Passion Struck with John R. Miles - Anne O’Neil on Why Life Like Sports Is a Strategy by Design EP 132

Episode Date: May 4, 2022

Anne O'Neil (@heyanneoneil) on our life like sports is a strategy by design. | Brought to you by Masterworks (https://masterworks.io/ - use code passion to start). Anne O’Neil is a former WNBA player for the Sacramento Monarchs and a Division 1 Academic and Athletic All-American at Iowa State University where she played for Bill Fennelly. She broke the Iowa High School State scoring record and was later inducted into the Iowa Girls Basketball Hall of Fame. Following a 12-year tenure in the athletic and healthcare industries, she took her expertise to Palo Alto Networks where she is a cyber transformational leader. She is also the host host of the Get Busy Livin podcast. Strategy by Design On the Passion Struck Podcast, Anne and I discuss how life, like basketball, is really strategy by design. And just as each play, makes a difference for each individual game, the same holds true for the moments that make up our daily activities. She believes that ferocity taught her how to read and know where to move her body ahead of time, where to pass the ball ahead of time, and where her teammates were going to be able to shine. Thanks Masterworks This episode of Passion Struck with John R. Miles is brought to you by Masterworks. 66% of Billionaires Collect Art, so Why Aren’t You? Low Minimums, Simple and Exciting. You Can Use Art as an Alternative Investment to Diversify Your Portfolio. Blue-Chip Artwork. Go to https://www.masterworks.io/ and use code passion to start. Our Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/passionstruck Time Stamps 0:00 Announcements and Anne O'Neil Introduction 3:33 Discovering passion for basketball 6:13 Working to elevate her game 8:14 Leading the State of Iowa in scoring 10:41 The challenge of playing college sports 13:42 Developing the mindset on being the best 17:04 College transfer pool 18:54 How to build resilience in sports 23:00 Legacy of Bill Fennelly on women's college basketball 27:02 College vs being a professional athlete 31:00 Mentally preparing for a life after sports 34:00 How do you play aggressive yet under control? 38:37 Importance of a quality routine 41:52 Get Busy Livin podcast 45:30 Cybersecurity leadership 50:26 Lightening round of questions 54:36 Wrap up and synthesis FOLLOW ANNE O'NEIL *Website: https://www.anneoneil.co/ *Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyanneoneil/ *Podcast: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/get-busy-livin-anne-oneil-cqLRmXu8AV3/ *LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heyanneoneil/ Links * Interview with Former SEAL Commander Mark Divine * Interview with NASCAR Driver Jesse Iwuji * Interview with Astronaut Chris Cassidy * Interview with Astronaut Wendy Lawrence * Interview with Astronaut Kayla Barron *Solo episode on work-life balance: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7AZksXySbYVoMPMuma5DpB?si=_VPv5sn3QBCq2pYVh-LXkg *Solo episode on overcoming burnout: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5keAXxjRs3Q8NKZYWBlPXS?si=N-nf0iQjThSzgsCAutPVPA  *Solo episode on how you stop living in fear: https://passionstruck.com/how-do-you-stop-living-in-fear/  Follow John on the Socials: * Twitter: https://twitter.com/Milesjohnr * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnrmiles.c0m * Medium: https://medium.com/@JohnRMiles ​* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john_r_miles * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/milesjohn/ * Blog: https://passionstruck.com/blog/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passion_struck_podcast/ * Gear: https://www.zazzle.com/store/passion_struck/   -- John R Miles is a serial entrepreneur and the CEO and founder of Passion Struck. This full-service media company helps people live intentionally by creating best-in-class educational and entertainment content. John is also a prolific public speaker, venture capitalist, and author named to the ComputerWorld Top 100 IT Leaders.    

Coming up next on the Passion Struck Podcast. Strategy by design, and I have learned that throughout my business career as well as that it's not just like one thing fits everyone or every team or every job or every role or every relationship or friendship. And so it's really kind of looking at it uniquely and what works in this moment. And guess what, if it doesn't work there then we switch and we try a new strategy. Welcome to Passion Struck. Hi, I'm your host, John Armiles. And on the show, we decipher the secrets, tips, and guidance of the world's most inspiring people

and turn their wisdom into practical advice for you and those around you. Our mission is to help you unlock the power of intentionality so that you can become the best version of yourself. If you're new to the show, I offer advice and answer listener questions on Fridays. We have long-form interviews the rest of the week with guest-ranging from astronauts to authors,

CEOs, creators, innovators, scientists, military leaders, visionaries, and athletes. Now, let's go out there and become PassionStruck. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to episode 132 of Passion Struck and thank you to each and every one of you who come back weekly to listen and learn, had a live better, be better, and impact the world. And if you missed yesterday's interview, it was with retired astronaut Nicole Stott, where we discussed her journey to both the International Space Station and to the deaths of the ocean as an aqua knot, and additionally,

her most recent polar expedition. My solo episode, if you missed last Friday, was on how do you learn fears and why it's so important to do so. And earlier in that week, we had on a behavioral therapist named Lori Singer, and I interviewed Liz Fosseline, the co-author of the new book, Big Feelings. Now let's talk about today's guests. Anno Neal is a former WNBA player with the Sacramento Marnarks, and was also an academic and all-American at Iowa State.

She broke the Iowa State high school scoring record and was later inducted into the Iowa girls basketball Hall of Fame. Today, following a 12-year tenure in athletic and healthcare industries and took her expertise to Palo Alto Networks where she is now a cyber transformational leader. She is also the co-host of the Get Busy Live-In podcast with Barry Gottlieb.

