The Bossticks - Allyson Felix - How To Motivate Yourself, Manage Lows, & Capture Highs The Olympian Way

Episode Date: March 6, 2024

669: Today, we're sitting down with the most decorated female track and field athlete in Olympic history, Allyson Felix. Allyson joins us for a conversation about the Olympic mindset, how to take charge of your own motivation, and how to avoid letting brands take advantage of you. She dives into her experience of starting a family while being sponsored by Nike, which led to her creating her famous sneaker brand, Saysh. She also discusses overcoming fear, the arrival fallacy, and how to determine which sacrifices are worth making when striving to be the best in your game. To connect with Allyson Felix click HERE To connect with Saysh click HERE To connect with Lauryn Evarts Bosstick click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE To Watch the Show click HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To Call the Him & Her Hotline call: 1-833-SKINNYS (754-6697) This episode is brought to you by The Skinny Confidential This episode is brought to you by Armra ARMRA Colostrum strengthens immunity, ignites metabolism, fortifies gut health, activates hair growth and skin radiance, and powers fitness performance and recovery. Visit www.tryamra.com and use code SKINNY at checkout for 15% off your first purchase. This episode is brought to you by Ritual Start a daily ritual that you can feel good about. Visit ritual.com/SKINNY to receive 25% off your first month of Ritual. This episode is brought to you by Kerastase Visit Kerastase-USA.com and use code SKINNY15 to receive 15% off your purchase. Offer valid through 5/31/2024. This episode is brought to you by Primally Pure If you're tired of discomfort during your menstrual cycle, try the Cycle Soothing Spray from Primally Pure at primallypure.com/SKINNY and use code SKINNY for 15% off your order. This episode is brought to you by The Squeezed Juice Use code SKINNY for 20% off any order at shop.squeezedjuice.com This episode is brought to you by Saie Saie: Award winning Clean and Planet Positive makeup brand sold exclusively at Sephora. Shop now at sephora.com Produced by Dear Media

The following podcast is a dear media production. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you along for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential, him and her.

Just because you have the accomplishment, it doesn't mean that it's going to fulfill you. And I think for me for a long time, it was like, like just about the medals and like, okay, this is, I have to try to do, get the most and all these things. And then it was like, well, what is my actual purpose? Like, what am I trying to accomplish here? And I think when I shifted that, that's when I started to feel fulfilled. And my definition of success really shifted as well. And it was like, I can still have that feeling of fulfillment, even if I don't reach the highest goal. Today we're sitting down with one of the most decorated female track and field athletes in Olympic history. Allison Felix. Allison joins us for a

conversation about the Olympic mindset. We ask her all the questions. How to take charge of your own motivation and how to avoid letting brands take advantage of you. She talks about making sacrifices to be different, what to watch out for in partnerships, how to regain motivation during low moments, and life after retirement. She dives into her experience. She dives into her experience. of starting a family while being sponsored by Nike, which led to her creating her famous sneaker brand. We also really talk about overcoming fear in this episode, which I think is a really great takeaway. With that, let's welcome Alison Felix to The Skinny Confidential Him and Her show.

This is the Skinny Confidential Him and Her. How do you become an Olympian? I want you to go way, way back to your childhood and tell me the first. moment that you can remember and pinpoint when you even saw that quality in you. I think the first thing is like there's no plan, at least for me. There was no structure to it. That was not the intention. I think I first remember being fast in school in PE. We would like run around the perimeter of the school and I'm super competitive and I would always like it would be me and these two other boys, Jared and Blake. And we would be like leading the pack. And so that was the

first time I was like, oh, like, I can be up with the guys and I like this, but no idea, like, of any future of professional sports. So when you know you can run fast, what's the next step after that? Do you go home and tell your parents, I'm good at this, I like it? You just start racing everybody in the neighborhood and you keep crushing everyone. Yeah, but then I started playing basketball. Like, I didn't find it until high school. So I just, it was normal. Like, you know, I'm cool. But then I still I did everything normal and eventually, yeah, years and years later, then I found like the organized part of it. And that really came from like being at a new school, going out for the team. And yeah, again, like no intention of taking it anywhere. It's just like, oh, let me make some friends.

