Abby Wambach (2:35)

Well, first of all, we're doing such incredible work on our. On our brackets. I feel really positive about that. But. But before we get into that, I want to talk about. I feel very excited about it.

Cynthia Marshall (2:49)

I know.

Abby Wambach (2:49)

I know you do, too.

Julie Foudy (2:51)

Very, very Excited.

Abby Wambach (2:53)

But I want to talk about Lauren Betts, and I want to talk about not just the UCLA team, but the. The whole program to be able to support Lauren. I don't know if the party people saw, but Lauren posted an article on the Players Tribune. I think it was published on March 19. And in it she discusses her mental health, some specific details of what led to her hospitalization. And. And I just was stunned at the kind of. And I don't want to use the word brave because it implies that. That, that she was. There's, like, when you're brave, it applies that, like, you had. You had to be scared or, or.

Julie Foudy (3:45)

Or.

Abby Wambach (3:45)

Or what's the word I'm looking for? Or there's something wrong that you need to overcome. Right. Like, what she did was strong, and what she did was with intention. And the thing that I love about it the most, that I really do believe matters in performance is the secrets are the things that kind of weigh us down and keep us back. And so her putting this. And people knew about the story, but I don't think that they knew the specifics. And so having that get put out there. She played, I think, freer. She's. I was at a. A career high that she had the other day.

Billy Jean King (4:25)

Yeah.

Abby Wambach (4:25)

Just like leading her team through this. This March Madness has just been incredible. Watch. And you know, this is in this day and age to come out and be public about some of this stuff. Like, there is to me, no greater strength in a person to just be themselves right now in this day and age with social media and the way that people can have all of their opinions and whatnot. And so I just. I feel really impressed and really proud of her and I really want this for her. Not just because she went through a hard time, but because she's just, like, open, you know, it's hard to find an athlete who wants to talk about this stuff. And I went through my own mental health challenges. So. You. Yeah, I love that story.

Julie Foudy (5:11)

And you lived it knowing how freeing it was for you too, playing, I remember you saying as well.

Billy Jean King (5:16)

Yeah.

Abby Wambach (5:16)

And. And I think it's so important to talk about these things, you know, which leads us to the next thing, Jules. And I gotta give it up. Julie Foudy is nominated for an Emmy. Julie Foudy, what's going on?

Cynthia Marshall (5:35)

Let's go.

Julie Foudy (5:36)

I'm so, so pumped for the Myers. As the party people know, we had Gina and Steve on the podcast. And I hope you have seen Save the Katie Meyer Story. It is officially nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy. I'm sorry, next year. Oh, my gosh. Whoa. I have Oscars on my brain.

Billy Jean King (6:01)

We're getting there.

Abby Wambach (6:01)

Look, we're kind of. We're kind of doing incredible stuff outside of this pod. Like, maybe. I don't know, maybe it's the pod that's bringing all of this, like, goodness towards us.

Julie Foudy (6:12)

Yeah. So Save the Katie Meyer Story was nominated for an Emmy, which is really cool. It's. It's one of four films that were nominated in the outstanding journalism category. So Emmys are May 26th. I'm just so pumped for Gina and Steve because it means that this story will get more. More exposure, I hope. And Katie's life and legacy will get more exposure. And as we all know, so much of Gina and Steve's life right now is trying to make Katie Myers Law federal. It's right now a law in the state of California, and they're trying to make it a federal law where every student who's at school going through disciplinary action will have the right to have a trusted advisor by their side, something that Katie did not have. But when you talk about Lauren Betts, it obviously made me think about Katie and. And the importance of seeking help. Right. Lauren talks about that in the Players Tribune article of just how that moment when she knew when she woke up that morning she needed to check herself into the hospital was the best thing that she ever did, as hard as it was. And I know there are many people that are happy for Lauren that she did do that. And to see her playing with the joy that she is and that that team of UCLA as. As we witnessed, you know, with Lauren and Char both on the podcast is really cool to see. So. Okay. Abigail, should we go to the March Madness party? The bracket challenge?

Abby Wambach (7:48)

We should. We should.

Julie Foudy (7:50)

We should, right?

Abby Wambach (7:51)

Yeah, we should.

Julie Foudy (7:52)

Okay.

Abby Wambach (7:52)

Do you want to check and party people, if you guys haven't seen it, just go to social and just check out our socials and see Julie with the poster board and the basketball hat on her head. It's too good.

Julie Foudy (8:04)

I'm putting my cap back on.

