I'm like, wow, like that's

amazing. There's something special about this. And so I realized, wait a sec, why silence myself and silence my story, but my story too, can also have a tremendous impact. And so I think things have really come full circle in that regard. And it really took seeing that impact firsthand as I'm delivering it and recognizing like, whoa, like we're onto something here. And now not only do I have this opportunity to go out and share stories, find purpose in doing that and giving people maybe that key to unlock the pain that they're feeling, the shame that they're feeling and help them to move past that point in their lives and to find joy again. Totally agree. And what I love about that is you're

providing not just the story, which can be somewhat easy, but you're giving insights of how to improve and the things that you're going to go through. And that's what I love about the things that you speak about, what is going to be in the book and just following you on social. It's not just, hey, here's my story. It's more of you're almost like that guide, right? Of let me tell you some things you can be doing or let's talk through this together. So I appreciate that from you as well too. Yeah. And that's the biggest thing. I want to meet people where they're at, right? Because a lot of people have experienced addiction, whether it's individually as themselves or in their families, loved ones. It is a universal

issue and something that more people experience than people realize, because again, people don't want to talk about it, but meeting people where they're at, because whether it is addiction, everyone experiences shame. Everyone has gone through something, made a decision, lost a job, went through a divorce and infidelity. It deals with addiction and all shapes and sizes. It doesn't have to be substances. Everyone knows the feeling of shame. And I want to meet people where they're at and help to encourage them that they don't have to stay there. They don't have to stay tucked away in this prison of shame. That they can come out

and they can own their story. They can own their circumstances and say, you know what? I'm not going to live like this anymore. I'm going to push forward and develop that shatterproof mindset. Right. And so that's what, you know, I really talk about in my book, shatterproof is really outlining, obviously, the story of how things really happened with my parents and understanding the depths of it, because it wasn't as simple as, oh, they're in pain and now they're going to a pain management doctor and now they're taking medication and now they're addicted to it. There's so many layers to it. And that's humanity, right? There's so many layers to who we are and how we become who we are and what we're going through. And so I just want to encourage people on that journey and help them

to build that shatterproof mindset. Love it. So the shatterproof mindset, what are some of the pillars or principles of having a shadow proof mindset? So the shadow proof mindset to me, you know, comes in many different, I guess, forms, again, depending on what circumstances you're in. Right. And so what I kind of like to sort of talk about is a shadow proof mindset is really developing that mental and emotional strength, right. To face adversity, right. Because you can become as physically fit as possible. I think about back to my gymnastics days, right? There's a major physicality to gymnastics, but there's also a massive mental capacity. I mean, you've got to train yourself mentally just as much as you do

physically to be able to perform at a peak level in gymnastics. And so to me, the concept of a shatterproof mindset is developing the mental and emotional strength to face adversity head on, right? It's bending without breaking. It's finding resilience, even when we are faced with some of the toughest times. And I think that that's something that we all have to grab onto.

It's embracing the struggles, leaning into them, not leaning out, learning from them, using them to fuel us have to grab onto. It's embracing the struggles, leaning into them, not leaning out, learning from them, using them to fuel us, to drive us forward, right? What's the motivator? If we were to win every single game we went out there and played, then we wouldn't, we lose our gratitude. We become entitled. We become, we, you know, there's, there's so much work that goes into it. And so sometimes the setbacks are what drives us closer to success because it's what teaches us, it's what learns us,

it's what helps us to grow. It's like you said, we're always growing up, right? And I think that mindset is so important. So instead of avoiding challenges, we face them, we rise above them and we say, wow, okay, I did that. Now I have gratitude. Now I saw how I did that. Now I take this situation

and learn from it and grow from it and use some of the resilient toolkit that I have created for myself. Right. And honestly, I think that the mindset of a shadow proof mindset is living a life full of purpose, right? Living a life full of purpose, living a life full of purpose of joy, regardless of the obstacles that we're going to encounter. Because when you find that joy, when you find that purpose, it gets you up in the morning. It's what drives you. It's what it is, what ultimately motivates you to continue pushing forward and to continue being your best self. And so, you know, one thing I like to tell people is leaning in to adversity, go after it. Don't run from it, attack it. And I think that is something that I encourage people to keep in mind because you can use it as fuel

for your day. You know what, L Boogie, we should just co-host this podcast because everything that you're about is exactly what I talk about when I go do my keynote speaking. Those are the same topics that I talk about. I love it. I know. And the thing is, we should just co-host this moving forward. It's the L Boogie and Mick Unplugged podcast. I know. I love it. Well, and that's the thing, right? Because what I love about that is, you know, your message and my message might be similar, but your experiences and how you deliver it are very different, right? And will resonate with people. And you and I could literally stand on the same stage, give the same keynote, or at least some of the same principles, and it will be received from people in different ways and they can relate to it differently. And I think that's what the beauty of being a voice

is. Using your voice, you're using your voice to influence and empower others, right? And I think that is so important. And that's where I want people to be bold and courageous and to use their voice. And that doesn't necessarily mean that you got to go grab a microphone and stand on a stage or be on TV. But what that means is that you're using your voice to encourage others, to enlighten others, to empower others, to help others grow, to get out of the situation they're in and to have the confidence to say, you know what, this isn't forever. If I stand up, put one foot in front of the other, I can get past this. I can move past this. This does not have to be my life forever. And I think that's so important to realize and understand because I think especially in the world of addiction, people get stuck in that mindset or people fall under