Is that late for an Olympian to find it? It sounds like my, maybe it's a misconception, but my conception of when I think about this is like people are training since their children. And when you say, I imagine the gymnast. That's what I think. When you say finding high school. That's why I'm like, that's not my experience at all. But that is the experience for a lot of Olympians where they go to some type of training camp. And there is this plan since they were three years old and they've always known they wanted to be an Olympian. For me, I've absolutely like stumbled and fell into it.

And I think because I was active and I was, you know, competitive and it's running. So it's not something that you have to be doing from a super young age. I was able to excel really quickly. Did your parents help you water it or were they like just to go do what you want to do? They were like parents who just never let me and my brother quit in anything. So it didn't matter what it was like you're going to see the thing through. They didn't know anything about the sport on a high level. My dad ran in high school and that was like the extent of it.

But they just showed up for me like small meets, big meets, like whatever the thing was, they just supported me. And I think that would have been the same like no matter what I did. When you look back when you did decide to become an Olympian, what was the epiphany there? Was there an epiphany? Like, were you like, I'm going to actually take this seriously and try to get to the top? Does somebody approach you or do you say I'm going to pursue this? Yeah, it first became like maybe I can get a scholarship to college. So that was the first thing.

It was like, this is my way, you know, to be able to go to a good school. And then my senior year, I started doing really well. My coach put me in these races with professionals. And that's when it was like, I had ran like the fastest time in the world. And yeah, then they started to approach me. Shoe companies started to like offer contracts. And that was like, okay, well, now I had committed to USC and I had this big decision like, do I go to USC or do I go pro? The Olympics were going to be the next year and really focus on that dream.

So, yeah. This is always so interesting to me because you have to have a business mind to do all these deals. So were you also really good at looking at all these partnerships and deals and being able to weed through them? Or is it something you've had to learn? Yeah, no. Because at this point, I was like 17 years old. I had no idea of any of that. I was just like, oh, cool.

They're going to give me like gear and like pay for school and all that stuff. Thankfully, I had parents who were like very, they just did their due diligence. And so they had a friend who was the GM of the Dodgers. And so they just use their resources to, like, help navigate and figure it out. But very much so, we just kind of did it as we went. And we made mistakes. Like, we totally didn't get it right, you know, right away. But they did the best they could.

Are the big companies fair with someone who's 17 years old looking back? Like, if you're maybe teaching someone who's in it at 17 years old, were they fair at the time? Or are there things that you should watch out for? I think there are definitely things you should watch out for. I think they knew that we didn't know what we were doing. Right. It helped when we brought in. you know, other people who obviously did, but it took time to like learn who those people were

and how they could help us. When you reached this pinnacle of wellness and expertise and performance, what did that training look like? What were, when you decided to take it seriously, what were your routines like? Very regimented. So I was training six days a week. Right around five hours a day, three was spent on the track, everything from warming up, the bulk of the workout, cooling down, stretching, all of that stuff.

I would take a break and then I would go to the gym for a couple of hours and then have a very regimented system there, Olympic lifts and body weight and all those things. And then taking care of my body, you know, chiropractor, massage therapist, the recovery was huge. And so, yeah, it was the bulk of my life. How many hours a day do you think you were training or practicing this kind of stuff? Yeah, right around five. Okay. But is five with the chiropractor?

No, just like five of the actual. actual training. And it's five with the gym? Or is the gym an extra three? Is that what you're saying? No, no. So, yeah, three on the track, two in the gym, come home, do recovery. And then, like, the sleep is huge, you know? Yeah. There will be, like, a nap built in, and then getting, you know, adequate rest at night and all of it. Is there drugs, alcohol, boyfriends, friendships? Like, how do you, like, I mean, at that age for me, I'm, like, out at the bar showing my tits. Like, is there any of that? Or, you? is it? Underneath the bar. You're underneath the bar looking at my skirt. How, it was a very different experience. So there's none of that. It's all eliminated. I think you're

figuring out your way. So for me, I was, so I'm trying to like navigate like I still want to be like a regular college student, but I'm definitely not. I'm traveling the world. I'm competing everywhere. So I think I had some like growing pains of like, oh, I want to go out, but like that's not going to work with this. And so yeah, for the most part, that's not a part of it. Boyfriends, girlfriends, friends, how'd you deal with that? Yeah, boyfriends, you have to figure out, like, they have to know the lifestyle, get, like, what you're doing, because it is different. Like, it's, it's so different than anything else. So, yeah, I kind of found my way. Obviously, you've had some of the accomplishments. Do you regret in any way or miss that you didn't get to have some of those experiences?