In today's discussion, we go into how she first developed her passion for playing basketball and why it defined so much of her early life. We go into the complexities from both of our perspectives of being a Division I athlete and how she persevered through injury to become both an academic and all-american. The biggest lessons that she learned from playing both at the professional level and in division one her experience playing for Bill Fattelay who is one of the winningest coaches in women's Legion basketball. What it was like to be with the Sacramento Monarchs when they won the WNBA title.

How she transitioned into her current career became a mindset coach, started her podcast and how she has developed resiliency and you can too. Thank you for choosing PassionStruck and choosing me to be your host and guide on your journey to creating an intentional life. Now, let that journey begin. Welcome to the Passion Start podcast. So excited to have you here today. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to be here and you and your community. Having guests like you on the show is what makes it worthwhile. So I'm glad to see you again. I thought a good place to start was you and I

have an interesting childhood in that you and I were both soccer players before we weren't soccer players. So I thought we could start there with you. Growing up, I'm from Cedar Rapids, Iowa originally. And I was just a kid that was interested in everything. I was very, very curious and I knew my first two loves were animals, any kind of animals and soccer. And so I ended up playing soccer. It was Guy's league. And so I was in a traveling, I would call it AAU and basketball, but a traveling team with all boys and just loved playing the game where I was playing three or four times

a week, even as a youngster. So it was so tremendous to be able to see the skill sets and play up more competitive level at such a young age. That's funny. I have a friend, Ashley Melon Camp, and she's actually the second cousin of John Melon Camp. For a long time, she was like, you got to watch this movie, see the rapids. I did watch it. was pretty funny but I'm like it's just funny.

She loves Iowa she grew up on big farmland and went to Iowa University but what was it like growing up in Iowa? It's very family oriented. We kind of live in Suburbia, but Cedar Rapids, if you watch that cool movie that came out years later, it still has a 150,000 population. So it was still a big city. Even back then, growing up, I was in one of the largest high schools in the state. So it's just a lot of great people who really care about

each other, really builds an awesome community. The one thing that I the reason I had to get out was because I was always just so cold and I couldn't handle the gray and the winter time. So I ended up moving. I now live in Miami. I moved here about eight years ago and I love the sun. I love the groundhogs day of it being warm, but that's why I ended up moving from soccer at such a young age into basketball because it was so cold during the winter that I would, you know, we needed some indoor sports. So, I started to move a little bit more from soccer and started playing a little bit more basketball, where I could practice non-stop. So, that's a little bit about Iowa and also the transition from one sport into to the next. Yeah, so when you started playing basketball, did you just pick it up right away or was it something that you had to work at?

Well, it was definitely entertainment, like I said, in the winter time. And I played on a all-girls team that was a traveling team just from around the city. This is probably back when I was around the age of 10 or 11. And even then I was one of the tallest players on the team. So right now I'm 511. But back then I was one of the tallest players. I was actually playing post. And this is kind of how I ended up getting a little bit more involved in basketball. is I was playing like the Shakira O'Neil position, the down low position, if your listeners are familiar with basketball. And then I went to a camp at the University of Iowa

and I was in sixth grade and I had been working on my post moves, like I said, down close under the rim, and they go, well, how tall is your dad? And my dad, I said, six, one, they go, how tall is your mom? And they go, five, two. And I said, five, two.

And they're like, five, two, they're like, you need to start working on your ball handling. So from that moment on in sixth grade, I started really focusing on my shot and dribbling nonstop. Because I absolutely loved the game, but I wasn't going to grow too much taller than where I was at at that age. But I ended up being like I said, five, 10,

and I just really focused a lot of my energy and effort on ball handling and shooting. And there was one tournament I went to in Terroho, Indiana. It was like the national 11 and under nationals. They have all those cool tournaments when you're a youngster internationally. And so I went to this awesome tournament and everyone was taller than our entire team.

And so I realized I had to put in a lot more effort into my game. So between the comments about working on your dribbling and seeing other girls from throughout the nation who were incredible at basketball and so much taller, I was gonna have to find a new skill set to elevate my game. Yeah, and then I think you went on to become

one of the leading, if not the leading score in Iowa, high school basketball. That's right, yes, I was. My freshman year at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School, I actually led the state in scoring. It was the first time in 80 years that a freshman had ever led the state in scoring and that's throughout the entire year like points per game average. And I even remember my first high school game. I came out and anybody

familiar with basketball there, they put a box in one on me and I hadn't even played one minute of high school basketball. So I kind of didn't get't get to sneak up on anyone, but we had a really great team and great teammates and great coaches. And I was just able to really kind of find my shot. And I perfected that through hours and hours and hours and hours of dribbling and shooting on my own and then during the AAU circuit. Okay. Well, so then you kind of did the same thing I went through and you got to do a number of college visits and we actually had a few of them in common. One of my favorites was Duke. The funny thing for me was I went on for

the five visits and then I went to the one place that I'd ever visited. Really, where did you choose then? I ended up going to the one place that I never visited. I really, where did you choose then? I ended up going to the Naval Academy, but my dream ever since I was young was really to go to the University of Michigan. I think my parents, grandparents, just thought, there's no question he's going to Michigan, especially after I got a scholarship. And I just went and something just didn't feel right with the coach. And I just didn't feel that bond that I was hoping for.

