The MINT Prjct

GUEST EPISODE: Sara Hendershot of Pliability

• The MINT Prjct • Season 1 • Episode 26

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Get ready to be truly inspired by Sara Hendershot, an Olympian turned wellness warrior, as she unravels her life's journey from the Olympic rowing waters of London to the fitness and wellness industry. This mama's stories of triumph, resilience, and dedication make it clear why she was a perfect fit for her role as Strategic Brand Advisor for Pliability.

Imagine the strength of an Olympian, the grit of a working mom, and the wisdom of a wellness guru rolled into one. That's Sarah for you. She opens up about the art of balancing work and motherhood and how she prioritizes her mental health amidst all the chaos. Hear about her intentional approach to motherhood, her evolution as a woman, and what inspired her to get The MINT Prjct and Pliability to collaborate on  the pregnancy and postpartum track, featuring Tia Clair Toomey.

Here's to all the mothers and mothers-to-be, Sara has something special for you. She has crafted a pregnancy fitness program with Pliability that seamlessly complements any fitness routine. Tune in as she highlights the power of breathwork cues and affirmations in this program, creating an empowering and supportive atmosphere for moms. From the high seas of Olympic rowing to the encouraging arms of motherhood, Sarah's journey is a testament to the power of determination, adaptability, and a well-balanced life. We so enjoyed having her and we know you'll love her too!

To learn more about the pliability pregnancy mobility program, head to pliability.com


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To learn more about The MINT Prjct and check out our programs and courses, head to TheMINTPrjct.com and follow us on Instagram, as well as your hosts, @bets.inthewild, @_coach.cara_ and @jesscarr.fit

Speaker 2:

All right guys. So today we have, I would say, a friend of ours now and just a pretty cool girl all over named Sarah Hendershot. Sarah, what's your?

Speaker 3:

maiden name Hendershot is actually my maiden. I decided to keep that, so, oh my goodness, okay, perfect.

Speaker 2:

I was like there's a Lombardi in there, I'm not sure which is.

Speaker 3:

Lombardi is my married and I kind of use it socially, so love it All right.

Speaker 2:

So Sarah is just a good friend of ours that we met through Pliability. She has helped us with some really cool projects in that company and before Pliability I know she was in the London Olympics as a rower. So long time athlete here in a mama of two, one of which is brand new and with us today, possibly sleeping. What is his name and how old is he?

Speaker 3:

Lane is just over two months old. He's 10, 10 weeks old. He is so much. He is the most perfect little boy. It's a very dramatic dichotomy between this two month old and the three year old, who is just all over the place and crazy right now. But yeah, it's a fun stage of life for sure, even though I'm pretty tired.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's funny because our boys, I think, are pretty well mine's three, so they've got to be somewhat close in age. And every time I see your posts I'm like dang, I can't imagine going through that exact same life, but with a brand new baby. So kudos to all you moms who have done this.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, thanks. I feel like it's a good age gap because my older son gets it and is excited about being a big brother, and I'm one of four, so I knew I wanted more than one. My husband is an only child, so for him anything more than one is like a totally new experience. Yeah, but you know what? We're just winging it and doing our best over here. Who is not winging it?

Speaker 4:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Seriously.

Speaker 4:

No one knows what they're doing. I'm convinced of that. No one For sure.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah. And if anybody acts like they do know what they're doing, it's a complete facade, you know.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

For sure. So, sarah, let's go backwards a little bit. First, you tell me a little bit about all these things I've talked about. So you work for Pliability. What do?

Speaker 3:

you do there? Yeah, I work for Pliability. I'm what I like to call a strategic brand advisor. So I came on to them to their team about a year and a half ago when the company was still RomWad, and was brought on to help them navigate the transition of rebranding into Pliability, and so that was really fun because it was such a big project. But I bring basically my marketing and strategy background professionally to Pliability now. But I've been doing that in the fitness and health and wellness space for almost 15 years now. I think it is at this point.

Speaker 3:

So tell us what you did before Pliability? Yeah, so before Pliability I worked for a small startup called Momentus and I was employee number three and that was really my first experience being a part of a VC-backed, really bootstrapped, like let's get this company off the ground type of experience and it was amazing. And it was a supplement company. So we were in the consumer goods category of industry in general within this fitness space and that was an amazing experience. I was with them for over four years and brought them from before launch to actually acquisition. So we were acquired by another company when I left. That's awesome, yeah, and Good job, thank you. So, yeah, it was a successful experience.