I think that's the one thing. Like, I'm so grateful for the way that it turned out. Like, it's, you know, it was great for me. It worked for me. But I do. Like, there's the part of me that, like, I went pro so I didn't get to be on the college team. Like I didn't get those relationships or I didn't have the traditional college experience. So I think part of me does feel like, oh, like that would have been so much fun. But I do feel like when you're trying to do something different, like you have to make those sacrifices. What's the pressure like being an Olympian competing against other nations, other countries for your country? Are you able to compartmentalize that and kind of block it out or does that pressure get to you?

I mean, obviously you were able to overcome the pressure. I just wonder like what's going through your mind. I figured it out, but I think it definitely got to me. It's huge. I mean, it's funny looking back now because it felt like the most important thing in the world. Like it was everything. And so I had moments where like my second Olympics, I was the favorite. It didn't come together.

I lost. It was my second silver medal. And I was just like devastated, like in a very dark place devastated. And looking back now, it's like it wasn't like that. It shouldn't have been like, have that magnitude. But I think when you do feel the pressure, like you have your sponsors, you have responsibilities, like, and also just the weight of feeling like you don't want to let your country down. It's pretty heavy. So I felt like I figured it out. But at the beginning,

it was, it felt overwhelming. Well, I mean, it was your whole world. Also, like your opportunities. Like, you know, for Olympians, a lot of times, there's two weeks that the world pays attention to you. And so it's like you have to be ready to go at that time or else it feels like you're not going to be able to make it. This is something I've always thought. My mom was huge into the winter and somewhere in Olympics when I was growing up. You're right over there? When I was growing up and we watched all the time and I always would, I would think to myself like, man, it's a four-year window, right? Yeah. And so if you're taking your shot, let's say, I don't even know the exact, was it 2009? 2012. No, 2012. And so the year before that.

it's 2008. Okay. So if you feel like you miss your one shot in the four years, you know you're going to age four more years. Like how do you deal with that? I feel like you deal with life in like these four year blocks. And it's crazy. But you talk to other Olympians like that's how it kind of works. It's like everything is in these cycles. And it's hard, especially I feel like in track and field, It's not like the team is named early. You find out about a month before the Olympics, and that's when you have trials. And you have to make sure you're healthy. Like, if you have a cold during the trials, like, it doesn't matter.

Like, it's the top three on that day. And so it is just, there's so much of it that you're just hoping that, like, everything aligns to be perfectly ready when it's time to go. Any other kind of athlete, I mean, professional sports team player, like, they go these seasons and they're just, it's consistent. We're talking about if you, you know, you have this small window of two weeks and then you have a gap of four years. What are you doing during that? You're just training and. Yeah. So your season, it's interesting because it is every four years is the Olympics.

But you have a season every year. And so you have world championships. You know, we have the Diamond League. So our professional circuit. But like the world doesn't really know about that. So to capitalize, you have really just the Olympics. So yeah, you continue to train and build and all of those things and you continue to compete. But the biggest stage is the Olympic stage.

Okay, last question in this vein. For people that are trying to develop the right mindset to perform, you've obviously had to do this in your career. When you have those down moments, how are you able to overcome that? What are you telling yourself? Are you reading anything? Are you listening? What are the things you're doing to get yourself motivated to get back on top? I would get in these moments where I felt like I couldn't see it.

Like I just like after that second Olympics, it was just like, is it ever going to work for me? Like, I'm not sure. So it was having family. It was having my coach. It was having people who could see the vision and encourage me when I was like too in my feelings to like get out of my own way. So that was the biggest thing. And then also like just taking time away. Like every season I would try to take like a month just off where I'm not training.