hard times. A lot of times drugs, alcohol, addiction, those things lead to incarceration, right? And people find themselves imprisoned in real life, in reality, and think this is my life. Like there's no way out. No, there is redemption. Everybody has a chance for redemption. And, you know, for me as someone that's a woman of faith, I know where my redemption comes from. But every single person here has the opportunity to

be redeemed. And whether that's the first chance, second chance, third chance, there is that opportunity. And so I want to encourage anybody, how low you feel, how bad you feel, how bad you've screwed up in your mind. If you think you've just screwed things up rurally and there's no way out, that is false. There is a way out. there is a redemption story for you your story is currently being written setbacks are not the end of the story they're just the turning point and i want to encourage people no matter where you're at right now to realize that and to know that you will overcome you will take that next step in the next direction you've just got to recreate that mindset and know that you deserve it and that you belong here. And that ultimately you take whatever it is you've

gone through and use it to fuel that fire. Don't let it drag you down. Use it to pick you up. The doors of the church are now open. I feel like there needs to be a collection plate passed around somewhere because you just took us to church right there. So I'm going to get you out of here on a couple of things, right? We're going to go rapid fire with L Boogie. All right, bring it baby. Sideline shimmy. When did that become a part of your brand and why? 2019, it became a part of my brand accidentally because, oh, by the way, I dance on the sidelines because people say, do you still get nervous on TV? Wouldn't you, when you flip on the camera and you've got 2 million people staring at you in the lens on the other side?

Yes. So that was a way to really move the nerves through my body. What I didn't realize is the cameras are always rolling. So I was always dancing around the field acting silly. And so in 2019, the inception of the sideline shimmy was born. Who is your favorite college team and coach? And why is it UNC and Mack Brown? Ah, loaded question. Hey, look, I'm going to put it this way. I'm Scarlet Knights forever. I went

to Rutgers. I wear Rutgers on my sleeve. I live in Alabama. There's a school here that has a color that's similar to Scarlet, a little more crimson. So I have to remind people when I wear red, it's not to crimson. It's scarlet. Which, by the way, Mick, just keep in mind, Rutgers. We invented college football back in 1869. So they're four comma. They are my favorite team. My favorite program always will be because, A, I went there and the blood, sweat, and tears are smeared all over that floor in that gymnasium where I used to compete day in and day out and practice in the hard work of the gymnastics.

Rutgers is where it started. The birth baby I just learned something new I didn't know Rutgers still played football hey Greg Shiano totally joking Rutgers sports don't don't at me I love Rutgers my son my oldest son is a college coach now so I I support all schools. Where's he coaching at? He's at Texas State. So he was at UCF for the last three years as an S-A-N-G-A, and now he's out in Texas State. Oh, fun. Okay. Very cool.

So he got to spend some time with Gus Malzahn over there at UCF. Yeah. Very cool. That's where I saw you for the first time live was out there. Was I dancing around the sidelines? Of course. That's when I saw you for the first time live. Was I dancing around the sidelines? Of course. That's when you became Elle Boogie. Oh, I love it. What a full circle moment. This is great. Absolutely. All right. Last question. And I'm going to say this for the listeners. Number one,

definitely go get the book. LawrenceDidler.com. There's a page for the book that you can go put your information in, get insights, get updates, everything. Definitely do that. Do that for me, please. All the Make and Plug followers and listeners, do that for me. It will mean a lot to me. But then Lauren, where Would love for you guys to jump in on my mailing list so I can update you. The book drops October 1st, but we'll have all the updates on where you can buy it, where you can get it, where you can share it, all the fun things, but also social media, right? At Lauren Sisler on all the social channels. And I'd love to hear from y'all. My DMs are open. And I know some people are like, that's cray. Why you keep your DMs open? And I'm like, I'm a grown woman. I know how to siphon through the junk, right? Okay. But I've had some great conversations and just, I love to hear from people what they're

going through. Maybe how something I've said has encouraged them, inspired them. Maybe they've got questions or just want to share what they're going through. I'd love to just hear from you all. And I appreciate you. Mick, this is amazing. I feel like I got to come up with a nickname for you. Do you have a nickname that you go by?

Mick. Okay. So if I'm L Boogie, I don't know, M Jiggy. Woo! Okay, let's go. M Jiggy it is. L Boogie and M Jiggy, getting jiggy with it. But I do appreciate it.

And I just appreciate the work that you do and just being a voice and a platform and a place for people to go and learn and grow. We're always growing, baby. It's all about growth. L Boogie, I appreciate you more than you know. Can't wait to do this again. Mick Unplugged, LaurenceHistler.com. The book is right there. Sign up for the email list. Again, do it for me. I need you to do that. And again, remember, your because is your superpower. Go Unleash It. Thanks for listening to Mick Unplugged. We hope this episode helps you take the next step toward the extraordinary and launches a revolution in your life. Don't forget to rate and review the podcast.

And be sure to check us out on YouTube at Mick Unplugged. Remember, stay empowered, stay inspired, and stay unplugged.