And so I ended up being recruited by the track coach, Tim Cooksy, but our main cross-country coach, which was my better sport, Alcantello, did something I think you experienced at Illinois before you went to Iowa State. And that is when you're a runner and you've reached the heights that you've reached, when you have a coach who then tries to change the anatomy of how you're running and get you to do things that are completely foreign.

It really messed me up psychologically as well as the way I was performing. And so I think you experienced something similar. Wow, I didn't even know we had that similarity, but it's not the first time I've heard that with people that have been recruited from high school and transitioned into the college world, and it just wasn't a match for maybe what they were told beforehand, even as 17 and 18 year old making those decisions. That's very tough. When you look at it because you've committed most of your entire life or besides the time that you're putting into school is going into that sport. I mean, that's your bread and butter that you've put in so much time and heart and energy into. So, I'm so sorry that you had that experience and I know that there's others out there and I think

there's a really great opportunity to bridge that gap a lot more between high school sports and college sports and how that actually the partnership between those two really really really work. So we'll have to get into that maybe a different different podcast, but I can speak to my experience like you I had the great Pat Summit come and watch me play a high school game, which was so, so fun to have her in the stands. Genoariama came to one of my volleyball practices and and watch me. He's the Yukon coach that's still incredible

and won very many championships there. But when it came down to my time when I was being recruited, I went to official visits at Purdue, Illinois, Stanford, Duke, and Iowa State. So those are my five official visits and you get five from the NCAA to spend about 48 hours on campus with a team and with the coaches. And so that's what I did my junior year. And out of those five I ended up choosing Illinois. We had the second best recruiting class in the nation and no seniors. So we had a really great upside that looked awesome for the University of Illinois women's basketball team at that time. And it just didn't pan out, similar to what you said, between the schedule that we played in the team, the team dynamics didn't fit as well as they, as we were hoping. And so after

that year, I transferred to Iowa State University and played my next couple of years there, which I absolutely loved. One of the things I loved about playing as a cyclone is that they have the third best attendance record in women's basketball. So about 10,000 fans on average come to each one of the home games. So just like you, if all of the training that you're doing and any athlete out there that puts in all the hours behind the scenes and in the mornings, it's so fun when you actually it's time to perform and people are there cheering you on. So that's that's what I really loved the most about playing at. I was saved as the community there being able to play in front of such great fans. So it ended up being a really good college experience for myself.

Yeah, well that's great. And your 2004-2005 season, if I have it correct, you became both an academic and a basketball all-American. Yes, that's right, that's right.. I think I know that you train a lot of high performers in your field. And it's one of those things. If you're a high performer in one area, it's very hard to be a low performer in other things. And so you kind of set that mindset on being the best and challenging yourself as much as possible. So I knew I wouldn't be playing basketball forever. That just wasn't in the cards. But being able to have that academic all-American and really excel in the classroom was was really great for me because it really showed that I could balance both my focus on athletics and also be growing and learning as much as possible in academics. So it was really cool feet to do both.

So that was a really cool feat to do about. Well, it is a big feat because what I experienced is there's a tremendous time commitment that you put to division one sports. That's something youngster was listening to this or their parents were listening to this. I mean, that is something that I would really impress upon them is when you go to these programs in a way they kind of own you because they're paying for your scholarship. And so you completely need to be invested in it and put the time which is going to be an enormous sacrifice, especially for us where we were many times of the year doing two years kind of like swim practice. And I don't know about you, but a lot of the time because of the extensive workouts that they put you through, I mean, you're just exhausted. And so trying to balance in the academics can be tough. Oh, definitely. I'm just smiling thinking about some of those like really early morning, what they call fun runs when you're running 400s or 800s, just getting in shape to play basketball,

lifting weights all the time. So it is a full time commitment, a full time job. Just in the last couple of years, it's really been great to see the NCAA embracing. It's called NLI, the name, likeness, and image for these athletes, where many of them can get paid for wearing the jersey and having their name on the university. And I know that's just starting to unfold, but it's really great to be able to see that

there's so much commitment here by these athletes, whether it's their school, academics, even the community service time that you put in. And then obviously performing at such a high level, it's really great to see being able to balance both with NCA and it'll be fun to see how that unfolds for sure. Yeah, do you think it will be for the better or for the detriment? Right now, it's too early for me to really make a call on it.

I have the best thing that I've been able to do as I've been able to see it as an athlete, what it looks like. I've been able to see it from a coach, what that looks like. And I also, for a few years worked for, as a TV color commentary. So I was able to watch it almost as like a third party for Fox Sports and being able to call the game.

So you can see the sport from every angle. And I think from any angle you look at something, if you look at a holistic hologram of something, it's gonna have its positives and negatives. So the jury's still out right now, but I do see positives and negatives on both ends. So we'll see what shows up here is even just coming this year.

Let's just take NCAA football. I'm wondering for like a next saven and some of these coaches where now the player doesn't feel like they're getting enough playing time. They don't feel like they're getting enough exposure. It's just creating this enormous transfer of athletes who go from one place to another. That transfer pool, yes, it just keeps growing

and growing. Anytime they start something new, you don't have your hands wrapped around every angle of it, but it's really been interesting to see even from a football perspective what that looks like to be able to transfer easily. And like you said, yes, when I transferred from the University of Illinois, that was part of the deal is that you had to sit out for a year.