I'm not eating right. I'm just out of it so that I can come back like passionate and refresh. and ready to go again. What do you cut? Like, meaning, are you cutting anyone who's toxic? Like, you have to be laser focused and cut all the shit. What are you cutting? I feel like anyone who's, like, not speaking into, like, any negativity.

Anyone who doesn't believe, like, that you're going to get there, you have to be around people who are on your team. So anyone who's not on board, it's just you can't give your energy to that. Let's talk about what has quickly become a staple in Lauren and I's life. candidly, a staple in our entire family's life, we give this product to our children. We give it to our dogs. We both take it. And that is Armora Colostrum. Lauren and I did an episode with the founder of Armoura on this podcast. Just search Armour Colostrum, Skinny Confidential, and you will hear it. And it was mind-blowing. We did not realize all of the incredible benefits Armour Colossum provides. Things like

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They all really hit the basis to remove the calcium buildup, accumulating in our hair while also repairing it. So we're multitasking over here. If you've tried everything to repair your damaged tear, trust me and try Premiere. You can visit Caristos-USA.com and use code Skinny 15. You get 15% off your purchase. Standard exclusions apply. Offer valid through 531, 2024. That's Skinny 15 for 15% off your purchase at www.k-E-K-E-S-T-A-S-E-E-S-E-A-U-S-A.com. If someone wants to take any area of their life to the next level, what would you tell them? And I mean, like, they want to go to go to the top. Yeah. For me, I mean, I want to go. I would say you have to have a plan and you have to have kind of someone who's going to help you get there.

Like for me in my world, like a coach, you know, but whether that's, you know, a life coach or someone who can kind of look at that plan and say like, I'm in it with you. You're not alone. For me, that was always helpful because you could have like this big ambitious plan. But until you kind of break it down into little parts and having people to like encourage you along the way, it's hard to do it just by yourself. I want to know what it was like the day after the Olympics are over because this is really weird, but the day that I got married was like it was like so fun and it feels like you're on cocaine. You're on like this high. But the next day you feel really low. It's really weird.

And I've talked to a lot of people about this because it's like you do this thing that's that you're looking forward to your whole life. Yeah. And then the next day you almost drop. Yeah. And even like we talk about this all the time, astronauts who go to. to the moon who come back, they almost like have this like depression. Did you feel like that the next day, the next week, the next month after it's over? It's interesting. I feel like in my most successful Olympics, my third Olympics, like everything came together. It went really well.

And I remember like I thought everything was going to be different. It was like if I went gold, like nothing is going to be the same. And I remember coming home and it was like everything was the same. And it was, it was this feeling of like, I've been striving for this thing, like, for so long. Now I have it. But it doesn't, like, it doesn't reach the hype of what I built it up to be. And it took time to, like, you know, unpack and therapy and all the things. But I think it's, it's just like, it's about the journey and, like, the magic along the way. And I think sometimes you can be so fixated on that end goal that you miss, like, all the moment. So for me, that's what it was. It was like, you know, it just, it wasn't what I thought it was going to be like.

You have to tell Allison the Pearl Theory because that, literally, that people keep coming on the podcast that are really accomplished and saying that. They thought that this accomplishment was going to like just fix everything. Tony Robbins always talks about that, the science of achievement and the art of fulfillment. Like, you have to have both. Like, you can achieve, like, you achieved so much. And it's so interesting that you say that, that afterwards, it's. it's like everything's still the same.

Yeah. I think that's important for people to hear because they think, oh, like a Selena Gomez, I'll just take, like, she's made it. But people don't realize there's a lot that comes with that. There's a lot of pressure and there's drops. Yeah. I think it's what you said. It's the fulfillment. Like, just because you have the accomplishment, it doesn't mean that it's going to fulfill you.

And I think for me for a long time, it was like just about the metals and like, okay, this is, I have to try to do get the most and all these things. And then it was like, well, what is my actual purpose? Like, what am I trying to accomplish here? And I think when I shifted that, that's when I started to feel fulfilled. And my definition of success really shifted as well. And it was like, I can still have that feeling of fulfillment, even if I don't reach the highest goal. So what does your life look like the year after the Olympics? Still training.

