Working Mom Hour

Being Present as a Professional Athlete and Parent

May 21, 2024 • Erica & Mads

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With the 2024 Olympics on the horizon, we’re honored to have Betsi Flint join us for a timely conversation on managing motherhood as a professional athlete. 

Betsi is an integral part of the USA Volleyball Team, boasting an impressive record as a 7-time AVP Champion, 2-time AVCA All-American and still holds indoor records in career aces and digs. 

At the start of her career, in 2015, she was awarded the AVP Newcomer of the Year award. She has also been awarded the AVP Best Server of the Year in 2019, 2022, and 2023.

In this interview, she shares her journey of returning to training after welcoming her child and moving through moments of self-doubt.

Tune in for insights on integrating motherhood into athletic careers, embracing both wins and losses, and cultivating a mindset of growth and balance.

In this episode you’ll discover:

- How to reframe nerves as excitement and embrace wins and losses.
- Strategies for balancing intensity on and off the court.
- Insights on how to integrate motherhood into athletic careers.
- Lessons on determination and sacrifice.
- The importance of strong partnerships on and off the court in achieving success.

02:17 - Returning to Training After Childbirth
06:12 - Balancing Motherhood and Career
09:04 - Challenges of Traveling for Tournaments
12:05 - Perspective Shift After Motherhood
17:08 - Humbling Moments in Victory and Defeat
20:58 - Coping with Losses and Maintaining Perspective
27:14 - Nervousness Before Big Matches
32:27 - Discussion about competitiveness and societal expectations
35:05 - Betsi's experience with Olympic qualification
37:42 - Importance of partnership in sports and life
39:09 - Favorite tool for working motherhood: Dr. Becky's resources

Connect With Betsi:
Instagram: @betsiflint 
Website: https://betsiflint.com/ 

Check out her Sponsors:
Just Ingredients Discount Code: BETSIFLINT
https://just.crrnt.app/BETSIFLINT

Please make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, and kindly review the podcast on Apple Podcasts so we can reach more working moms.

We always want to hear your thoughts, concerns, questions or guest suggestions – email workingmomhour@212comm.com.

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Speaker 1:

Definitely. I think that's where the why really comes into play. When I step off the court. Cora doesn't care if I won or lost. She just wants me to go play with her, she wants a hug, she wants me to run to the ocean. She could care less that I just went through an emotional roller coaster on the court.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to Working Mom Hour. We're happy you're here with us today. As we get to know Betsy Flint, part of Team USA, betsy is a six-time American Volleyball Professional Champion, two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American and holds indoor volleyball career records in aces and digs. For those of you who understand and follow this sport, you know how impressive that is, and Betsy is currently in the race towards the 2024 Paris Olympics. Help us say hello to Betsy Flint.

Speaker 3:

Hi Betsy, Welcome to Working Mom Hour.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, I'm excited to be here.

Speaker 3:

We're excited for this conversation, and first because it's a cool one. Tell us about your job.

Speaker 1:

I'm a professional beach volleyball player for Team USA and a mom to my three-year-old, so I'm staying busy between those two things a mom to my three-year-old. So I'm staying busy between those two things?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I bet. Is it rare to be a mom and a professional athlete in the volleyball space?

Speaker 1:

Not really Right now. Internationally, there are six in the top 20 that are moms Whoa that's a big deal.

Speaker 1:

That's incredible. This is not what I expected at all, yeah, and then domestically, I have been the only like active mom really competing, but there's a couple new moms that are coming back out so it's so fun to see them and support them and what they're doing. When I first, there were a couple of moms that, like Carrie Walsh, who was a three-time Olympian, three or four-time Olympian had three kids Nicole Brana some amazing female athletes that I looked up to. So it's cool to be that athlete now. That's right.

Speaker 2:

Now you're the role model. So most women who have a baby return to work. And yet most women who have a baby return to work. And yet most women who have a baby and return to work aren't professional athletes. Um, take us back to the moments leading up to your return to training. Where were you? Mentally, emotionally, physically, what was it like?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it is fun to reminisce about. You, don't feel that?

Speaker 3:

I always had the goal I wanted to come back and compete. Yeah, it is fun to reminisce about. You don't feel that it is? It is.