So I was on the practice team at Iowa State while the team played for that entire year. So you're still training, going to every practice, going to every game, and you have to sit out during that time. Yes. I did want to talk about before we go into your NBA career. So you started experiencing injuries when you were in college as I understand it. Going back to that story, I told you when I switched my running gate, it started to cause me to get repeat stress fractures. And they became so cyclical that that's what

ended up costing me my running career. When I wasn't able to train that way back then the only alternative we had they would put me in a pool. And I would be this contraption where I would have to run like an hour and a half in the pool, which you can imagine how exciting that is. That is. I did that. Yes, I had to do that too when I tore my ACL. I'm just, again, I'm laughing. I'm like, yeah, I remember those days. And I'm like, how is this really even training me? So, oh, man, the pool runs for sure.

Yeah. So what did you learn about resilience through those injuries and how, especially when you have something like an ACL, having the mindset to come back from it. That's, it's such a great question. So during that transfer year, like I mentioned, from Illinois to Iowa State, it was May of that year. So the season had ended and I was, we were playing in just a scrimmage.

And that's when I tore my ACL. So it was in May of that transfer year. So, and tearing your ACL and women's basketball is a very tough sentence. It's at least about six months before you even can start really kind of jogging and running on your own, but the actual time to get back even to that place is almost about a year. I mean, think about it. I remember when I first went in after my ACL, and they're like, just flex your quad muscle. And you're like, I'm just flexing my quad muscle. That's how I'm gonna get back and play

in the big 12 conference and play into the top leagues. And I'm just like, oh my gosh. So you have to start from scratch and what ended up happening, I ended up having a tornae C.L. You over compensate a little bit for that. And throughout those next couple of years, I had, I tore my planar fasciitis,

which is the arch in your foot, which is no fun to do that. And then there myself. Oh my gosh. I actually did it. Yeah, it came down on a jump shot and ripped the, it's again, the arch of your foot. And so that means you have to be in a boot for three months.

And so what I really realized during that time is how interconnected things really are in your body. If you overcompensate for one area, like the a torn knee on one side, put all your pressure on the other, you're not doing your body any favors. And so it was really kind of learning about balance, interconnectedness, and taking care of your whole self, not just one part of the injury. It's really a full body experience, mental, physical, all-spiritual. It was all of those things to be able to come back and have some really great years

with the team where we went to the NCAA tournament and I performed at a high level. That was kind of correlated that if I played well. Our team ended up playing well. I had to take on some of that responsibility, but we had an incredible senior class that really wanted to get to that NCAA tournament. And we did. So to set those goals and keep working as a team and staying healthy and performing at a high level, it was always about taking care of your full self,

like I said, mentally, physically, emotionally, just keep moving forward in the best way possible. One of the biggest stories I've ever learned about during pain actually is Shacko Niel who you brought up earlier and my son's best friend's father was his doctor when he had his Achilles injury. And he told me they were monitoring it throughout the season, but at its height, it got the size of a grapefruit on the back of his leg. And he played like that through 25, 30 games. And I know a lot of people were saying, why isn't he jumping?

Why isn't he moving? I've had Achilles injuries and they are some of the worst. And I just give him so much credit for the mental toughness he had to go through that last season with that injury is unbelievable. I ended up costing him the rest of his career. I mean, I know he was at the twilight at that point, but to be able to do that, you've never had an injury like that.

It's hard to even fathom. I was just going to say that's so interesting that you brought that up about even our physical injuries and hearing it from such an elite athlete, like Shaquille O'Neill. And more so these days, there's a lot, and we wouldn't even know that. We're just watching the basketball game, right? And watching and play and why isn't he jumping? And that's what we're thinking about. And now these days, I love that athletes and student athletes are talking so much more about mental health and emotional health that goes on behind the scenes of getting ready to play and perform. And that's not even just about some of the injuries that they're dealing with. I know Michael Phelps talked a lot about that. Some of the US, when the gymnastics members talked about that. So it's really great that it's in the conversation to know that they're not just out here just playing tennis or playing a sport. It's a, there's a lot of different moving parts

that people are dealing with. We will be right back to our episode with Anoniel. Oprah Winfrey, she's living breathing proof of the power of passion, running away from home at age 13, starting a media empire and now worth $2.6 billion. All to say that, when she makes a big move, you can learn a lot by watching. And after she made $60 million in one fell swoop, I did some research on how. And my eyes were open to a market out there.

That's worth an amazing $1.7 billion. That for the first time, we can all be part of no Oprah-level billions needed. How? There's a startup that's blowing the whole thing wide open called Masterworks powered by passion, like all good startups are an eager to change the world. To learn more, go to masterworks.io and use promo code passion.

That's masterworks.io promo code passion. See important regulation A disclosures at masterworks.io slash CD. That's masterworks.io promo code passion. Thank you so much for listening to and supporting the show. All those codes in URL can be difficult to remember. So we put them in one convenient place at passionstruck.com slash deals. Please consider supporting those who support the show and make it possible. Now back to my interview with Anoniel. You said you met Pat and Jean who are two of the most famous women's basketball coaches in the NCAA, but you played for a pretty stellar coach too when you were at Iowa State. I think Bill Fennelie has been there 25 plus years. What was the biggest lesson that you learned from Coach Fennelly that you took with you from that point forward? Oh, I love that. Yes, and thank you for acknowledging him and and what he's been able to build at Iowa State University. Like I said, it started from the ground up,

but this community has grown and grown, like I said to a loyal, loyal fan base where we have over 10,000 fans. I still have DMs from people from our fan base that just still wanna stay in touch and say you remember that game and things of that nature, but yes, he's one of the most successful coaches and I love that he always coach just depending on the team that we were playing. So a lot of a lot of

coaches in NCA just have their one style and that style is going to work versus anybody. And he was so strategic on each player and each play that it really made a difference for each individual game. It was like strategy by design. It was basketball by design all the time. And so lots and lots of our practices were extremely strategic on the defense we would play against certain players. And the offense that we would run again, just depending on the personnel that was in the game. And then we're also dealing with injuries and who's playing in the playing time. So I would think that that's probably one of the biggest things about

Coach Fenley that I learned is strategy by design. And I have learned that throughout my, you know, my business career as well as that is not just like one one thing fits everyone or every team or every job or every role or, you know, every relationship or friendship. And so they're it's really kind of looking at it uniquely and what works in this moment. And guess what? If it doesn't work there, then we switch and we try a new strategy. So he's tremendous and they're having such a great year. And I'm hoping to hoping to get back and take my nieces to a game soon. Yeah, well, that's great.