You might have world championships. You still have another season of competing. So it kind of just keeps going. There's a lot more work and opportunity, like, away from the competition, but it just keeps going. And then when does it stop? Like, now you're pregnant. Like, when does it, when does all of the training stop? Or do you still do training all the time?

I retired last year. And so, yeah, it stops whenever you choose for it to stop. When I had my daughter, I was in the midst of, you know, still competing and everything. And so I trained all the way through my pregnancy and then came right back to it. And so it never really stopped. So why did you decide to retire? What did that conversation with yourself look like? Yeah, it was, I felt like it was time I had done a lot of the things that I wanted to do. You have a garage full of medals? What's going on?

My parents keep them all. But yeah, it had been a really long career. And I felt really blessed. And I knew I wanted another child. And that was something that I, you know, didn't really feel like I wanted to come back to the sport after doing it once. And it just, it felt like a good time. But retirement is. is really different, it's really hard, and transition is tough. And so that's been a whole new world. But I felt really confident in my decision of like, it's time to walk away. Why is retirement tough? I think change is so hard. It's been a real, it's been an interesting journey. I've been learning a lot. I think for me, you know, I had a 20 year career and I absolutely loved what I did. And sports is weird because you don't really, you know, no one escapes father time. And so that's a long career,

Yeah, it's a very long career. That's part for athletics, yeah. Yeah, it's super long. So that's why I felt super grateful. But at the same time, it's still been challenging just to, I think so much of my identity has been wrapped up and being an athlete and competing and the Olympics and all those things. And so one day when it's just you're not doing that anymore, it's really interesting to just kind of sit with yourself and kind of break down, like, well, who are you actually

away from those things and explore? Looking back 20 years, all the people you competed with, when you think about the mindset or the frame of mind that the best people were in, do you see common denominators against the best? Yeah. I mean, just the like the zone and the focus, I do. I feel like it's a kind of a different level, the passion and the lifestyle. There are people you could have looked at and been like, that's somebody I got to watch and that's not like just based on their. Or that person's going to be so successful. There's like just traits.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, there's a competitor that I really enjoyed competing against. Her name is Veronica Campbell Brown. She's from Jamaica. And I just knew that I always had to bring my A game. Like, she was fierce and always ready to go and just extremely talented as well. And I think there's an ease about it. So, yeah, there's definitely the similarities.

When you talk to athletes who have retired now, is it sort of the same across the board with how people feel about retiring? I would think that, like you said, it's so much a part of their identity that there's... That it's hard. Yeah.

A lot of the conversations have been similar. You know, there's been a lot of, you know, people who have helped me. I think there's been a lot of people who have, like, warned me like it's going to be tough. I think it hits everyone in different ways. Like, there's people who I've talked to and, you know, they haven't come back to their sport.

And they don't, you know, they don't really miss it on the day to day. For me, I do. I miss the structure of training and all of those things that I've really has just been like second nature. But I think it's always really challenging when you move into the next thing. And so as I've moved into the next step, it is like finding my footing and remembering, you know, that I can still have like my best days ahead of me and there's still so much more to go after. What does your life look like now on a day-to-day basis? We're obsessed with routines over here. What does it look like? I think that's what I miss most is that there's not a really set routine. I'm doing so many different things. My day to day is, you know, running sache, my footwear company. And so, you know, a lot of, you know, meetings and team things for that, a ton of travel, a lot different travel than I was used to. I did a lot of international travel. This is a lot of domestic travel. Being mom, like,

and on top of all the other things. So, you know, I try to have like some time to like work out. and then go into the office and do all of that stuff. But usually it's a fair amount of travel and then, yeah. I have planter fasciitis. That's not fun. Shoes are not my favorite thing. Like, tell me, do these shoes help with my planner fasciitis? I feel like you're the person to ask because I'm sure you know all about the feet.

I think they would be great for you because they are extremely comfortable. Yeah. It's very cloud-like. It's, you know, for women especially, we've been wearing shoes that have been made for men. And so I think that's a huge part of why we see like these different issues arise. So I would love to, yeah, hear how, you know, you feel in them. I feel like women have been wearing those shoes like in Cinderella when the stepsisters shoes, their feet pop out. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah. It's like too tight. It's too big. Like that's how I feel like every single time.