Speaker 1:

I always had the goal I wanted to come back and compete. I thought for sure I would be competing. Like three months postpartum it just seemed realistic, not really knowing what you go through. And then when that three-month mark hit, I was like what was I thinking? I thought I was going to be able to compete right now.

Speaker 1:

So it was hard. I mean my daughter she's never been a good sleeper, especially in that newborn stage. So it's hard to know like how much do I push my body, because sleep is so important in all the recovery. So it was really challenging. But I found a way just to get out there and move my body and just be focused. I wanted to make sure I use my time wisely. I didn't want to just go out and waste my time, especially in those early stages. So it really helped me dial in my focus and it wasn't easy. I definitely had a lot of self doubt. Just jumping again I think, oh my gosh, yes, yeah, jumping was the hardest part. I remember just trying to like figure out, like okay, you're like I'm gonna wet my pants not necessarily I.

Speaker 1:

Actually I went to a pelvic floor physical therapist and I definitely recommend that for everyone.

Speaker 1:

I wish it was more accessible and recommended for all female, not just athletes, just females in general. So that was awesome, but I just wasn't jumping as high, I couldn't hit as hard and just having to figure out new ways to score. Um, it was really reassuring. I think six or seven months after having her I was in the AVP Manhattan beach finals playing against Olympic old medalist who just won in Tokyo. Um, we didn't beat them, but it was just a cool moment to be like, okay, I can do this, like I'm not where I want to be, I'm still like building back to where I want to be, but it was cool to be back there.

Speaker 3:

Amazing. Did you ever consider right after postpartum not going back?

Speaker 1:

No, I was very determined to get back out there, and not just for myself but for my daughter too, and so she could see what it's like to be competing and pursuing your dreams. At the time when I was pregnant, I was coaching collegiately at Loyola Marymount University. I was an assistant coach there. I was very fortunate. I had three, I think four, months of paid leave. I can't imagine what some people go through having to go back to work after two weeks sometimes. So I was very fortunate.

Speaker 1:

I thought I was going to be ready to go. I was going to be back training as a professional athlete, I was going to be coaching, I was going to be a mom. And then, when I finally went back to work, I was drowning. It was just so hard. My priorities were changing. I wanted to give, so I was drowning. I, it was just so hard, like I wanted, my priorities were changing. I wanted to give so much to everything and I wasn't able to give everything I could to coaching, and so I eventually resigned. Um, I want to say seven or eight months after having Cora, and that was freeing. It was a hard decision, but yeah, I was just drowning, doing too much at once and not giving enough to my daughter and to myself.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I would say, like almost every working mom or parent I know like has found a way to make space because, like I think so many of us think that we are just going to continue our high achieving lifestyle and just the baby's going to fit right into it and in a lot of ways, like we do it for a while and I I've heard so many with a similar story that like six months a year in you're like, well, something, I just this isn't going to work, something has to give. So I think you're not alone in that. With an intense training schedule married with the intensity of motherhood, how do you like ground yourself in?

Speaker 1:

all of this. Yeah, it's really challenging, especially going straight from the sand to lifting, to athletic trainer, sports psychologist, and then I'm home with my daughter and it can be a whirlwind. I've had one of my sports psychologists recommended like sitting in silence, like for the transition period, for like 60 seconds and I just I couldn't even sit there for a minute. It is so hard. I was just anticipating when my timer was going to go off and I've actually recently started doing 10 seconds and that is amazing. That's just like transition time sitting in my car for 10 seconds and then moving on to the next thing. So that's been great. But yeah, it's really hard. We travel a ton. We played in 11 tournaments internationally last year and we're gone for at least a week at a time and I wish my daughter traveled with me, but she didn't.

Speaker 1:

My husband stayed home and he worked and my mother-in-law would sometimes come in and help in the mornings, so they made that possible. But it's hard. It's hard to leave and it's not getting easier as she's getting older. I was hoping it would, but now she really understands that I'm leaving and that's been a challenge. I am not the primary parent, which hurts my mom's soul, because I do spend a lot of time with her, but just because I've been gone so much, my husband is and he takes on that role like very well, so it's awesome, but it's hard. There are times where I came home and she wouldn't talk to me or she wouldn't even come to me. She's gotten over that. And I had talked to my sports psych and he was like you've just got to like accept it, like the more you can accept that she has those feelings, the better off she'll be and she can get through them without like resistance. So that's really hard.

