Pride Stories: The Podcast
Heartfelt Conversations: Sara's Story
Ready to embrace life's next chapter? Sara Mozengo, raised in a small town and later on a farm, has been a tapestry of resilience, self-discovery, and boundless joy. From her early days in sports to the intimate moments of coming out, Sara opens up about the significance of setting boundaries, embracing new chapters, and cultivating deep connections with her chosen family. Sara shares her reflections on societal progression, revealing her encounters with discrimination and the evolving landscape of LGBTQ+ acceptance.
Sara invites us into her world, highlighting the power of joy, the beauty of slow mornings, and the importance of building community. Join Max Kringen as he navigates this heartfelt conversation, celebrating Sara's journey and the lessons she’s learned along the way. Tune in to hear how Sara’s story embodies the essence of pride, resilience, and love.
Tune in now on Spotify and YouTube to hear Sara's heartfelt story of self-discovery and community-building:
https://youtu.be/L77wvOoqQGE
Are you ready to share your Pride Story? Visit https://wetellwell.com/pride-stories-podcast to learn more.
FOLLOW US!
Website: wetellwell.com
Instagram: @wetellwell
Facebook: facebook.com/wetellwell
Ready to embrace life's next chapter? Sara Mozengo, raised in a small town and later on a farm, has been a tapestry of resilience, self-discovery, and boundless joy. From her early days in sports to the intimate moments of coming out, Sara opens up about the significance of setting boundaries, embracing new chapters, and cultivating deep connections with her chosen family. Sara shares her reflections on societal progression, revealing her encounters with discrimination and the evolving landscape of LGBTQ+ acceptance.
Sara invites us into her world, highlighting the power of joy, the beauty of slow mornings, and the importance of building community. Join Max Kringen as he navigates this heartfelt conversation, celebrating Sara's journey and the lessons she’s learned along the way. Tune in to hear how Sara’s story embodies the essence of pride, resilience, and love.
Tune in now on Spotify and YouTube to hear Sara's heartfelt story of self-discovery and community-building:
https://youtu.be/L77wvOoqQGE
Are you ready to share your Pride Story? Visit https://wetellwell.com/pride-stories-podcast to learn more.
FOLLOW US!
Website: wetellwell.com
Instagram: @wetellwell
Facebook: facebook.com/wetellwell
That's the thing that has really shaped who I am Like. There wasn't always this yay, you're gay. There was definitely like a I'm sorry what, and you know I've been slammed against alley walls, I've been told all the gamut of things about being a lesbian and I still look at people and I'm like I see you.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Pride Stories, the podcast where we celebrate the entire spectrum of experiences that make up the LGBTQ plus community. I'm your host, max Kringen from Tell All Story Co and Studio On this podcast. We're committed to creating a safe, supportive and inspiring space for our guests and listeners alike, so join us as we explore the heartwarming, sometimes painful and always inspired stories that make us who we are. Welcome to Pride Stories, the podcast where we celebrate the entire spectrum of the LGBTQIA plus community. We believe that everybody has a story to share and it deserves to be heard. I'm Max Kringen, chief Storyteller at Talwell Story Co and Studio, and in studio with me today I have my dear friend, sarah Mozingo. Hi, sarah.
Speaker 1:Hi, how are?
Speaker 2:you.
Speaker 1:I am lovely and I'm excited to be here hanging out with you. So right before we hopped on, you mentioned being a little nervous. I was a little, I am a little nervous why are? You a little nervous? I don't know, it's not often.
Speaker 2:I'm a guest on a podcast that's fair, because you host a couple of podcasts yeah, and so it's.
Speaker 1:It's fun to be on this side of the table I usually sit where you're sitting.
Speaker 2:Here we are. I also love that. You typically come from a coaching role and a lot of our relationship has been where you have been my coach as well, where, like you're like, I get to ask you the questions and I get to challenge you. Well, I won't challenge you in this podcast.
Speaker 1:I don't believe you, and that's, I think, the problem.
Speaker 2:Well fair, I might just provide some friendly observations, then we can riff on Love that. From there. So, Sarah, to start with, how do we know each other? Let's start there.