It is wearing heels. Yeah. It's, I mean, it's crazy. I mean, even just I had no idea in wearing like sneakers that I've been wearing men's sneakers. And, you know, I've been told that they're for women. And there are a lot of differences between men and women's feet. And so, you know, we shouldn't be wearing men's shoes. And, yeah, I think that is where a lot of issues come from. Why did you decide to create your own shoe line? So it came about really organically.

I was competing still. And I had been with Nike for almost a decade at the time. And what does that mean you've been with Nike? Like they were sponsoring me. Yeah, they were sponsoring me. And just if you just could go off on a tangent real quick and tell us what that looks like and then how you parlayed into your shoe brand. Yeah.

So in track and field, your major sponsor is usually a footwear deal. And so they sponsor you. You represent them. You're an ambassador for the brand. You wear their gear. All of those things. Cool. So I had been doing that for a really long time.

But I was ready to start a family. And in my sport, it was really interesting because so many women and friends of mine, I saw them struggle through that and they weren't supported. And what was happening is that their contracts were either being paused when they became pregnant or they weren't under contract and they hid their pregnancies to secure new contracts. And it was a whole thing. So I kind of felt like for me, like at this point, I had been to four Olympics. I had six gold medals. Like I was like, maybe I have done enough and like I won't fall into that category. But I found myself in the exact same position.

I was redoing a contract that I was already on, renegotiating it. And the renegotiation started off at a horrible place. It was 70% less than what I had already been making. And so that just amplified my fear because they didn't know I was pregnant yet. And so I did what so many women in my sport have done. I hid my pregnancy. I started to train at like 4 o'clock in the morning when it was dark so that nobody would know. And my plan was just like, you know, to come back.

And I was doing that because even the 70% less, they hadn't put it on paper yet. And so we're waiting, trying to get something back. And it just kept going in a bad direction. And then I changed my fight from one around financials to asking for maternal protections. And basically what that means is in the contract, it's performance base. So you go to the Olympics, you go to World Championships, you get a bonus. But if you don't, or if you have a baby during that time, you get a reduction. And so there was nothing in place to say, after I give birth, I have this amount of time to get back.

You would just be reduced. So that's what was happening to women. They would be reduced and reduced and pushed out of the sport. And so I asked for time to be able to recover. And they said that I could have it. But they were not willing to give it to everyone. They weren't willing to set that precedent for all female athletes. And so that was something I felt like I couldn't stand for.

And so I walked away from the company. I wrote this New York Times op-ed talking all about it, which was terrifying. I'm sure they love that. And two weeks after the op-ed came out, they changed their policy. And today they offer 18 months of maternal protection for their female athletes. But that's basically how the company came around because I left Nike and I was training for my fifth Olympics. I knew I still wanted to run.

I knew I wanted to come back. And I was looking for another sponsor. And I think whatever the reason I have. had been so heavily Nike branded, like, just no one was interested. Or it was just too long. You were like just known for that. Yeah. Or I caused, they saw me as like causing trouble there, you know, whatever the thing was. We don't need another op-ed here. Exactly. And so, you know, I was, I was talking to my brother, who's my manager and really just, venting to him, talking to him as a big brother. And I was like, I'm just, I'm disheartened

that, like, I'm at this place in my career and I don't have shoes to wear in the Olympics. And And he was like, I think we should just do it ourselves. And I was like, that seems very big. But yeah, but the more that I kind of sat with it, it was like, no, this is a huge opportunity. And so we thought we were creating shoes that I could wear in the Olympics. And maybe other women would want to support that as well. But as we did a deep dive into that industry, we learned that the majority of shoes are made off of a last, which is a mold of a foot. And it's the mold of a man's foot to make women's sneakers.

and it's been marketed to women that this is specific for you. That's like designing a tampon for a penis hole. Oh, Jesus Christ. Why are we getting shoes that are designed for your gross, big, lumbering toes? That's some bullshit. That is some bullshit. I just think it's bullshit. The closest thing I know about the shoe industry is I read shoe dog like four years ago.

That's about it. It's all I know. So yeah, they're not made for us. Yeah, so that's what we get to do. Our shoes are made specifically to fit the form of the female foot. It was really cool because I did make it back to the Olympics. And I got to do it in shoes that my company made. What color?