Speaker 2:

It's such a push pull. I experienced something this morning like my husband got back from five days traveling and late last night and our plan was like I was going to work out in the morning and then and he was going to start breakfast and then he had an early call, so I had to come back and we were going to transition that way and our two-year-old almost three-year-old was awake right before I left. So he like ran to me and Chris is like Joel because he hadn't seen him in five days, and obviously he runs to me because we've, we've been together, and then the, and then Chris comes and wants to like take him and I'm like can I just, can I just hold, like he, just, we just need this moment, like this is not going to happen instantly and that is always the case, like when he's gone or when I'm gone. It's like they stick to the other parent.

Speaker 2:

It's even like just this moment of transfer, of attachment or, like you know, deeper attachment with one than the other, and it does seem to fluctuate. But I felt like it was a even a big win that I could like hug him and snuggle him for the two minutes. And then he went to Chris and I was like, have we arrived? Like he only needed two minutes for the transition and so maybe there's like light at the end of the tunnel. For all of that, that it can happen faster as they get older. I could be wrong. It could be child by child.

Speaker 1:

I hope so. I hope so. It's definitely, yeah, ebbed and flowed, but it's getting smoother for sure.

Speaker 3:

You've mentioned that becoming a mother changed your why in pursuing your goals. Talk to us more about that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, before having her, I don't think I was very clear on why I was playing beach volleyball.

Speaker 1:

I love it, I love competing, but I wasn't really dialed in to like, what does this mean for me outside of myself. And since having her, like I mentioned before, my focus has just increased. And when I'm gone for so long, it tears me apart that I need to have something to attach to. And for sure, the big why is to inspire her to pursue whatever dreams she may have and just to go at it with determination and persistence and yeah, there's sacrifices along the way, but it's so worth it and all the lessons that you learned and things you can take for yourself. And then definitely inspiring young athletes, young women, to again pursue their dreams and they can also be moms and have their careers. I I do like to show the reality of it. It's not easy and it takes a lot of work and a lot of patience, but it's totally doable. And I'm a better mom because I work and I am training and focusing on myself, so when I come home I can be present and be fully with her.

Speaker 2:

So there's definitely a benefit to that what is that saying, like when you're squeezed, when you like?

Speaker 3:

that's not, but like when you're squeezed. What's that? What's inside of you comes?

Speaker 2:

out. My point is, um that, like working parenthood seems to be such like a experience where we have resistance and we're we're, you know, in this sort of squeezy feeling situation and, um it, because you know our, our true selves, our true emotions tend to come out in those moments. It's almost like forcing us to be better in so many aspects of our life. It's like accelerated growth, I think. So I agree with everything you're saying.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I also think I was not an athlete growing up. I did not compete, I don't. I didn't know all of the benefits really that it brought to the table. I had two younger sisters. They both went on to be like d1 athletes and incredible. And I'm in a phase with my tweens right. Well, they're doing multiple sports, um, they're competing, and I'm finding like I struggle with them out there on the court and field regulating my own nervous system, like I'm the one who can't sleep at night, I'm the one who is like in the bathroom a the way you're going to be able to help her through challenges, disappointments, really big moments, and meeting the moments and winning and losing is it's incredible. And it's not something. It's something I have learning in my 40s with my kids and I think it will be such an advantage for your daughter to learn directly from you how to regulate through all of it. There's so many life lessons to sports and to competing and to be able to continue to do it into your motherhood. It seems pretty incredible. I'm in awe.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. Yeah, I definitely hope that I can help her with that side. My husband also competed at Division I level for basketball, so it's awesome that she has both of us and I have him too to lean on, because it's hard to talk to people after after losses who don't really understand it, um. So it's been great to have him as my teammate and, yeah, hopefully we can help her through those times, although I know kids don't always listen to you as they get a little older and they're seeking that independence.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, erica, do you want to ask your next question on that topic? Oh, yeah, sure.

Speaker 3:

So let's see has the integration of motherhood into your athletic career changed your perspective on success and failure, or winning and losing?

Speaker 1:

Definitely. I think that's where the why really comes into play. When I step off the court, cora doesn't care if I won or lost, she just wants me to go play with her, she wants a hug, she wants me to run to the ocean. She could care less that. I just went through an emotional roller coaster on the court and we had a really cool moment. Um, this last year AVP Manhattan Beach it's one of our biggest tournaments domestically and I had been to the finals, uh, the last three years since having her and I lost every time. And this is like my third year. I'm like we're going to win this like bazaars. We finally overcame some adversity.