One, you guys were, I think 23 and 7, you're seeing your years as well. So that's not too shabby either. Third in the big 12 if I have it right. Yes, but yeah, I'd love that. You've worked for all these years. You've got your eyes set on going to the WNBA. What was it like as you're sitting there on draft day as an athlete waiting to see when your turn was gonna come if ever? Oh my gosh, I I love this question and It's gonna be kind of a funny answer. So actually no, I was nursing my

stress fracture at this time and there was actually a football Scrimmage like red and gold Scrimmage happening then in the spring time. And back then, the WNBA draft wasn't as popular as it is now where everyone goes to New York City or wherever, and even through Zoom. So very big deal on ESPN and ABC. But back then, it wasn't.

I actually got called and was told that you just kind of drafted 30th in the WNBA draft and I was like, what? I didn't even know. So I actually had no idea. So it was actually such a surprise. And it was just, it was just a wonderful experience because at that time I was really just focused on getting us to the NCAA tournament and playing as far as we could. And again, I was kind of working with a half a wheel. We will be right back to our episode with Anoniel. The pain in my stress fracture, my ankle.

When the season ends, it's such a sad time because just spent four years with some of the greatest people and greatest friends and having some of the best memories. So to be able to get that call was just such a great surprise and excitement, exciting time to continue, continue the basketball journey and say I got to that next level by, like I said, my main goal was really for, was for our team to work at the NCAA tournament. I even had on my, on my sneakers, throughout the entire season I had NCAA or bust, um, written on, written on my sneakers. So that was the main focus and that was just I

see on the cake to be able to be drafted and and be able to go on and play a little bit for the Sacramento Monarchs. Yeah, what must have been such a special feeling. And I didn't want to ask, I've got a friend who he was an American first team 12, out of Kansas State and football. And he got drafted a second round, went and showed up for NFL training camp. And he said, here I am. I'm thinking I'm big man on campus coming into the league. And he told me that when he got to the NFL, the amount of speed, agility, and just like power that these players had just blew him away. He said within like two weeks, he just came to this realization,

I'm really not that good. Did you find that same thing when you joined the WNBA? Oh, definitely. Each step that you take, whether that's different class sizes and high school or different divisions in university, each step is a little bit faster, a little bit stronger, a little bit taller, and a little bit more skilled in the sport IQ, I would say, where they can read things faster. And so, yes, the WNBA was definitely like that. I was one of the shortest players on the team. And so, he just said to adjust. I might have a 6-3 guard that's guarding me.

And how do you get free? How do you open up against that? And, yeah, it was so fun to be able to be a part of it and see the top athletes play. And I was injured during that first year, but the awesome thing about Sacramento Monarchs is they actually won the championship that year. I was called back a second year and I was able to play in Madison Square Garden, which was so fun. Then we went to the White House and got to meet the president because

they had won the year before. It's playing with some of the most elite athletes in some of the coolest arenas that I had watched, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird play in. So I gotta say, it was just an unexpected opportunity that I've made the most of and had so much fun and just really loved to also see the growth that it's gained over the years and how incredible all these women are out there

and the WNBA. So it's super fun to watch. And Sam was a part of it for a short time. Yeah, well, that's what I wanted to get to next. I think throughout life, we all have disappointments and times that we have to reinvent ourselves. But for you, you got to the level that you had always dreamed to get to. And then because of these pesky injuries, it kind of cost you your playing career. And what was that like? And what did you have to do mentally? But to make that switch that you were going to take your life in a

different direction. It's a wonderful like a great question. Once you go from high school and college and you've dedicated so much of your time and heart and energy into something and then it's immediately done. I have many, many friends that buzzer sounds at the end of a game or anything like that it's done. They're what are you going to do next and so I'm grateful that I was able to put focus into my academics. But at the same time, it's almost like I didn't look forward enough. I kind of say I was very one dimensional where I was looking at basketball and athletics and my very nice cubby hole of university at the time. And then all of a sudden, you're done. And you're like, there's a whole world out here. Like, what am I doing? And so I really took that time to kind of go back

and see what I was really interested in, what had sparked my interests. I got into TV color commentating, which was incredible to be around the game and see it from a new point of view and be able to share the stories of the athletes and coaches, which was very fun. And then I also coach division one. Basketball at Eastern Illinois University for a couple of years. So I stayed around the game and then at that point, I was like, I really, really know a lot about basketball. I had immersed myself into basketball in the sport. And I took that time to say, what else am I interested in? And what else can I do? Because I can always come back to basketball

and spin the ball or dribble or shoot a little bit if I need to know the picking rules. But what else can I add to my skill set? And so that's really kind of where I started looking and I wanted to challenge myself and I got into the business world, I started working in the dental and medical fields as a sales rep which were a great opportunity for me to, you know, learn a lot about products, learn how to work in a team in a new way, a totally new way that wasn't a sport,

and then also still be striving towards a goal and helping out the community at the same time. So it was a great way for me to start learning new skill sets. So that's kind of where I started creating from that place forward. I wanted to ask you before we move off of basketball, just a couple more questions about sports. And the first question would be, what is the importance of ferocity in sports? How do you play aggressive yet under control? Ooh, I'd love that question. It goes back a little bit to when we were talked about injuries

and you're playing as a whole person. When I played basketball, it was almost as I could read the moves that were gonna happen on the court before they would actually happen. You kind of trained yourself so much in play and so many games, played in so many situational practices that you kind of were able to read things ahead of time.