Speaker 1:Let's start with how weird it is to hear you call me Sarah. That's also, oh that's what's blowing my mind right now.
Speaker 2:You know that's funny because I guess casually I always refer to you as Mo. Yeah, and it's not until we're in like a formal setting that I'm like hello, I'm.
Speaker 1:Ms.
Speaker 2:Mozingo. Actually, Mozingo feels more familiar than.
Speaker 1:Sarah, that actually it's one of those things it's like, oh wait, where are we? What's happening?
Speaker 2:Well, Mo, how do we know each other?
Speaker 1:So that is of debate. So I thought our first meeting was at fall retreat and you were slinging some caramel apples and I don't remember why, but I was like I feel like we need to know each other and we started talking. You reflected to me that you were at summer camp and disclaimer, summer camp is not always a sober experience.
Speaker 2:Fair.
Speaker 1:So I don't recall as much of summer camp as I do fall retreat and then you know fair, very fair. So yeah, but then we just became friends and then I owned a gym and you were like, hey, I'd like some help with my fitness.
Speaker 2:And I right, like, yes, there are not actually fitness kids, but those are perceptions that we put on ourselves, which oftentimes play into a variety of personas and just how we view ourselves, how we interpret the world. And at that time I was not a fitness kid. But one of my best friends was a fitness kid, yeah, and so he had kind of found his tribe in that and I was like, great, they're gonna go do crossfit things at 8 am. See you later I'm gonna go read a book.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna not do that. I'm gonna not do that yeah so that's my first memory of you yeah, we were leading boot camps and summer camp and then we learned very quickly that Sunday was let's just go for a walk. Everybody Just go for a 9 am walk.
Speaker 2:See, if I would have known that that's like the insider knowledge I'd have been like let's go, that's my fitness.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's my kind of fitness.
Speaker 2:So Mo, for people that don't know you who is Mo.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness, I'm a being.
Speaker 2:I'm a being.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is very much in transition right now. So I'm a person that, like, loves to just dive in and have serious conversations Not very good at the small talk, love to just get to the nitty gritty. I had a friend reflect to me the other day he's like you know how some people are, like I want to be frank with you. He's like I'm just going to get you a t-shirt that says I'm frank. Yeah, yeah, love to have deep conversations. Recently in like employment transition, which has been fun and exciting and frustrating and all the things that happen in transition and I'm a person that loves to just really be around people Not always large groups of people, but I love people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're really built for that, like small group, one-on-one. Yeah, like let's get deep, let's be in a setting where we can go deep, yeah.
Speaker 1:So can you take us back to some of early Mo and what made, what influences made Mo who she is today? I had a variety of amazing coaches in my life and so I've sports balled my whole life. I have yay sports so I started. I found basketball at a very young age and come from a divorced family. Mom this was in the I'm older, so like 90s Mom worked, she had three kids and so before school, after school, I was like get yourself to school, get yourself home, stay alive. And I found basketball in that at a very, very young age and that led to also like t-ball and I mean I played six sports in high school and I was so fortunate to have some really amazing coaches. Starting in grade school, our janitor was like the sub. He started basketball program in our school. I think I grew up with like 12 people in my class and he would host a little afterschool thing once or twice a week and then from there I had awesome high school coaches. That just really helped me see the world in a different way.
Speaker 1:I gravitated towards sports. I was not a. I don't think I went to a single high school party. I didn't prom it up. I didn't do any of those things because I was just so focused on the next chapter and then I got into college and that changed a lot and that was a really like. I think a lot of people find themselves in college if they go and through challenging coaches, challenging environment. Uh that really shifted a lot of what I thought about sports, playing at a Division I level with coaches that were not the best. We ended with a good one, but there were some really rough times in there and so I'd say, gosh, if we're going percentage-wise, 80% of my team was gay lesbians and so I hadn't come out yet.
Speaker 1:So just really like total finding myself through college, yeah were your teammates out yeah, out to the team up to the I don't know if they were necessarily out to their family and all, but definitely out to the team, yeah did they create a safe space for you to land or were you still like?