Speaker 1:

We won this tournament during a hurricane a tropical storm here in California and I see her and I'm like so excited and she's just crying, she's so overwhelmed with like the loud noises, the rain. I hadn't seen her yet that day because we started super early and like she just she didn't care. Like I'm, like it was supposed to be a happy moment for me and, yeah, like she just wanted my connection in that moment. So, when things died down and celebrations died down, we were walking to our car and we played in puddles for about 20 minutes and that was just a cool, humbling moment for me to just like step back and realize this doesn't matter, even though it does. I thought it did like she doesn't care. She might look back on this and think it's cool, but she just wants me to be present and playing with her in this moment.

Speaker 3:

It reminds me of that um documentary that jason kelsey was in, where they happened to capture his journey to the super bowl. And then he lost to his brother and they showed immediately after him entering into the hotel room and his kids did not care that he just lost like the biggest game that he could have played and it was against his brother. And the kids are like, well, uncle Travi won, you should have won, but Uncle Travi won. And he's like, yep, that's what just happened. But it's amazing the perspective that kids and the humbling perspective the kids give you.

Speaker 1:

Definitely. And on the flip side, it's really hard to lose when I'm not at home and I just want to change my flight and go home immediately. And sometimes I've had my partner give me some pep talks because I'm like, what am I doing? I'm leaving all this way and we're not playing well, what am I doing this for? So, going back to that, why is so important? And just having the perspective when these young athletes are asking for your autograph after a loss that's what it's about, more than the wins and losses. Again, easier said than done, I play the game to win, but it's nice humbling moments like that that are, yeah, just great to think about from my perspective.

Speaker 2:

We were talking to a psychologist who focuses in postpartum depression, anxiety, all that On a recent episode Dr Nikki Pensack and she. We were talking about the moments when we're away or like when we take time away from our kids and how sort of like a really tough thing and there's a lot of guilt, and she had some advice that was like make it worth it, not necessarily like win or succeed, but like go, do what nourishes your soul, play your game, connect with your people, do your self-work, have fun, because it's going to nourish you and when you return you're going to be better for it. So, rather than sort of like sitting in the suck, which I think tends to be a situation that happens to all of us at times, I thought that was really great advice. Yeah, I love that. I have a follow up question on the winning and losing thing. I think when, like, your response was so different than what I expected you would talk about and I loved it and I also want, like your advice, if you have any, on like my.

Speaker 2:

I have three kids. My husband and I both grew up playing sports and so we we've always been really competitive, much less so in the past five years, but with our first child, like the competition helped, like it would help her get out the door. Like I'm going to win, no, I'm going to win. Like let's see who can get their shoes on first. Like it really helped us, like with movement forward a real struggle, as she's now almost eight, I'm still a struggle with losing Like she is, um, really hard. It's hard to get her to like come back from that vulnerable space of losing our other two kids. Like I feel like we've evened things out a bit more. But do you have any suggestions, whether it's from like a parenting perspective, or just like the work you do in your work on yourself and your teammates, on like how to navigate a loss, like how do you find perspective, or like bounce yourself back emotionally from that?

Speaker 1:

That is a very loaded question. I love it. I don't know from the parenting side. I'm still learning. I don't know from the parenting side, I'm still learning. I know for myself, which we can talk about later too. I love Dr Becky and her book Inside. I'm starting that and listening to her and my daughter is a deeply feeling kid and she feels emotions so intensely and I now resonate and I feel like that was me as a kid and I'm learning more about myself and my family.

Speaker 1:

Let me win a lot because I could not handle losing and it took me I'm 31, like 30 years at least to figure out how to lose, and it's still not easy.

Speaker 1:

Um, I don't know where I'm going with this, but, um, just through that I've learned for me, like taking a moment, that it's, that it's over, like I can feel for as long as I want, but as soon as I step out of the shower, that moment's over and I can now choose to figure out how I want to improve for the next thing.