Speaker 4:

I told you all about that.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, but it was such a cool experience because, for me, being able to work with a supplement brand was really eye-opening. When I was an athlete prior to that what you mentioned, betsy I was terrified of supplements because I didn't want to have an accidental contamination in all of my job testing and stuff so I just didn't take anything and really was just afraid of it. And then, entering into this realm and this industry professionally, I learned so much about it and learned the importance of really focusing on clean sport and where your ingredients are sourced from and all of the third-party certifications that you can have. And so I did all of that, learned everything there is to know about that industry and got to work with some killer athletes. We had sponsored athletes on our roster. Jimmy Chin and Alex Honnold were a couple of the athletes. I don't know if you know those guys that the climbers that did the free solo movie.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so that was an amazing experience. But it was so cool to be again in this like sports and wellness industry and to be able to like give back to that community. And prior to that, I had been working at a sports marketing agency across all different kinds of brands and was actually doing that at the same time as I was rowing, because when I was rowing in my second Olympic cycle, I rode in both the London and the Rio cycles. That Rio cycle I was really positive that I didn't want to retire and not have some kind of professional background outside of sports. I had seen a lot of other women struggle with that Like these brilliant women.

Speaker 3:

Honestly, the rowing community, these women are so freaking smart. They come from incredible universities. But when you're in your Olympic experience for such a long period of time, I think it can be come such a massive part of your identity that if you don't have anything else, that transitions very hard. Yeah, and so, yeah, I bet yeah. So I decided to work while I was actually also rowing, which made my transition easier in some ways, probably harder in other ways, but have always been a part of this wellness, health, fitness space and I don't think I'm going to be going anywhere because I'm just super in love with it.

Speaker 1:

You're really good at it. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 3:

Thank you.

Speaker 4:

Thank you. What was your training like for the Olympics or during the Olympics? Well, probably leading up to yeah, it was crazy.

Speaker 3:

When I think about it now I'm like I don't know how I did that, because I mean it's a struggle now to squeeze in like a 45 minute workout and those feel like hard to me. And so when I think about the fact that I used to be out on the water for over two hours at a time and then I would do that twice in a day, just kind of blows my mind was like very fit then but still are, thank you, not quite to that level and it's okay. But it's a different kind of fitness now, which is good too. It was very sport specific then. But yeah, so our sessions, I mean our week, would look.

Speaker 3:

You know, I was accumulating in that cycle leading up to London, between 200 and 230 kilometers of rowing per week, right. So that's, that's like two 40 kilometer sessions a day, right? So when you're thinking about that like you're, you're between three and four hours of just the rowing motion every day and half of that would be on the water and half of that would be on the concept to rowing machine. So yeah, the concept to is just like such a great fitness tool and there's no hiding when you're on that machine. So there's good and bad to using it so much as a trading tool. My coach that I was working with at that point was very into using it, so we did a lot of erging and then we'd have a few sessions in the weight room and every other minute of the day was basically spent trying to recover going to PT, sleeping, making food, lying on the ground, feeling like I was going to die because I was so tired. But it was just like train, train, train, train, train and the the crazy part is that I ended up getting hurt in my second Olympic cycle and that's how I found CrossFit and that's how I sort of entered into this other, you know, part of fitness, because nice long fitness.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, I mean, and because rowing was so all about just rowing and just the rowing movement and, honestly, the sport in general is still a little bit behind in terms of sports physiology and like cutting edge research and stuff.

Speaker 3:

We were, I mean, think about it if I'm doing that many hours of just the rowing motion in every day, like you're going to have a lot of like compensations and a lot of imbalances, and so I ended up just getting an injury from all of that, from being very imbalanced, and had a friend of a friend introduced me to some CrossFit contacts who looked at how I was moving and basically said to me we need to completely rebuild how you move as an athlete and that's going to fix you. And once I started to do that and I started to like figure out how to squat and and really understand what my body was doing outside of the rowing motion, all of my pain went away. So I used CrossFit in that second cycle and it hooked me into places like Pliability and I actually like was using Pliability in 2014 when I was hurt.

Speaker 4:

And so as.

Speaker 3:

Rahm won right and was like a big time user prior to really even meeting the team and getting to work with them.