Speaker 1:no, I still like dudes so I played the dude card until my senior year, and then I was actually friends with more people outside of my team than on my team, and so there was there were a few people that were definitely a safe space to land, and then there were a few that were definitely a rocky, sharp-edged place to land.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, as we talk about your team, I feel like we skipped over one kind of key part. This is not your first experience with Pride Stories. You are a Pride Story alum of our inaugural season, which was a video series which you did with your partner.
Speaker 1:I did with my wife, yeah.
Speaker 2:Can you tell us about that experience? What was that like?
Speaker 1:I'm also just reflecting that I met my wife at that same summer camp. So that's fun. Yeah, you met me and your wife at the summer camp. Oh, just all the beautiful people.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was a really amazing experience to do with her. That's something that I think you know your partner's story but there's something to bring that to the world together. That's really powerful. We also had our own podcast at the time, and so it was really cool to just kind of reflect on how we co-mingle together in that way. Yeah, her story is drastically different than mine, and so it was really fun to. My wife is is the, is the joy, she is the go-getter, she is the loud one, she is, you know, when she's in the room, and I always like sit back and like make sure everything's good, and so it was really cool to like have both of us just express all of that, to like have both of us just express all of that.
Speaker 2:What is it like? How is it different doing a pride story solo versus together?
Speaker 1:I think that's why I'm nervous.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my wife is really great at taking the spotlight and I love that about her. Yeah, and so it's like oh, it's just me, it's just us and Max.
Speaker 2:In a room.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very intimidating.
Speaker 2:Very intimate, very intimate. That's one of the things that I love about podcasts and I think that's one of the reasons that both you and I gravitate towards podcasts and we both consume a lot of audio content Because it is very intimate, right Like you're inviting somebody into your very, very personal space, usually like your earbuds, right, and they are right there and you're inviting somebody in. But I think that's also one of the things that makes you a really great podcast host and a really great coach is like you don't't take that, that intimacy and that trust for granted.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah, and it's interesting. I'm going to, I'm going to I don't know where we're going with that, but I'm going to sideswipe a little bit. I think that's one of the things, especially as we're talking about a pride story is the opportunity Like it's when I was coming out. You have to come out. You have to come out to people, you have to exit the closet and be like hi, I'm here and I don't know what show, podcast, whatever it was that reflected inviting people in, and so what if we didn't come out? What if we let people in? And that has forever changed the way I've looked at it, because it's not a deck. It can be a declaration of who you are. It can also be like I trust you enough to let you in, and I think that that's something that people don't always understand. Yeah, they're like no, just show me who you are and I'm like, I'm letting you into, like my deepest goodness, yeah.
Speaker 2:Do you think that has anything to do with our generational approaches to really the like the, the alphabet mafia, right, like you, you and I, we are, we are elders in the alphabet mafia, where where a younger generation, which I absolutely love that they have the opportunity, they, they announce it oftentimes proudly, right, and and they can figure that out from a very young age that they can, they can be themselves and and do that in a different way than what it maybe feels like we could do in the nineties and early two thousands.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. It feels more conversational today, which I absolutely love Like, and it's cool to a lot of my friends growing up were older lesbians and to hear, like how they thought I had it conversationally Right. And now to look at the generations now that are like, oh, I date a boy today, I date a girl tomorrow, I don't know, it's just, it is what it is Right and it's so casually conversational and that is that is so beautiful. And I actually had the privilege of a train ride to Montana this summer and I sat next to a gentleman who was in his early seventies, who was also gay and African-American, and he shared his story. And he shared his story of the word queer and how conversational it is today, yeah, and how it was so derogatory then.
Speaker 1:And it was interesting to hear the like and this happens in movements.
Speaker 1:I feel like is that there's gratitude that it's happening and disdain that it happens, yeah, and they're mixed together. It's like this conversion of emotions, right, like I'm so happy we got here, dang it don't. You see what we did, you know, and I think that that was such a beautiful opportunity to like he was. He was almost like Harvey Milk era, like you were getting dragged out and taken to the police and maybe seen maybe not seen again, right Like it was. It was such a different era and also the opportunity for him to start to feel safe enough to be conversational, right, and that happened for me just casually mentioning, I have a wife, which would not have happened if my wife wasn't so comfortable sharing rainbows with the world. Right, and it led the door for him to start speaking that way and both of us being very aware of the guy opening a wine bottle with a pocket knife behind us, right, and so that was such a an interesting dichotomy on the train and such a really cool experience.