Are all different colors? What color? I ran in a very pretty white. It was like almost looked like lace, but very strong. They were see-through. And yeah, a very beautiful, just beautifully crafted shoe. Did everyone want them when you wore them? They did.

Yeah. No one knew what they were. And then it was, I kind of like, stepped out in them and it was a moment. And for me, it was just like, it was just the coolest because it had been so hard to get back to the Olympics. And I felt like, you know, leaving Nike. Like, everyone was telling me, like, I'm too old. You're a mom now. Like, this is not going to happen for you. So to do all those things and to do it, like, as the first athlete in running in a company that I own was just like cherry on top. Well, it's full circle for you. And also, I think it's so

smart what you did because you like content marketed kind of you like you wore it and then everyone wanted it. I think it's a really really smart marketing play too. It worked out that way where, you know, we were able to launch at the Olympic trials and yeah. So it was it it was hard, you know, timing wise to put everything together and but yeah, that was the idea that really had that moment. Primally Pure offers a complete line of clean products from skin, body, hair and home. They have a cult following natural deodorant, which is absolutely amazing. My latest obsession and always my obsession with this brand is their body butter. I love using it when I get out of the shower. It's non-toxic and amazing. They just launched a cycle-soothing spray though. And this is this spray that has magnesium in it. It's a miracle mineral, which is known to ease discomfort and soothe period symptoms. So I had the opportunity to try the cycle-soothing spray when I was on my period. And boy, oh boy, is it amazing. I sprayed mine on my stomach and like my neck and it smells delicious, especially when you're just

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how are you going to handle that? Would you encourage or would you? I mean, I'm always going to support my child but I wouldn't be mad if they choose something else. It's such a tough route. I feel like especially track. It's like an isolating, like lonely sport. It's not a lot of

payoff for the amount of work that it is. I'm trying to get my daughter play tennis. What happens to, I mean, you've had so much success and you've done so well and you're so accomplished. But what happens, I guess, to maybe some of the athletes that don't have the success you have? Yeah. Financially, professionally. Like, what are those stories like? Oh, I mean, there's a million of them.

There's such a huge disparity in track and field where there's only a small amount of athletes who are really successful and, you know, making a living and all of those things. I think for the others, they're working. They're, you know, they have this dream and they're trying to make it happen. They're not supported. It's just, it's really a kind of a difficult lifestyle. Yeah, that's got to be tough to be like, I'm an Olympic athlete. Top 1.0.01% in the world, but maybe you should have to support yourself. Well, we just got a bronze medal for our podcast and someone gave it to me and I said,

I can't accept it. No, it's not, it's bronze. And if I'm in the Olympics, I don't want the bronze. I can understand. Like, I empathize. You get it. I'm like, I don't want the bros. I want the gold.

We always want the gold. He says a paperweight now somewhere. You mentioned that you wrote an article for the New York Times. What did that look like to get there? And why did you decide to pull the trigger on it? Yeah. So there were two teammates of mine who were already writing about the same issue with the New York Times. And my brother as a manager, he was contributing to the article.

But we weren't really putting our name to it. And so there was all this stuff that was in the works. And my teammate Alicia, she came out with this, with her piece. And I was going through all the things at that time. I was going through the renegotiation. I was pregnant. I was like dealing with it all. And I remember seeing it.

I was like, I have to be a part of this. She was a former Nike athlete and she was talking about her experiences. And I was current. And I was like, this is still happening. This is going on. And so I just felt like compelled that I had to do. do it. And I was scared because I was like, I know I want to keep competing. And obviously, this is going to be an issue. But it was just something that I think also I had my daughter

during that time. She came two months early and spent time in the NICU. And I think something about seeing her fight and just thinking about like her growing up and her generation. I think that was like the push that I needed to say like, I've got to be a part of this. And when it came out, what was that like? It was so scary. I remember like got published. And, I just didn't know what the reaction was going to be. And I think at that time I really cared a lot about what people thought and what it would mean, what the consequences were. And so I just remember feeling, I was really nervous about it. It was really overwhelmed with a lot of support. Now do you feel like so happy you wrote it? Yeah, I do. I mean, so much, I feel like I'm absolutely where I'm supposed to be. Like this is what was meant for me. At the time, it didn't feel like it. And I think the lesson of that was like, you know, you. You can be fearful about something, but you can still move forward with it. Because I never got to this place where it's like, okay, this is comfortable. Like, let's press send.