Speaker 2:

I love that. You kind of learned how to deal with injury and then got hired with the company that basically prevents that, let's say right. So, yeah, that's a really cool, I'm sure full circle thing, especially since you've got into marketing specifically, but it really connects with you. Now what two, three jobs down the line.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, and I think what that's part of what's so beautiful about this CrossFit community too. Right, it's actually a very tight knit network. So once you sort of meet a few of the key people and players within the space, you start to meet everybody, and that's really how it happened for me. Is you know, somebody introduced me to Ramwad. I ended up meeting Scott the founder. We stayed in touch and then, when he had this need for, you know, some more marketing support for Pliability, we were sort of in each other's phone books and it worked out great.

Speaker 1:

So kind of transitioning, then, between your professional life and your life as a professional athlete and rower. You've had two babies. How was each pregnancy and birth and how are they different? Can you kind of tell us a little bit about that and how was your postpartum recovery process with those as well?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so my first was born during COVID. I got pregnant in November of 2019, you know, lockdown was March of 2020. So that was a wild experience, just because it was my first pregnancy, first time, like try you know, becoming a mom and then all of a sudden, we were super isolated and like had to figure out how to do all of this on our own. Yeah, scary, yeah, it was scary, and I'm honestly looking back on that now in this second experience, postpartum, outside of a lockdown, and realizing all the things that I really was robbed of during that period and it makes me really sad, like I grieve for it a little bit.

Speaker 3:

My pregnancy itself was very easy, that first one, which was great. I stayed super active throughout the whole thing, I think partially because we had nothing else to do. I could really focus on recovering and taking care of myself and listening to my body and adapting my fitness routine to what my body was allowing. And I got to that birth experience and I felt like a super athlete, ready to crush this thing, and, honestly, I loved the entire delivery experience. Like it felt like going into some kind of exciting athletic moment that I had to perform in and it was kind of fun.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so I mean it went smoothly. I was in labor for I think like 24 hours from when it started to when I delivered. I pushed for like an hour. It was honestly fine. Like the whole thing was fine. That's great, yeah, good.

Speaker 3:

Postpartum on my first one was very hard because we were still very tight on COVID.

Speaker 3:

We didn't have any child care, my family any time my family wanted to come see us, like we were having everybody isolate for two weeks before they could come over, and so that was just hard and scary and very isolating.

Speaker 3:

And then watching my body recover from that whole experience was a trip, especially coming from this athlete mindset. I think that is what I have learned the most about myself throughout all of this Is just being a professional athlete and now being in these other phases of life, I have had to continue to adopt how I think about my identity and how I think about my body and how I really have to intentionally give myself grace and acceptance throughout each one of those phases, Because I am not 2012 Sarah anymore and postpartum Sarah is definitely a different version than even pre-pregnancy Sarah. So that was hard and I definitely had some postpartum depression and anxiety and just kind of getting myself back to what felt like a physical version of myself that I recognized just in terms of how I felt in my body. That was all hard, and then I would say my second pregnancy was the exact opposite. My pregnancy was awful and my postpartum has been great.

Speaker 2:

Oh no, he flipped. I remember you were pretty sick of it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, got both experiences. Good thing they didn't happen all of this. The bad ones didn't happen all at the same time. Right, I know they were able to. Kind of Nice to have your babies, I know.

Speaker 4:

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Speaker 3:

Yeah, the universe allowed me to have some balance there. But yeah, the second one it was just I mean, I think this is undersold a little bit, maybe by other moms I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to be pregnant and have a toddler. That was really hard Because I had no time for myself and I was exhausted, and so I couldn't recover and lay around and lounge the same way that I did the first time and so.

Speaker 3:

I just couldn't train as much, I didn't feel as good and the delivery was fine. But the postpartum has been easy because I'm like you're just going to be a part of our routine now We've got our system in place.

Speaker 3:

I'm already a mom, I feel good about being a mom. Now you're just going to join the crew and, I'm lucky, my body feels amazing, so all of that has been really, really good. It's just wild to me, all the stuff we go through as moms and then as working moms and then as active athletic moms. I'm like I can't believe that this is what we do and yeah, and the standard that is just set for us by ourselves and just by society kind of blows my mind all the time.

Speaker 1:

Our capacity is huge. But also I think, yeah, you're right, there is a standard that's set not just by society. We set it for ourselves and oftentimes we're able to hit that, but not without some challenges. And, like you hinted on the working mom thing, the mental challenge, it's all there. How did you kind of work through? Do you think maybe that your second postpartum was better because you came in a little bit more like OK, I remember how this was last time. Did you prepare mentally better for that? Or do you think it was just the baby is different? No, so it's a different experience 100%.