Speaker 2:I love when we get to have those experiences, especially with with our elders, and I think those little moments are really powerful and they're very reaffirming of who we are and being proud and being more open and, like you said, inviting people in to that open door versus shouting it like hey, look at me, so speaking of, hey, look at me, yeah, so speaking of, hey, look at me. One thing that you are excellent at and you will probably help me do a couple of times during this podcast, so you'll be really good at deflecting onto somebody else's story. So far, we have an old man, we have your wife Fair enough, fair enough, you brought that up.
Speaker 1:I just diverted to the train.
Speaker 2:Fair enough, you know what I will. I will give you that. But I'd love to dig a little bit more back into Mo Great. And so you had talked about your kind of coming out story started to happen in college, correct. So what was? What was that? Like You're, you're a college athlete. You're on a team. I'm going to put this maybe paint a broad brush. You're on a team I'm going to put this maybe paint a broad brush. You're on a team full of lesbians and you're still like I love dudes. So what made the transition?
Speaker 1:So there was one dude, one dude, okay, just a dude. I love a dude. Let's just be clear. There was this one, and we were together for three or four years. There was this one, and we were together for three or four years.
Speaker 1:And there was always like there was never the connection. And people talk about fireworks, people talk about all those things and like those were so fleeting for us. And he is, he's, he was just a good, solid guy, solid guy, like. And yet there was always that curiosity. And when you're surrounded by a whole team full of lesbians and we I was driving with one of my closest friends she was not on the team and we're going back to her hometown for some dinner or something college, and she's like I just need to tell you you're gay. And I was like, oh, and she's like I just need to tell you you're gay.
Speaker 1:And I was like, excuse me. She's like trust me, I know a lot of gay people and you are one of them. I was like what, what is this coming from? What? And that was not the first time that's happened to me. And I was like interesting. And then I'm not exactly sure where the switch switched. Yes, I am.
Speaker 1:I had to think back. I have a terrible memory, anyway, one of my teammates we shared a wall college and every time she would thump the wall twice, I'd be like okay, I can come over, we can talk, right. And so dude was over and thump on the wall twice and I was like I can come over, like what do you need? And she's like oh my God, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. They were getting freaky in the room and happened to thump the wall twice. And dude looked at me and he goes I'm so glad you're not like that.
Speaker 1:And we talked about how you can't snap, but that's what it was like. And we talked about how you can't snap, but that's what it was like. And I was like what do you mean? He's like well, I'm just glad you're not like that. And I was like what's that? I was like I think you gotta go. And he was really confused, dude, and I was like no, I really think you gotta go. And he left and I was like interesting, and it was literally like a light bulb went off and I was like what, if I am like that? And then I gave myself permission to find out if I was like that.
Speaker 2:Turns out I am Turns out card carrying Subaru driving.
Speaker 1:Married, yeah, lesbian. But it was in that moment and it was so wild because it was such a like and I'm sure looking back it makes sense why all my friends are like how did we get here? Like I don't know, I just know we're here I love the backstory.
Speaker 2:I love early mo. You've had a pretty incredible life so far outside looking in.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Seeing a lot of things. You've been a lot of places. You have an incredible partner. You are navigating through the launch and the loss of a business. Yeah the loss of a business. Yeah, you are, I think, like doing a beautiful job of like finding your footing again and and like launching into what's next right. All this say, all this time, though, you're also doing the work with coaches, with feelings, feelings we talk about feelings a lot.
Speaker 1:I'm a big feeler.
Speaker 2:Big feeler, yeah. And so, as you think back over not just the last three or four years that we've known each other, but longer than that, like what are you proud of?