Speaker 1:

And same things with wins, like when you go to a different tournament, no one cares that you won and you've got to pick a moment and just decide that you're going to get better at this, this and this and move on, and I think that could be useful as, like, yeah, finding some sort of like trigger, whether it's stepping over a line or yeah, when I don't know wake up the next morning, we're not going to talk about it unless it's productive, but I do think there's value in like feeling the loss. I can also be really good at avoiding my emotions instead of like just sitting and feeling those feelings. You're. Yes, one of my questions to just piggyback off of that is on the concept of win versus loss. Like, what do you think teaches you more?

Speaker 1:

So, good, definitely the losing, definitely the losing. I mean winning is what we're always achieving and yeah, you feel that high when you get that win. But I feel like when you lose you really have to sit and feel those emotions that you don't want to feel again but you probably will and figure out how to improve and how to not let that get that low the next time it's just like resonating with me in life.

Speaker 2:

Um, any rituals or routines you use, like we talked about, um your transition from work into home life. Uh, any rituals or routines to bridge the gap as you get focused, moving from moments of parenting into training or a match situation.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, those transition periods are important. I love calling my family in the car and connecting with them and I know when I go to practice it's best if I like have a moment of silence before. That I can focus in and decide my two or three things that I'm really gonna work on at practice. And then I get way more out of practice and I'm really improving and seeing that and I can get in the right headspace for it because it is there.

Speaker 1:

It's very different to be a parent and an athlete and I do feel like on the court I'm a little different than off the court. I'm way more intense, fierce and I don't really care what you say to me, but off the court I feel like I'm kind and not like that. So I really have to get in that headspace to bring that mentality and that's just having even a couple of minutes of silence figure that out. And then I really enjoy journaling after practice so I can remember things. If I just go on to the next thing, it takes me a lot more time to recall all that information that I learned in practice and, realistically, I would love to journal at the end of the day. I just have not made time for it and it doesn't seem realistic to me. It's just really hard. As you guys know, at the end of the day I'm tired. I either need to pick up the house or I need to lay down or something other than sitting there with my thoughts, and that's something I really want to improve on.

Speaker 2:

I love that idea of journaling during the day. Maybe this isn't that innovative, but it does seem innovative to me, like in between things, because my inclination is always to do it in the morning. I think Erica does it in the morning, maybe sometimes at night. Okay, yeah, I like that idea of using it as sort of a bridge and I really relate to having trouble re-engaging with a thought or like a task.

Speaker 2:

Like we've recently started, you know, we have a quick discussion, like we did with you before our podcast, with our guests, because we want to like build rapport, get to know each other, decide on a direction, and I find that if I can't, if I don't sit down to write questions right after that, I have a really hard time revisiting it and like remembering those moments from the conversation. But then when I write the questions, when I read them weeks later, when we actually sit down for the interview, I remember our conversation. It is like fascinating. I think there's just so much in our brains that, like so much is dedicated to the short-term memory because we can't fit any more in the long-term memory. But writing it, I think, helps that process. So I might try to journal in the middle of the day, as you suggested.

Speaker 1:

Definitely yeah, Even on our phones. It's great we can just use our notes app and have a whole place for it. But I do love the good old fashioned book. Just to write it down, it feels like it just sticks better than getting distracted on my phone.

Speaker 3:

it feels like it just sticks better than getting distracted on my phone. I'm just going to ask do you still get nervous or scared before heading into a big match? Are they called matches, games, Matches, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I would say I get more excited and antsy, and part of that is like our bodies are really prepping us to be in this battle and so it's so normal for us to feel this way, and I've also learned to reframe like nerves as excitement and I yeah, it just sits better in my body than being like, oh, I'm so nervous, like, but when I'm like, yeah, yeah, I'm excited and this is great because I care and my body is really like preparing my body for this battle, like my like the blood's rushing to my limbs instead of my stomach for digestion and, yeah, just getting ready to eat. So reframing that has been so helpful for me, yeah, I like that idea.

Speaker 3:

We talk about that concept a lot of like doing it scared just getting ready to eat. So reframing, that has been so helpful for me. Yeah, I like that idea. We talk about that concept a lot of like doing it scared. We all have to meet moments or activities where we'd rather not, but again, watching my daughter and son compete, that reframing for me is helpful. That was really a personal question, because it is. It has been a thing to watch. I think it's one thing to be out there yourself, but then to watch and you'll see with your young kiddos when they begin to play at that competitive level to watch them and know you have no control. You can control yourself on a court or a field, but you have no control over what's happening with them on a court or a field. And then my husband also coaches. He was also an athlete in college and so he's also out there and I have no control over how he's talking to the rest or the girls.