Speaker 3:

I think some of it was how I approached it, and I mean I. So I think part of it is just like me continuing to get to know myself better and better. When I retired from rowing, I started to work with the therapist, and so now I've been working with that therapist for six or seven years, however long that is and she has been. She is like my anchor in all of my life's chaos. I swear Like I don't know what I would do without her, because she's helped me to evolve through all of these different stages.

Speaker 3:

And when we went into the second one, I was really aware and intentional about the fact that I knew certain things were going to be challenging. Breastfeeding for me was very hard the first time, so I went in with a set of rules for myself that I will not do this if I don't enjoy it. Here's what my plan is going to be from day one, and that just took so much pressure off of me right away. So I did. I went in with a plan and I felt better prepared for that, yeah. And then I think the other part is just you know some tricks of the trade, right, like we kind of knew how to Lane's. Literally, he's sleeping on my lap right now.

Speaker 2:

He's so cute. You look like a pro your professional mother in this moment.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, kind of like knew how to balance this. I mean, I had my son at home without childcare while I was working for nine months before the daycare is open back up. So like I figured that out with a lot of trial and error, and so now I kind of I know how to manage the moments when I don't have my nanny here, right To take a podcast interview and take a work, exactly.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, that was going to be. My next question is how do you balance being a badass working mom and having your kids around? Do you have help? And, yeah, how do you manage it when they are home and you need to hop on a call? How do you approach that?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I mean I think there's a few things that have just made a world of difference for me. Like one, I've got a group of friends that live in the area that are all so moms in the same phase of their life with, like, young kids, and I feel like every time that I meet another mom with young kids, like we gravitate towards each other now because everybody just knows, like, what it's like to be in the trenches together. Right, having those contacts are just so helpful because I can ask for advice, I can like vent to them. Like they get me through so much stuff that I've been able to learn different strategies of balancing work from my friends just by watching their examples as well. Awesome.

Speaker 3:

But I think I've learned over time to you just got to be really OK with asking for help, right, like nobody can do it by themselves. Come up with a plan that like gets your support network there for you. Be OK with sometimes prioritizing setting up a situation for yourself that has help there, and, yeah, and don't try to do it all Like set some boundaries for yourself too. And that's been something that's been really key for me. Like I used to work late all the time pre-kids, and now I have a cutoff time for myself every night where I'm like I have to be done at this point, because if I don't give myself a chance to wind down, connect with my husband and then, like, actually try to get some sleep, I will burn out Like I can do it for a while because I'm good at muscling through things.

Speaker 3:

But it will eventually catch up to you and then you're not in a good spot.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, something falls through the cracks after a while. Right, Maybe your workouts start getting pushed to the back burner or you don't have time to cook anymore. It's like we, as moms, do try to. Like you said before, we have these standards and I feel like we are superheroes and we are super human sometimes, but we do need help and it's okay to ask for that help. You're still a super super mom.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, totally, and you know that just reminded me of.

Speaker 3:

So there's this exercise that I did with my amazing therapist at one point where I was feeling overwhelmed about just like all of the responsibilities that we have as moms and as working moms. Right, there's, like so many different categories of things. So we did this exercise of drawing out all the different buckets that I would consider to be things that I am responsible for, and then we categorized them as to, like, this is a glass ball, where if I drop it, it's going to break. This is a plastic ball where if I drop it it might get dented but it'll be okay. And this is a rubber ball where, like, if I drop it, it'll bounce and we're going to be good right.

Speaker 3:

And so I have these three categories of my responsibilities that I'm very aware of, that I, in any season of life, like, I'm sometimes moving them from one category to another. But my mental health is like my biggest, most important glass ball and if that is not being taken care of, everything else will fall apart. So it's like I really have to say on top of that and do things that are going to help me feel like I can show up in the way that I need to every day and then rearrange what needs to be in that glass and plastic category on a daily basis.

Speaker 1:

I love that and it's just such a good visual way to see like okay, no, that makes sense, this is the most important. I cannot let this drop and then just categorizing that way, that's really cool.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So tell us now a little bit obviously I think we all know those of us here and probably most of our listeners are gonna be moms how it feels to like be on the other side of motherhood, of what you thought it was gonna be like or even just how you think you would feel, and now being on the other side of it, especially, I think, in this community of health and coaching or whichever way you wanna swing it just encouraging others to kind of live in that healthy mindset. Your identity flipped right when you became a mom and it connected to this other part of you. It's not like a new you, it's just like an evolved you. So how did that play a role in you building out this pregnancy and postpartum track with pliability, and, if you can kind of give our listeners a background on what that was, that we've already done and how you felt going through all of this, your drive for it, yeah, totally so.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, for anybody who isn't aware, the way that we all came together and met was through this collaborated project that we did with the Mint project and pliability, and what we launched a few months ago was this pregnancy program, basically sharing all different kinds of mobility and breath work components that you all were the expert in.

