29. How to Champion Ourselves: A Conversation with UI Tennis Coach Sasha Schmid

In this week’s episode we talk to University of Iowa Tennis Coach Sasha Schmid.  As a former college athlete, lawyer, coach and podcaster, Sasha is paving her own way with authenticity to be a champion for women’s athletics.  Sasha shares her growth journey with us and how she is finding her own way to navigate systems and lift up the stories of the women like Christine Grant that have gone before her. In this rich conversation we cover: The power of authenticity, vulnerability and speaking your truth.  Sasha shares her work supporting University of Iowa Women’s Athletics in helping tell stories through the HERky’s Voice Podcast. Mid-life crises and how according to Carl Jung real life begins at 40, and the last half of life is settling into who you really are.  Sasha’s first ten years and what is was like moving around and growing up with a famous father, Major League baseball manager Steve Boros. She shares her admiration for him and how she lives the  values her parents imparted on her of education, athletics, and social and political engagement. How Sasha lived most of her life aiming to please her parents and how she is now “re-wilding” and discovering how to advocate for herself and make decisions for her, instead of others.  She shares how she is creating a new vision for herself and working toward that while re-evaluating her personal and professional life. The scary and exciting free fall when we  listen to the universe saying you can trust and surrender to a new path.  The importance of the 1972 Title IX legislation  and how we need it now more than ever .  Sasha shares her admiration for Dr. Christine Grant (former Iowa Athletic Director) and her work with the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women before it was taken over by the NCAA. We talk about “the itch” and how many of our patriarchal systems are not working for any of us (including men) and we need to envision different ways to operate. We discuss gratitude and the power and near enemy it can be in our lives. Sasha shares how she is learning to become her own hero and unabashedly fight for what is right. She talks about how she had that muscle to fight  for herself when she played tennis.  Betsy helps her go back and feel herself in her tennis days and reconnect with the player she was, to harness that strength for her  next chapter. Sasha’s favorite quote from Dr. Grant, “A sport’s experience can transform and empower a women – perhaps unlike any other.” Books: Conscious Uncoupling by Katherine Woodward Thomas Untamed by Glennon Doyle Sasha’s podcast: HERkey’s Podcast:  https://hawkeyesports.com/herkys/ Source