Like, no, it was terrifying the whole way through. But, like, change came from it. And now I found my voice. And I'm where I'm supposed to be. What are some of your favorite things right now? Meaning favorite books, favorite beauty products, favorite things that you use with your daughter, like just some things that you're, like, using all the time. Some things I'm using all the time.

His audience loves like beauty, makeup hacks, wellness. Wellness. Yeah, wellness. Productivity. I'm such a simple. Any little hacks that you're doing. Any little hacks.

I've just recently like just started meditating, which has been really nice. Like waking up like before the house and like having some time to myself. So that's been really nice. I do gratitude journal. That's like been starting my days off well. My beauty routine is like super simple. I use setafil and keels and like very basic things. With my daughter, let's see.

What are we doing right now? We're all about like the bath time hacks and like the bath, all the things that I hate. But she's into like bath paint and there's like bath confetti and bath like pop rocks. I thought that would be so fun. And then I'm like, oh my God, I have to clean up all this every single time they get out of the bath. And then their hands and they're underneath their fingernails. It's a whole thing. But, I mean, it is fun for them.

They like it. Yeah. She's into it. Not so much. I feel as parents, maybe our generation is just much nicer. But I think about when I was a child, there was no bath confetti or paint. You just took a bath. Yeah.

I mean, maybe. I just got thrown in like a body of water. It was like scrub your ears and get out. That is true. But I think about even like all, how delicate all the parents are now. I mean, it's. I have like a strobe light that goes in the bath. and like all like all these toys that like it's like called a bluey bath.

Every time I turn around there's some new light and some new water spraying from somewhere. I'm like what is what is happening? I think about that a lot when I'm like if I'm having a rough time like with my daughter's like sleep schedule. And I'm like, I don't think this used to be a thing. Like I don't think there was like sleep training and all this. I'm like they just got through it. I just let Dawes go to sleep when she's tired. That's what that's my that's my that's my sleep schedule.

My dad would literally charge. It's a lot. It's too much pressure. You should see the way she wakes her. It's like this soft. There's bed to... Michael's being so crazy because he literally puts on 5-28 frequencies. No, no.

Now I'm the same thing. That's what I was a kid. I remember my dad would just come in. The lights would slap on full blast. Get out of here. You'd be to be to school in 15 minutes. The bus is down the street. I'm like, oh, my God.

Well, we like to do bath paint and strobe lights in the bathtub. The thing is I do that. Where can everyone find everything you're working on, shop your shoes? What shoes should they start with? Tell us everywhere to find you. A website is sache.com. It's sayy-s-h.com. I would start with the Felix Runner. I think it's the best running shoe made specifically for a woman. And we're just really proud of what we're doing. We have maternity returns policy where for women, if your foot changes sizes due to pregnancy,

we'll give you your new size. No questions asked. Yeah, we're trying to do things differently. That's a really cool policy. I never even thought of that. Yeah, we're really trying to push the industry to go. And just like another way to like see women. Really cool. Yeah. For Planner Fasciitis, which one? The Felix Runner. The Felix Runner. Yeah, it's going to be that comfort. Hopefully it would be very cloud-like.

I think you'll enjoy it. Nothing hotter than a little Planner fasciitis. I think you've got to get your running stride down a little bit. I don't know that I'm a great runner. Get some ice on it. Get like a golf ball. Yeah. Yeah. Like roll it. Yeah. You're supposed to hit with the heel first, right? Is that when you run? Is that what? I mean, I don't

even think about it. Just she just runs. But I do think that's the technical. I would love to see you guys do a race. I mean, I think in this state, this would be the time. I still think you'd be in any state and still just destroy. Yeah, I think so too. I think you could be in a wheelchair and still be. Allison, thank you so much for coming on.

You're very inspiring. And I can't wait to shop your shoes. Thank you guys for having me. Thank you.