Speaker 1:

You know what I mean. So.

Speaker 3:

I'm going to reframe that. I should just be excited about all of it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I would say I get way more nervous on a sideline than I do playing myself, like watching the Super Bowl. When I got intense, I'm like gosh, I'm sweating, and I don't feel this much like this many nerves when I'm playing myself I do think some of it too, like you said, is the control and I trust the work that I put in. So I know I've done everything I can to compete and now it's just up to me to go out there and try to do it Right. After having Cora, like that postpartum time, I did feel more nerves because I did feel like I was doing everything I could, but it wasn't the same as before. I had her and I felt like I took time off and I don't know. I had all these self-doubts in my head that made me more nervous and then, as I had a little success, I'm like I can do this and then you start trusting yourself again. So for me, a lot of it's the work I put in that helps me be more excited than nervous.

Speaker 2:

So I'm not trying to compare my pickleball game to your team.

Speaker 3:

USA.

Speaker 2:

But I've been like vibing with this partner and she and I have been meddling, been meddling and, um, one thing that both of us struggle with, uh is so you had mentioned like I'm nice off the court but I'm intense on the court or something. Can you talk me through that? Because I, I, I feel like my instinct is to be that way, um and and to get there. I'm battling being nice in the beginning. Sometimes you have a few minutes with your opponents and you're like do I say like hey, cool skirt, or do we just like focus on that? You know, and I think my partner really struggles with it too, and I think it's a disadvantage to be really nice. But I don't want to be mean, we're playing recreational pickleball here, but I do feel that when we're connected with each other and focused and not socializing with the other team, we perform way better and then we can have all the fun we want after, after the the game. Any thoughts on?

Speaker 1:

that I'm with you. I do better when I just ignore my opponents and I'm just dialed in and then after the match, like when we're in, the players sent together like it's just normal and I've definitely. It's taken time to evolve and it's important to like talk to your teammate about that too.

Speaker 1:

And the strategy said like, do that yeah, yeah, like knowing what you guys look like at your best and then being able to replicate that. And it's not easy, it takes practice. And yeah, you don't want to come off as rude, I get that and like recreation league too, but like it's your time too to shine and be competitive and yeah, you can be kind off the court and especially, I think it's more important to I mean you want to be respectful when you win, but for sure, when you lose and that's the true moments that defines your character is how you can react after you lose yeah, like I feel like if I can turn off the need to connect with them or like make them feel okay, then it's like gives me almost more fuel in like the things that I'm trying to focus on and achieve and like this is what I want to get out of this.

Speaker 2:

Like I want to play great pickleball with my partner and I kind of want to win if that's on the table for us and I don't need to make my opponent feel okay in the process. Like so many of us feel in so many areas of our life that we need to make everyone else feel okay. It's really not about that. It's almost like a good life lesson or practice in that yeah, and it's interesting.

Speaker 1:

Like us as women, I feel like that's just, it's society. What they've told us to do like to hide your competitiveness and just be kind, and you probably don't see very men, very many men, talking about this, or thinking about it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they don't care.

Speaker 1:

So it's very different and, yeah, I think you're onto it, though. You know what to do, so you know what to do. Thank you for the guidance and validation.

Speaker 2:

You are an Olympic hopeful and we're not in this world. What does that mean? Are you trying out for an Olympic team right now, and what is the process like?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, olympic qualification for beach volleyball is your best 12 finishes over the course of a year and a half, so it started last January and you're playing in a ton of tournaments trying to get points and then if you're in the top 15, you qualify for the Olympics.

Speaker 1:

Wow, and there are only two per country, two teams per country, so it's teams of two, two teams of two per country. Even though we will have three of us in the top 15, only two will go. So it's very competitive within like the usa system and we typically have very like strong usa teams and brazil obviously has a ton of top teams. So, yeah, it's a competition within USA and also against the world, and right now I think we're ranked in the top 15. One of our US teams won world champs, so they get an automatic bid, and our other one is ranked like number three. So we're sitting more at an alternate position and my partner had some knee procedures so she'll be ready in May and we're just going to hit the ground running and try to compete at the highest level and be prepared in case our names get called.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that's incredible, and is this your first um time going through this process yes, more competitively, like I aimed for that the last olympics, but we were out of reach. We were like team four or five, um. So now it's, it was way more realistic and just how we're playing and um, yeah, so it's a challenge. It's a lot of tournaments, a lot of volleyball.