Speaker 3:

That now lives within our pliability platform as a mobility tool, and I honestly was just so excited about the fact that I could pitch this to the pliability team and they could immediately say like, yes, we need to do this. And I didn't have to fight for it and I didn't have to really bring a case as to why this was going to be a solid business decision. Pretty much, the team immediately was like yes, this is awesome, this is a community that needs a resource like this. Let's figure out a way to do it. So talk about a dream scenario where it's like I get to combine this life experience I'm going through with my job and this passion of being in health and fitness. It was, honestly, one of the proudest projects I've ever been able to be a part of, and so to be able to.

Speaker 3:

It's so good yeah it turned out amazingly and to be able to meet amazing women like you in the process and really enjoy working together, and then to pull into you, claire, to me as our model for all of that like how freaking cool is it?

Speaker 1:

I mean so cool.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, nailed, everything, nailed it.

Speaker 3:

And now we're in the process of building a postpartum version of all of that too, so we're really delivering resources to this group that I think so deserves it and needs it. So that just feels like massive fill your cup kind of a moment right To be able to actually make something like this happen and have it align with your own personal mission. So I think that's been just a dream. But I would say my whole identity shift and if I was to talk to myself, before I became a mom, I wasn't even sure I really wanted to become a mom because I was so nervous that I didn't really have what it took. I didn't think about myself as maternal in any way.

Speaker 3:

Training for the Olympics, you have to be incredibly selfish, and I was that way for a very long time.

Speaker 3:

In order to achieve my goals, everything was about me and everything was about figuring out how to say no to other things so that I could be laser focused in this one task, and so I didn't even understand how I could possibly change that mindset or functionality about myself to not be so self-centered and self-focused and to be able to give to other people in that way.

Speaker 3:

So that was really the first part of my identity shift was realizing that this thing called personal relationships matters to me, and I need to figure out how I'm going to give effort and energy to that and how I'm going to show up in a way that I'm proud of there and watching myself struggle with that evolution was hard, but I did it, and so I would love to be able to tell myself pre-kids this version is so much more rewarding of yourself.

Speaker 3:

That version that can perform and be a super physical badass was very cool for some reasons, but I was lacking in a lot of, I think, personality traits and fullness that I just didn't even know life could have, and I very intentionally worked on that stuff and it has allowed me, I think, to be a great mom and a good partner and to evolve the way that I think about my body physically and the way that I enjoy movement now for mental health instead of just like a time or a weight or performance. All of that is really exciting and rewarding, and I didn't have that. Pre-kids Amazing.

Speaker 1:

That is amazing. Yeah, I feel like you are someone who is very intentional about everything that you do and you definitely brought that into your motherhood and you can see that and just and then you're able to see the rewards of. This is where I was and this is where I am now, because you put that intention, you put you know to become this way, which is just so cool, instead of just being like all right, I'll just see how it goes.

Speaker 4:

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Speaker 4:

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Speaker 3:

Slash mint tin and use code mint tin to get 10% off your first order and I think that's been kind of just like that's how I was as an athlete. I was a very cerebral, like intentional athlete. I wanted to know the why behind things. I wanted to understand, whereas I had other teammates who were incredible athletes, who just didn't really like they weren't wired that way. They were more like just telling me what to do and I'll do it and I'm good. But I did figure out how to bring sort of that critical mindset, you know intentional type of athlete vibe into this next chapter and be true to knowing that that is part of who I am. But let's figure out how to like morph into this next chapter and next season of life.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, when it sounds like what you call your like selfish season, or where you felt a little selfish, probably played a role, though, like let's be grateful for that too, or you can be grateful for that, in that it helped you become a very self-reflective and self-aware human being and allows you to troubleshoot, to become better right. So you've known how to look within, say what's, what can be better, what can I fix, what can I improve? And I think, for moms to understand how to do that and to not feel guilty doing it, there's a huge range of those right.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I think that's a great way to put it. It is yeah. And I look back on that period and I'm so happy I got to experience it, because I mean, the experiences that I had were life changing and unbelievable and I was just so lucky to be able to do it all and I think if I hadn't given myself that period, I might have felt like longing for it later. But I really got it. I don't feel like I've left anything on the table, so there was nothing at the end of that.