Speaker 1:I'm proud of the way I show up and I think, as you were talking, I'm ruminating on what my pride story is, and my story revolves a lot around resilience. It's been fun having been on the other side of doing the work and that's a lifelong thing, Don't get me wrong, but I went hard in the paint for about two years, Really worked with a mentor and dug up all kinds of goodness and being able to look back and see how, like through the journey of playing basketball, I've had six knee surgeries, I've had two blown ACLs in a time where, in women's sports, that wasn't a thing. You came back from blown ACLs in a time where, in women's sports, that wasn't a thing. You came back from Having lost a teammate while playing college basketball, having I lost quite a few friends when I came out. And yet there's still like that excitement and drive and like that's the thing I'm most proud of is like it does take some time and as you get older it takes a little bit. You know, like I slept a lot when I closed and sold parts of the gym. There's still that true belief in people. That's what I'm most excited about. I have such a deep want to bring out the best in people. And that's, I believe, what is the solid foundation of my wife and I is that we have this unrelenting drive to help people see the best in themselves.
Speaker 1:Going through the gamut of coming out in the 2000s right and maybe knowing I was gay in the 90s, there wasn't always this, yay, you're gay. There was definitely like a I'm sorry what, and you know I've been. I've been slammed against alley walls, I've been told all all the gamut of things about being a lesbian and I still look at people and I'm like I see you, you know, and I think that that's the thing that has really shaped who I am. Like we joke a lot. I have the 96 box of crayons with a little sharpener on it, Like I have all the range of feelings and that's also a superpower Because I can walk into a room and kind of tell exactly what's going on, you know, and in that I can really see the people for who they are and that's through all of this that has been the thing that I hold to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and learning cause I've had to learn joy, Like that's been my journey of doing the work I'm really good at, like things are okay, you know, and I stay in that kind of gray and I've had to learn joy and being able to find that and see that and allow it to be there. That's been the biggest part of coming through all of this.
Speaker 2:What brings you joy today? We'll talk broader today, because today is rainy and gross out and you are like a solar panel you need sun. It's so bad, it's been so bad and the last several days for those of you, I don't know when this podcast is coming out, but it's been raining for like the last six days straight we got like 20 minutes of sunshine this morning and I was like, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:And then I was like no more sunshine for you.
Speaker 2:So what brings you joy today?
Speaker 1:Slow mornings bring me joy, so I've spent the last. There's people that this is totally like first world problem the last 10 years, waking up at four in the morning, and I don't do that anymore. I wake up at six. It's a whole new world. Slow mornings bring me so much joy and also connection and being able to experiment with what my career could look like. That brings me a lot of joy. Not falling into the like, oh my gosh, I have to do this thing. Being like no, I'm going to just do this today and see how it feels. That brings me a lot of joy and then like family, we have two pups mosley and I are in this really great theme.
Speaker 1:He's our dog and we're in this really great theme of like waking up at six but like snuggling till 6 30. He like just snuggles in and we just hang out. It's pretty great that sounds great yeah, it's lovely.
Speaker 2:So one of the things that I think you do a beautiful job of and I'll take a little bit of credit for, maybe, the way that we came to, how we maybe talk about this a little bit but one of the things that I think you do and have done a really beautiful job of over the last few years, is start to bloom a little bit more where you're planted. Start to bloom a little bit more where you're planted, because I think for a long time I would say early in our relationship you were like get me the hell out of here.
Speaker 1:Am I taking this and running with it?
Speaker 2:But I think one of the things that I've seen you do over the last couple of years is really start to embrace the people that you're surrounded by, the places that you're surrounded by, and like not being afraid to invest in those people, places, the things to do here, etc. And I'd be curious what, what prompted that?
Speaker 1:well, if we go back to when you and I met, that was one of the most tumultuous times of my life Hands down, like I can honestly say that, and I would say from 2020 to 2020, two and a half to three. It was a ride and I wasn't prepared for that ride. Yeah, I can remember some of the conversations that you and I've had in it. I was low and so I don't. I was so wrapped in scarcity that I couldn't see people talk about seeing the forest for the trees. I couldn't see the tree bark for the tree Like I was. I was in it. You know, not having that same amount of stress has been amazing. I mean, in three years I bought a gym, went through COVID, got married three times, went through menopause and spit me out on the other side Closer gym.
Speaker 2:Married to the same person three times. Three weddings.