I would say IQ, basketball IQ, people talk about that athletic IQ, really helped me stay in a controlled space. And so you were able to kind of read and know where to move your body ahead of time or where to pass the ball ahead of time. Where your teammates were going to be able to where they were going to be able to shine. That was really kind of the best thing where you could really hard because you almost could feel it coming ahead of time. I have a really, really great story that kind of answers your question.

We were in the big 12 tournament and we were playing the University of Colorado. And we were down seven with like 52 seconds left to go, which is a pretty big amount to be down by. Somehow we called our way back. And you know, we had a fast break, where each person on our Iowa state team touched the ball. There was like a block shot or rebound a pass and a pass to me and I got the ball

and I hadn't had the best of games. I was missing a couple of you know I missed a few shots. I just wasn't really on but I was willing to take the last shot in case you know it meant the game or not. But I'm dribbling out the court. And out of the corner of my eyes, be my teammate streaking up the court on the three point line. And she gave me that look. And I was like, oh my gosh, she's gonna make this shot. Like she's gonna drain it. And we're gonna win the game right here.

So it was almost like, again, you've practiced it so many times where you could know what was gonna happen before things were actually happening. And she, even that look, I passed through the ball. She drained the three and we ended up winning the game with like 0 seconds laps. So it was an incredible moment where we all kind of focused on that last play where all five of us touched the ball.

And then you knew something was going to happen ahead of time. It helped you stay present in the moment because you can kind of see things kind of moving in front of you, which is also something I really try to work on in my life and in my career. So I just had to share that story because it was, it worked right there. I and I smiled so much about that play because I was like, we practiced it a thousand times and I saw it and I was like, she's going to make that shot. So cool.

No, I love the story. I had two individuals on the podcast last year who both talked about this topic as well. One was retired Navy Steel Commander, Mark Devine, and the other was NASCAR driver Jesse Ouigi. that you have to learn whether it's you're at buds or you're doing elite training for a seal team or whether you're a NASCAR driver. How do you push yourself to the edge without going over the edge? If you're too timid, that's gonna cause you problems. And if you push yourself too far, it's going to cause you problems too. But when you can figure out where that magical, like, ether lives and everyone on your team

or your pick crew if you're an ask her, I'm like, everyone is in the same zone. It's just a magical time when you saw that player streaking down and they gave you that look. I mean, you knew you were both in the zone and that they were going to bury that shot. Yes, I love that. There's like this unspoken language of after so many repetitions, it becomes so natural and not even repetitions, but reading things. So like you're talking about Navy Seals and especially like NASCAR driving to your reading things before they're actually happening because when you're talking about Navy SEALs and especially like NASCAR driving too, you're reading things before they're actually happening. Because when you're in that present moment, you actually have to be a few moves ahead. And so, I think that's one of those things that Athletics taught me is to be looking, you know, from that spot forward. And what's the action that I'm taking there?

So, it's a really great methodology for life, but I love even those sports that you brought up and those people because that's incredible that they're out there making the moves, but they're seeing it from a different angle, which is so so interesting and phenomenal aspect about sports. Observing athletes. Some of the ones that I thought were going to be the best athletes didn't turn out to be. And oftentimes, those who I didn't expect to become an all-American became an all-American. And I think it really comes down to a consistency and putting in the reps day in and day out. What is the importance of having a quality routine in basketball and in life?

What is the importance of having a quality routine in basketball and in life? Routine is everything. I love the word routine. What I've just kind of discovered for myself the last couple of years is I love the word cadence. And I feel like my body mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically moves into rhythm and the cadence. And I was even just kind of rediscovering that. Sometimes you got to look back to like, go forward. And how I would dribble, and it would always be in a certain rhythm of dribbling patterns. And how that looked for me as an athlete waking up and doing plyometrics in the morning,

going to class, over lunch, shooting free throws, going to class again, hanging out at home, and then for four straight years, every night, I was shooting baskets with my dad in the gym. Whether it was Christmas, whether it was New Year's Eve, it was just part of who I was. It wasn't something really I had to think about. And so I think that's part of it too. Routine is something that, it starts to be a habit,

but you also are in rhythm with yourself. So your body knows what you're doing before you actually even show up. And so that's what it looks like for me also in my career of the routine of I have my cell reduced in the morning. I go on my walk, I do a meditation. And my body starts to be trained into those spaces. And when you're able to do that, it actually leaves more opportunity for creativity

and to be passion struck. I do believe that. When you get more into your own rhythm and cadence of who you are and having that as a daily routine, you end up having those spaces for magic, like you said, to show up in your world. Well, it's really being intentional in how you're planning out your day, especially if you're

going to have that routine like you do, which I'm sure your morning sets up the rest of your day. Yeah, definitely. And I do believe because when you have that schedule routine, whatever words you might want to use for that, I guess that it actually opens up more time where you can have time to be creative or have time to say yes to hanging out with friends

and then you end up discovering new things that you want to add back into your routine. So that's what I've loved about my practices and athlete. And I had to relearn that of like not going to the gym and dribbling. What is it then for me that gets my day ready, gets me in the right mindset to talk to awesome people like you and your audience.