Speaker 1:

No regrets.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, where I had a regret of, oh, should I have tried a little bit more in this area? Like no, I did it and I got to where I wanted to get. So now, honestly it sounds so cliche, but it's like realizing that I can change sort of like the mission and goal of my life to not just be all about myself and to be for others. It really is way more fulfilling. And I sort of thought that sounded hokey when people would say it before. Like I had a previous Olympic teammate tell me that standing on the Olympic podium was the highlight of her life and so much better than like having kids or getting married. And I heard her say that and I was like that's just sad, like that's kind of depressing, like I don't want that right, like I hope there's something better and I'm going to fight to find it and now it really does feel better.

Speaker 3:

It's just the highs are less of like a spotlight, of like intense happiness, and they feel more like a sunshine, joy, warmth, right. Where it's sort of touches everything and honestly just feels. I think it feels a lot better yeah.

Speaker 4:

I mean, I can only imagine that it's such an amazing experience going to the Olympics and achieving that type of goal, but, like no, nothing can prepare you. For most of us, I believe, of what it feels like when you become a mom and your kid says, mom, do you for the first time, and like someone needs you to stay alive. You know, and they love you, no matter what you do and what mistakes you make. I mean, nothing is like that. And so and I think it's so cool to hear from someone who's been an athlete like how you've shifted your mindset and how you are now applying that to your current fitness, because I'm sure you've taken like what the discipline took and now I know you get your workouts in, because I see you getting your workouts in. So, yeah, do you think that, like athletic background plays a role now? And like you still having the drive to be consistent and getting your workouts in even with two little kids around?

Speaker 3:

Totally, because I mean, I know how important it is for my longevity and my health to prioritize those things and I also know what my body is capable of because I've seen it do all kinds of incredible things for me throughout my lifespan. So, yeah, I think it is has made it so that, like when I sit down and I plan a day and I look at my calendar, like the workout component is kind of like the crux of it and everything else needs to build around it Right, like that has to be a non-negotiable, or again, like my glass ball of mental health will fall. So so I, yeah, I love it for that reason and I do still love being competitive in certain ways, like I've run a couple of marathons since I retired from rowing and like you know, I've pushed myself and in like CrossFit for some fun local comp type things and like I've loved doing the open every year. So like that has all been awesome and fun. It's just been a different kind of an outlet.

Speaker 3:

But I think the part about being an athlete that's really translated is understanding that your mind is a tool, right, in the same way that your body is a tool. I used my mind to make sure that I could perform at my best when I was competing right. I worked with a sports psychologist to have tactics at the starting line to be able to really dial in and hone my performance that way. So understanding that your mind is a tool in life as well, I think is is the piece that I'm carrying the most in this current moment of realizing like I need to. I need to give it what it needs in order to keep it moving.

Speaker 4:

So circling back to the pliability, pregnancy mobility path that we all created together. What Well, two questions. What was important for you to kind of see when we were building that out and I know I've seen some of the initial feedback from it, which has been amazing, but what have you seen so far?

Speaker 3:

We've had a lot of outreach from the women who are using this program, tell us like this is so great to have something that I know, like I can trust in, that I don't have to be worried about if I'm doing something right or wrong with my body in that time period. Right, like it can be really confusing. There's so much conflicting information out there about what's okay to do when you're pregnant, and so I felt like being able to work with you all as such experts in this space really gave me a lot of confidence that we were going to be delivering very much so like smart and safe recommendations to women about how to make sure that they can feel their best. Right, so we're we're like this wasn't a fitness plan during pregnancy Like you guys do that stuff really really well but it was a plan that could really complement anything else that you might be doing during pregnancy and making sure that we're giving somebody what they need to feel their best. So I think like that's been the best part, like knowing that it works and that it can be super trusted.

Speaker 3:

But I think the other part that's awesome is like a lot of our pliability audience that does our general program, uses our routines as their me time and as their like downshift at night and as their way to be mindful and like really lean into this meditative aspect, and the moms that are doing our pregnancy program are using it in the same way. Right, we're actually giving breathwork cues, and the affirmations that are at the end of each one of these routines are so incredible. Yeah, because it really helps. I think, a mom like be in her own body and recognize that these affirmations are representative of a lot of other moms as well. And so, like, my experience is not the only one, that is, you know, having this, this same journey, and I can connect with my body and enjoy it in this like evolving stage, like all of that stuff that we're able to deliver moms, I know they're really benefiting from and it just feels so good to be able to, to have created something that's doing that. So, yeah, pretty awesome that we pulled that off, guys.