Speaker 2:

That's incredible. Team four and five sounds incredible to me. Um, I know that's not what you were hoping for, but um that's awesome. We are behind you.

Speaker 3:

Um, so you're a seven time ABP champion. Yeah, that's amazing. So, as a seven time ABP champion and Olympic hopeful, you do have this platform that you get to use to inspire. What do you want to convey to your daughter and other young women about pursuing their dreams?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I touched on this a little bit earlier, but I want them to see the reality of it, the ups and downs, the determination and sacrifice it takes um and it's. It's all doable and like. I used to think like, oh, you have to have all these accolades to like compete at the highest level, but it's not about that, it's just about the work you put in. I don't think I'm not the tallest, I'm not the fastest, I don't jump the highest, but I find a way to bring the best out of my teammate and the best out of myself and just dial in and focus on one thing every day and I feel like that makes me elite more than my actual skills. So the stuff off the court that we're training and, like I said, being a good teammate, that goes far beyond the stat books and that's really important.

Speaker 3:

You've mentioned your teammate and partner a couple of times and we're sort of in this phase of parenting where we're trying to really show our kiddos who you surround yourself with is who you become right. It's that concept of the top five people in your life influence you the most and I imagine finding your partner in life and finding your good friends and finding your partner on the court it's really important to your personal success. So I'm curious how did you find your partner that you get to play with on the court at this like competitive level?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it is definitely a marriage like our partnership on the court. It's a marriage without a binding contract and I mean you know the top athletes and you have conversations with them. And my other partnership had fallen through and my current partner, julia Scholes, was new. She had just come out of college. She had played her rookie year on the AVP tour and I'd played against her and I just loved her fierceness, her competitiveness and she is someone who really embodies the really intense on the court.

Speaker 1:

But off the court is the sweetest, kindest, most genuine person you know and that's really important to me is that connection off the court. We spend a lot of time together, maybe even more than my husband right now and so that's really important to click with them and understand them. And she's also an influence to my daughter and that makes me happy with who I have, so that's really important to find those things. I know some people don't have as much control, like kind of the middle of the tier picking your partner, but I am grateful that I was able to choose her and she chose to play with me as well and it's been working out.

Speaker 2:

Final question what is your favorite tool to support you in working motherhood right now?

Speaker 1:

books. They can't solve all the parenting mysteries. It's a, it's a challenge, it's a work in progress, but I've learned so much about myself from her work and it's helped me parent better. It is so hard to regulate your emotions every single day. I'm not naturally a patient person, so it's very challenging and I've, I think a big one for me right now is when I get angry I feel like I just want to yell, but we have this built up energy and I've been trying to just pump my fists or there's recommendations just to find ways to get your energy out, and that has been so helpful for me, just to calm down in those moments, because I do want to respond in a calm way and I have this like internal battle with myself.

Speaker 1:

So I've been learning so much from her and her work and trying to apply it to me and my daughter and it's been incredible to have her. And another tool would be my sister and talking to her. She has a daughter, um, seven or eight months older than mine, so we can resonate together and talk and sometimes vent and just discuss. You know, motherhood it's and it's and it's beauty, amazing.

Speaker 2:

Um, anything else you'd like to add before we wrap?

Speaker 1:

No, I'm thankful you guys have this platform, bring awareness to me and my story, and I do want to shout out my amazing sponsors. They are Newport beach is a resort and spa in Newport beach. I have just ingredients, which is a whole food supplement company, and left on Friday the swimwear active wear, and I am so grateful for their support. I wouldn't be able to compete at this level and be a mom without them. So thank you, guys.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, we are happy to put those links in the in the show notes. Do you also want to add where our listeners can find you?

Speaker 1:

Yes, you can find me on Instagram at Betsy Flint, and I'm active there, posting usually daily stories, and if you have any more questions, you can reach out on there.

Speaker 2:

Amazing, betsy. We've really enjoyed this time with you and your perspective as a professional athlete. You're an inspiration and we will be cheering you all the way, cheering you on all the way to Paris. Thank you so much. All right, thanks so much. Bye-bye, thank you, thank you.