Well, great. Well, speaking of audiences, you're starting to build your own. And on September, I think you launched your own podcast, Get Busy 11. And I was hoping you could tell the audience a little bit about it, what you're trying to do on the show. And I would encourage them to go check it out

and hear what you guys are doing. Well, great, thank you so much. Yeah, it's called Get Busy 11. If you guys are familiar, it's a line from the Shawshank Redemption movie, where you said, get Busy 11 or get Busy Dian. And so that's the line that it's from. And what ended up happening was my family

kind of embraced this GBL attitude and lifestyle. And so my parents had their 45th wedding anniversary. And my dad and we were all getting together in Des Moines, Iowa. And my dad had made these GBL hats and these T-shirts. And I came out and I had a video made of them, for their 45 years of their wedding, or a marriage I should say. And at the very beginning,

had a GBL license plate of a car. And I'm like, how did this synchronize like this? We had never spoken about it before, but we both wonder this GBL mindset. And so that's where it actually started about five, six years ago. And so now it's just kind of a common family thing where we get together and say, are you GBL and it's really a community. And you know, people kind of light up if we're wearing stickers and hats and a fun thing and they kind of want to

be a part of it. So that kind of vibe and mindset is what the GBL podcast is all about. You can use YOLO or Carpe Diem as the kids say, but it's just about being in the present moment and really being in that mindset that anything can happen and anything's possible and let's have a good time doing it. So the podcast is about good vibes, great people like yourself, which is people with growth mindset who want to keep on

building out a great future. And then the piece that I'm really excited about is everyone on the show brings in a nonprofit or a charity where we can give back and learn new ways of giving back. COVID through a little bit of a wrench and a lot of volunteering and time. And so this is a way to learn about how people are being bigger than themselves out in the time. And so this is a way to learn about how people are being bigger than themselves out in the community. And so it's good vibes, growth mindset and giving back. We've had, I guess, such as the London five episodes, but we've had some great people. Mac Anderson is the very first episode who started successories. So we kind of circle back to athletics with those motivation posts for company. He was on there and back to athletics with those motivation poster company.

He was on there and shared about how he built out that company and everybody that's been on has been super fun and there are about 25 to 30 minute episodes and it's just been a great experience to be able to meet so many awesome people and share their story and share their charities. So that's what I'm up to. Yeah, that's great. And I love the philanthropic twist. Yes. Yeah, that's one of the favorite things I've had with this show is it's become a great way to highlight what I call our everyday heroes because I think we live in this society where you know, these heroes that we tend to emulate are people with superpowers are seen bigger than life. And I those are the stories I love to highlight on the show. I love that. And we have so much synergy.

And that's why we were able to connect on that because yours is about living with intentionality and that's very similar of intention. We're right here in this moment, what can we create and how can we be bigger than just ourselves you know, ourselves on that kind of thing. And that's what you're creating with your entire brand. So I'm so happy to be a part of it. Yes. Well, thank you. So you also, and I didn't want to leave the interview without having a little bit of a chance to talk about this. You're also a cyber security senior leader. I used to be

a chief information security officer. so it's a topic I'm familiar with, although in the years that I've been out of it now, it was important then. And it has just reached a point of being so vital across not only every industry, but geopolitically, everything else. So how do you just keep track of everything that is going on with cyber security because it just seems like every day I look at something there's there's new technology, new protocols, new doctor and that's coming out. So that must be pretty challenging. It definitely it definitely is and it's and it's something that every organization and people individually need

to be watching out for with the cyber security because there's so much digital transformation. I mean, even if you just look at SENS COVID when everybody started working from home and all the devices that they're using and logging into, it's a whole new world out there. And I absolutely love my position. I work for Palau to networks, which is a top cybersecurity company. But do you care if I tell a little bit about how I ended up in this role?

Do you care if I share a little bit about that? OK, sure. So because I do think with living intentionally, your mission here, everything works great on a resume, right? Or a website or when you talk to people, but there's lots of adversity out there that overcome. And I had my own personal one and just wanted to share that there's highs and lows with everything you go through.

And so when the pandemic hit, I was working for a consulting firm in an international consulting firm. But if you can imagine at that time, people weren't really willing to give out $250,000 for a transformation from a consulting firm, but if you can imagine at that time, people weren't really willing to give out $250,000 for a Transformation from a consulting firm. So people were really holding on to the money and what ended up happening is they had to let go about Three-force of the people in our consulting firm. So I lost my job in September of 2020

during that time. And so that was the first time it's ever happened to me. And you don't, you think that you're secure and you have had all these experiences. And I was there sitting looking like, well, I know that there's gonna be a really like silver lining to this, to the situation, but I'm gonna need to find it and create it for myself. And so many of the people that were let go and that consulting firm jumped right into,

to different positions, other consulting jobs. And I really wanted to take the time to set and look at where I was at, kind of that divergent focus, from a high level focus, where do I want to be in 2023 or 2024? And I really loved what I was in an athlete that reverse engineering, where I would set a goal

in the future and work backwards from that. And so that's kind of what led me to cyber security is what was really happening in the world. Everything was tack and everything needed to be secured. And so I really started focusing in on that career, but what I really did was kind of looked at my animal instincts. It's one of those psychology things

that I really lean on hard as I try to get out of all this language and animals don't have language. So I always was like, okay, I'm gonna lay like a lion and just rest until I'm ready to go. You know, they really listen to their instincts and intuition and that's where I was leading me towards this industry, this position. And so I waited six months until I found the right one.