Speaker 1:

I know. I actually remember early on in the process with the pregnancy program, it was us for, I think, alex she was on the call and Tia that was our first time talking with Tia and we were kind of just telling her about the program, teaching her a few things. She was giving us some feedback and I think you said it, sarah, you're like this call is amazing and like you're like I have chills right now because so many of us were together like women strong, smart, intelligent women that were coming together and we were really like working to make the best program we could to deliver to moms who, like you said before, deserve it. And I remember you saying that and I was like, oh, me too, like I can feel it. It was so cool, that was a really cool moment and call.

Speaker 3:

I know when you can get that many amazing people in one virtual room, it's pretty filler yeah. But, I think what was so awesome about that, too, was just thinking about, like, the different backgrounds that all of us have, right, because, like Alex is a mom of two adopted boys, our special needs, and so like she brings a totally different perspective to all of this and like we've all had slightly different motherhood experiences. And then you look at Tia, who's like the most freaking, incredible athlete ever. She was going through pregnancy, yeah, like I yeah.

Speaker 3:

And I think that's like definitely one of the best parts about being a mom, too is just being like a massive cheerleader for every other mom in your life. Like being able to really be there for one another. It's, it's awesome.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, because you get it and then you can really appreciate like women and moms are so cool and we're so powerful and we do so much because you're doing it yourself. And then you can appreciate that and other people.

Speaker 4:

And, like you said before, that support group is just it means so much For sure, and it's been so cool to see like health and fitness in pregnancy evolve, because even just looking at the comments on some of the like promotional videos of like oh my gosh, I wish I had this in my pregnancy and this is going to be so amazing and I'll use this in my next pregnancy it's like man, yeah, and I even think back like man.

Speaker 4:

I wish I had this when I was pregnant, because I remember those aches and pains are just the confusion of not knowing how to move and just. And that's why we created our programs too, because it's like who wants to think about?

Speaker 3:

it when you're pregnant, Like help guide me.

Speaker 4:

You know, and same with like when you're ready to just relax and want someone to guide you through movement, that's going to make you feel good, like just opening up an app and watching something and letting it guide you, so you don't have to think about it. But it's just so cool to now watch like. I truly feel like the space is finally starting to recognize like pregnant and postpartum women deserve programs too and they it's good to move and you know it's just and even knowing. Like a lot of the Pliability team that we initially chatted with was male too, and they were also so excited about this program which I also thought was so cool, I know.

Speaker 3:

And Pliability is still a mostly male company. I mean, I feel like every experience I've had so far that's been in the business and corporate world has been like somewhat that, but they've been so different in that like they really have wanted to hear about my experience and to like learn from it in terms of how we can apply it to our business, and it hasn't been like pulling teeth, and so that was very impressive. Yeah, when you find people like that, it's like latch on, like hold on and continue to find the right way, continue to find ways to work together, because it's not everywhere and it has not been a part of all of my experiences and I think that's just another lesson where it's like if you haven't found people who whose values align with yours, then you haven't found your team yet, right? So like keep looking for them.

Speaker 4:

Hey Mitt Mamas and Trainers, if you enjoyed our information, you will love our programs and resources. We have a pregnancy fitness program, postpartum program, along with guides on movement modifications and nutrition, all designed to help you safely and effectively stay active through pregnancy and return to exercise postpartum. You can even bundle our programs and save so that your whole journey is covered. You can find all of these resources at themittprojectcom.

Speaker 2:

That's such good advice. I love just the in general approach of moms inspiring each other, working moms inspiring each other to, like follow your dreams and use not just who you are outside of motherhood but also who you've become as a mother to drive, force, drive forward whatever it is you're passionate about in life. So, thinking about other moms, like obviously we've talked about working, taking care of kids not just taking care, but being present with kids, husband, whoever your spouse is and taking your U-time what about, like, staying active, eating well? What is the advice that you would give other moms to do that, not only through pregnancy, but as a busy parent?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's freaking hard, right, like, I mean, half the time I find myself like eating off of my toddler's plate and I'm like, damn, I'm like not doing as well as I could be in terms of nutrition.

