Tea of choice: Vancouver’s Steam Tea House.
What we cover: “If you want something badly enough, you don’t make sacrifices. You make choices.” —Rhian Wilkinson
Today’s Guest Titan chat is a wee bit of a deviation from the norm – and I am so glad about it. Today, I have a guest co-host in the form of 12-year-old Alex Vietch, herself a serious athlete – she’s a track star and a soccer freak, in a good way. She asked me once if I ever were to interview one of the women from Team Canada, if she could maybe come and say hi, but we did one better. When I found out that Rhian Wilkinson, 3-time Olympian and today’s Guest Titan was up for it, I asked Alex if she wouldn’t mind being my co-host. And, because Alex is one of those kids who personifies carpe diem, of course she was in!
The impact of women athletes on the positive self-image of young girls and boys – because they too get to see another definition of what it means to be a powerful, strong woman – cannot be understated. To that end, I want to give a shout-out to two of my young friends on the east coast of Canada as well – a big hello to Ella and Lauren Davidson, sisters who themselves are so into the game of soccer in the province of New Brunswick. It was a bit of a coincidence really, on the day I interviewed Rhian – who is the aunt of one of my daughter’s friends – she was on her way back east to run a camp with teammates and today business colleagues within the scope of their incredible enterprise called iS4 — Christine Sinclair, Karina LeBlanc, Diana Matheson. Well, turns out, one of my oldest and best friends, Alison, had put her two rock star daughters in the camp – and Alison told me that as a mother, she was moved to tears. That our girls are so privileged to have exposure to these resilient, accomplished women – women who teach girls that they are not to be relegated to the sidelines, that to be strong and powerful is the only option, that to work one another – our sisters on the field and off – is a surefire way to build a network and a life of support and love and memories and empowerment. I was so thrilled to have Alex join us for this important conversation. If you are a parent, this is one for the kids too. If you’re going on a road trip, or running errands, have this one on in the car.
The reason I started this series, is so that my two daughters, Majella (who we call JouJou) and Burgess (who we call Birdie) will have an inventory of inspiring conversations with paradigm-busters to draw upon for those times in their lives when they feel stuck. Each conversations give me the gift of at least one perspective shift – a new way of looking at the situation. And I want to thank Rhian for the beautiful simple reminder that when we want something badly enough, we are not making sacrifices, we are making choices. How perfect is that?!
How you can learn more: rhianwilkinsonsoccer.com