And after seven interviews with Palo Alto Networks, it worked out. It was a match made. But I don't think if I would have taken that time to really listen to my instincts and where I wanted to be in the future, even two years down the road, I might have made some wrong turns.

So I'm very, very happy that that is one of the main strategies is that setting yourself in the future and working backwards from that. Even during some rough times when I didn't know what was going to happen next. Yeah, well, thank you for sharing that. I think it's important for people to hear. Well, if people wanted to get a hold of you, I guess probably not at Palo Alto unless they pay one, but are some of the best ways socially to connect. Right.

There. Thank you so much. So on LinkedIn and Instagram, my handle is Hey, An O'Neal. So it's a N-N-E-O-N-E-I-L. Hey, Ann O'Neal. And my website is www.annonial.co.co. And you can reach out to me in any of those places and love for you to find the Get Busy Live and Podcast after you listen to Passion Struck. We'd love to highlight any kind of non-profits

and charities that maybe we should be taking a look at, so that would be great. Okay, well, I'm, I always end with just a couple fun questions. Okay, I love it. So if there was a WNBA player that you could have on your podcast, who would it be? Oh, man, I love Candace Parker. You know, they just won the WNBA championship and she played for Pat Summit at the University of Tennessee. And I think there's so many lessons and learnings

that she's had, whether it was in her collegiate career, her time growing up in Chicago, and then moving around from the L.A. Sparks into the Chicago sky and then winning that championship. So I'd love to be able to chat with her. And I know that it's more than just basketball for her. So it'd be really fun to check that out. Yeah, she has had really an epic career. And she can dunk. So I got to talk about that.

Another question would be, you get invited to be the host of the late, late night show. And you get to do um car karaoke. Who, what star would you like to do it with you? Oh my gosh. This is such an amazing question and my answer is Lady Gaga. Uh, she is my answer for almost anything. Um, but even though she already sings, but I just love her vibe and her personality. She can be a chameleon on and off the stage. She's about giving back. She's about being authentic. And I think she would be a ton of fun in a car. So I would say Lady Gaga. Okay. And then is there a favorite book

that you have that you would encourage the audience to read? Yes, I have. Well, I have quite a few. Well, definitely the alchemist about Paulo Cuello is one of my favorite because it's always about a long journey, the hero's journey, but coming back and finding your heart. I just got a great great quote in there. So I love the alchemist. I love turning pro by Stephen Pressfield. And that one is kind of a little bit smaller, a smaller book to to Gidejust. He also wrote the art of war, or the word of art, I should say. And so I love Stephen Pressfield's book. I loved just recently, the infinite game by Simon Sinek. That has been one that's been awesome because there's usually so many timelines and deadlines on our things. And when you're in the infinite game that he talks about in that book, it's an infinite life game that we're up to and we're playing and so that's you know kind of

goes into being passionate, being intentional and keep showing up every day so I love that one too. Okay and since we spend a lot of time talking about college today, what is your most ridiculous college memory? Oh, my, oh gosh, wow, I have, I have a lot, the first one that popped into my mind though is I was at the University of Illinois and we went to the Maui classic and the men were playing and the women were playing down there in the Maui class if you're familiar. It's usually over Thanksgiving. And we had a couple of days off, so a couple of the girls and I got on jet skis. And we were like, hey, we could take this to the next island because we could see the island, right? But in Hawaii, if you guys are in Hawaii,

or you know their waves, their waves are like 20 or 30 or 40 feet tall. So we were flying over on the jet skis over these huge waves, literally just set a goal to go to this island and we lost gas. And so then we're on all of these waves. And fortunately, the jet ski people were taking tabs on where we were at and came in goddess,

but that was a little scary for a while. But just the intention of us thinking that we could get to the next island and, you know, also being in Hawaii where the waves are just absolutely insane. So it was terrifying, but also thrilling, and I'm very happy that we got back to shore. Yeah, definitely not the crazy. And back to the tournament, yes. Well, and thank you so much for joining us on the show today and sharing so much of your

personal wisdom. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I love today and sharing so much of your personal wisdom. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I love what you're up to here and creating. I can't wait to see the growth and meet some of your awesome community as well. So thank you so much for having me and being able to share the story.

What a great interview that was with Anonil. And I'd like to bring up a couple of the past interviews that we spoke about. One is with my friend, the one and only Navy Steel Commander, Mark Divine, Episode 65, and also my interview with NASCAR driver, Jesse Oweegee, Episode 61. And over the upcoming weeks, we have some truly amazing guests coming on the show, including Brechen Ruben, Trisha Manning, Jordan Harbinger, Admiral James Stavridis, and Kathy Heller, just to name a few.

And if you are new to the show, and you would like to introduce it to friends or family members, we now have episode starter packs. These are collections of your favorite episodes, organized by topic, which gives any new listener a great way to get acquainted to everything that we do here on the show. Check them out, both on Spotify and on our website at passionstruck.com slash starter packs. Now, I hope you apply the lessons from today's interview and go out there yourself and become passion struck. Thank you so much for joining us. The purpose of our show is to make passion go viral. And we do that by sharing with you the knowledge and skills that you need to unlock your hidden potential.

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