Speaker 3:

But I mean, I think again, it's just admitting where your limitations are and then figuring out how to build a system that, like, sets you up for the best possible success, right?

Speaker 3:

So, like my partner and I, my husband, we are super on the same page about things that, like we want to focus on when it comes to our health. Right, he he's like even more of a fitness nut than I am, I think, at this point in terms of, like the amount that he loves to train, and so, if I'm like, hey, we got a dial in our nutrition, he's 100% on board with it and probably will need more than me. Yeah, and we've also been super intentional about, like how we divide our household responsibilities and he does all the cooking and he does a lot of like the laundry, and so I have, yeah, like basically offloaded a big part of my, my like fitness stressors when it comes to nutrition by just being like, hey, you handle a bunch of this stuff for us and I know you'll do it well and he does, and so like I'm super lucky for. But men like to be trusted. Yeah, I know.

Speaker 3:

He's I mean he's a very involved, capable guy, right Like he's not trying to. He does not want anything to do with a more traditional, uninvolved, like dad, husband role. He sometimes, I think, does more than I do in terms of like our overall household division of labor, which is, I'm like, very lucky for, and he was also a row where we've met on the rowing team in college and so, yeah, I think, like we kind of have always had that like teammate kind of mentality together, like we're going to we're going to be a team, like we're going to like attack goals together, and like that's really served us well.

Speaker 3:

Um, but yeah, I mean, I think it's just recognizing that like nothing's going to be perfect. I mean my workouts pre-kids were I was so strict with them still as I was like figuring out that evolution from Retiring from professional sport to whatever was next was like I will do my workout exactly this time and it will be this long and it will be this intense and I will meal prep all of my food and I will like eat very healthy. And now it's just like that's not going to be doable. Like I've got to find what's the second best option. Right, like it's I'm not going to be able to hit the best option all the time in all these categories. So figure out what's the most important and what you can bite off at that given moment and and do the second best, because it's Doesn't have to be like all or nothing. You can find a very good Version of whatever you're capable of in that moment and still have it be very meaningful and, like very helpful to your health jury.

Speaker 2:

Did anyone else jump at the scream that interrupted you there?

Speaker 3:

at the end. I'm just a little bit into the the kid noise in the background. I know I'm like it's coming from somewhere.

Speaker 2:

It might be here. I don't know, no one even noticed my daughter's not even home.

Speaker 4:

But, sometimes I hear those, like you know, when they're not even home, but you still get those like phantom mom.

Speaker 3:

When I'm in the shower sometime.

Speaker 4:

I'm like she's not even here All the time crazy. That's great. Well, this has been so Amazing, sarah. Is there anything else you'd love to share with moms in relation to health, fitness, movement, all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 3:

I think I think probably just because I'm in this postpartum phase Right now, that's what's most top of mind and, you know, maybe something we didn't talk about as much was like I think I think this postpartum phase for me right now has definitely been easier because I've known what to expect, but I've had to very much so remind myself, like numerous times that it is okay to not be Exactly where I was.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, 12 months ago prior to pregnancy, like right now, and Like my second pregnancy has probably been harder on my body, rebounding in that like it feels really good, but it looks very different, right, I'm like still carrying pregnancy weight.

Speaker 3:

I'm like 20 pounds more than I was pre-pregnancy still, and I think it's going to take me a little while to get back to that, and I still have a little bit of a belly and Um, like I just like I'm trying to remind myself as much as I can. So it's probably a good reminder for all other moms that are in this phase of life too that there isn't a rush right, like that we have to give ourselves grace in these periods of life that are challenging, that we like don't have to be trying to return back to an old version of ourself because, like we are, are constantly in evolving, changing version, and so like, lean into that. It feels better to just lean into it, yeah, and like I'm, I'm going to To be whatever version of this, like next athlete that I am and I'm not concerned about it, like I'll be, I'll be racing a half marathon this fall, I'm sure, but just like not freaking out about the fact that this is a process.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. Well, I love that. I love everything you said. I I thought you were really cool. I knew you were really cool while we were working together with your pliability, but I've learned so much more about you and you're even cooler, like you know. Yeah, I love you. Have so many nuggets of wisdom, yeah seriously.

Speaker 4:

Um, and if people are interested in pliability or sarah, we will drop her instagram, pliabilities instagram, and then we will also drop the link to sign up for pliability or the pregnancy path If you are interested in that. All in the show notes as well. So thanks, so much, sarah.

Speaker 3:

Thanks for having me, guys. I appreciate this was so fun.