Speaker 1:Thank you for clarifying that. In three years I went through three people. No, I did not do that. We did COVID weddings, so we did one at my parents' house, one here in Fargo and one at her parents' house, and so, and that was all from July till the end of August, and then did not realize that my hormones were playing a fun little game and so most people underachieve and go through menopause. In about seven years I overachieved and did it in two. So that was just a wild ride, and so now things feel like it's. I'm getting better at being in calm. Yeah, yeah, I used to be like I thrive in chaos. I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to thrive in chaos anymore. Yeah, I did. I didn't thrive, but I was in it.
Speaker 2:The stress levels when you're in chaos make you feel like you can do it, but then you get out of it and you're like, oh wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so that was that was an experience. Yeah, and so that was that was an experience.
Speaker 2:So when I asked you about your pride story, one of the things that you had mentioned was your resiliency. And what is fun about this pride story so far is, with like every piece that you've shared, it has really kind of come back to that that underscoring of resiliency. Where does that resiliency come from?
Speaker 1:My mom told me the other day she's like we come from a line of hard women.
Speaker 1:I could see her saying this yeah, and that's also something that it's fun because, like that is deeply a part of me. That's also something that it's fun because, like that is deeply a part of me, and I also feel like I'm closing that chapter, which is really really cool, and it comes from my family. It comes from you know. I grew up in a town of 400 people single mom, single mom meets stepdad. We moved to the farm, so then you're in farm life. So, yeah, it definitely comes from that. So then you're in farm life. So, yeah, it definitely comes from from that and it's a part of me that I'm so proud of and also ready to see what the next chapter looks like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, let's talk about that next chapter. What's the next chapter for Mel? Look like more play. It looks like slowing down a little bit, and that doesn't mean not working hard, that just means being.
Speaker 1:A word I used to think I hated was boundaries. Oh, they're beautiful, they're lovely, I really enjoy them. So more of those. It looks like more just quality time with people through the. So I owned a gym here in Fargo and I closed, sold, let it die. All of those things happened and in that there was a lot of opportunity for people to say whatever they wanted to say, and so that that drug me down a little bit further through the process. So it's been fun to, like you say, bloom where you're planted, but like feel like I'm re-emerging, I feel like that setting that down and then and then like being able to just really enjoy things for the sake of enjoying things, yeah, yeah. So I don't know exactly where it's going yet, but I'm really excited with the way things are turning out so far more joy, more more play Sounds like a darn good time yeah.
Speaker 1:Can't be too bad.
Speaker 2:Final question, as you think about your experiences, through your pride story, through your stories of resiliency, through meeting your wife, getting married three different times to the same person.
Speaker 1:Same person, thanks. Thank you for that clarification, absolutely, I appreciate that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. What are you grateful for?
Speaker 1:Oh, so much. You know it's. It's interesting. I I'm grateful, I'm most grateful for our little bubble, like we've created an amazing little bubble to include our dogs, to include our house. We absolutely love it to include our friends, our family, chosen family and blood family. I am grateful for the the ability to write my story. I watched so many people get caught in the shoulds, you know, and and that's something that I have rebelled against since I was a kid my mom used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I'd say retired, and so I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to write my own story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Mo, if people want to connect with you, if they want to connect with any of your podcasts, where do they find you?
Speaker 1:On Instagram. Sarahmozingo on instagram for our podcast is we train for life and, yeah, those are the places that I hang out sarah mozingo.
Speaker 2:Thank you for joining us for a second time on pride stories and your very first pride story podcast. We loved having you here and thanks for the great conversation.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you for listening to Pride Stories, the podcast. I'm your host, max Kringen, and it's been an honor to bring this story to your ears. Pride Stories is proudly presented by Tellwell Story Cohen Studio. We have an incredible team that makes this podcast possible every single week. If you've been inspired, moved or entertained by anything you've heard in this episode, please consider supporting our mission. You can do that by subscribing to the podcast, leave a five-star review or simply share it with a friend or family member. Your support helps keep the stories alive and resonating, and if you feel compelled to share your own pride story, we'd be honored to listen. Please visit the link in the description of this episode to get in touch. No matter where you are in your journey, whether you're out and proud or just finding your voice, remember you have a story to tell and it deserves to be heard.