Abby Wambach (8:07)

It's too good to miss. My wife and I, we just watched it last night, and we were just giggling and loving it and big hearts all the way. Okay.

Julie Foudy (8:17)

Yeah, we're gonna put it back on because we're talking about the leaderboard challenge. Okay. Here is the leaderboard. This is the pod leaderboard. Okay. Because we have a listener leaderboard and we have a podcast leaderboard. As we know, we have taken on some podcasts, so in first welcome to the party and good game with Sarah Spain sits at 540points in second. Let's go, Glennon. How about Glennon in second? This is insane. Is she dying over there?

Abby Wambach (8:48)

Like she's dying. She's dying. And. And literally, like, she goes, I'm beating Sue Bird at this. And I said, yes, you are.

Julie Foudy (9:01)

So Glennon and the recap show at 530points are beating Sue Bird and the women's game. So Sue Birds a touch more with Megan Rapinoe and the women's game sit at 500. Coach Jackie sits at 480. And time wasting.

Billy Jean King (9:16)

Let's go.

Julie Foudy (9:17)

Time was which is Ali Riley and Kelly o' Hara's podcast. Brand new podcast. You should definitely check that out. Is sitting at 470.

Abby Wambach (9:25)

Listen, I think maybe they were just wasting their time entering this bracket.

Julie Foudy (9:30)

Ooh, burn, Sizzle.

Billy Jean King (9:35)

That one on you.

Abby Wambach (9:40)

That's good.

Billy Jean King (9:41)

Why didn't I think of that one? That's so good.

Julie Foudy (9:44)

Okay, listener leaderboard. Okay. We had over a thousand people enter this group challenge, so we have three first place teams. Whoa. They are sitting Abigail at 600 points. 600. So that means that each of them have only gotten three games each wrong incorrectly. Yeah. They've only in all the brackets. We're now past the round of 32. Going into the sweet 16. They've only gotten three games wrong.

Cynthia Marshall (10:17)

Whoa.

Abby Wambach (10:17)

Games have played. How many games have played already?

Billy Jean King (10:19)

That's.

Abby Wambach (10:20)

That's an incredible statistic. That's like 40 games, maybe.

Billy Jean King (10:23)

Hansel, how many games is that?

Abby Wambach (10:26)

48 games. Okay, thank you, Hansel. Thank you, Asia, for the Update. Out of 48 games that have been played so far, three. So that's 45 for 48. Eight, right? Boom.

Julie Foudy (10:40)

Yes. If our math is mathing, I believe that's correct.

Abby Wambach (10:43)

Yeah.

Julie Foudy (10:44)

I have my thinking cap on, so I believe it is working. Okay. And intern Emma still. Emma, who told us that she just was, like, going with her vibes. She's like, in the Glennon territory. Emma still leads the pack with 550 points. She's above all of us. Is that crazy?

Abby Wambach (11:05)

Wow.

Julie Foudy (11:05)

I know.

Abby Wambach (11:06)

Good job.

Julie Foudy (11:07)

I did love Sarah Spain's response to our podcast group email that she says, remember, everyone, if you ain't the lead dog, if you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes. And then she posted this picture. And if you're watching on YouTube or Spotify, please enjoy. And if you're not, go over there, Spainer. Okay, now on to the less important stuff, like what's actually going on in the tournament. Okay. The big dog's abs are still barking. As we know, all four number one seeds, UConn, UCLA, Texas, South Carolina, rolled, literally rolled through the first two rounds, winning by an average of 44.5 points.

Abby Wambach (11:53)

That's incredible.

Julie Foudy (11:54)

Yeah.

Abby Wambach (11:55)

So many points.

Julie Foudy (11:56)

And 11 of the 16 remaining teams, now that we're down to the Sweet 16, are from just two conferences. SEC has six teams, ACC has five teams. But as we know, in March, anything goes. So who knows? Okay, here's what's popped for me in the first two rounds. Virginia. Can we just talk about them crashing this party?

Abby Wambach (12:21)

Love this story.

Julie Foudy (12:22)

Double digigit seed, full Cinderella energy, which we don't get a ton with the women's bracket as we do and we see on the men's side, which is so great. And I. I just feel like they're one of the best stories of this tournament so far, for sure. And so just some context. They had to win the first four playing game just to get into the tournament. So they had to play in to get into the tournament. And then they went to overtime and beat Georgia in the first round. Then they had number two, Iowa in double overtime, ended up crushing Iowa in double overtime at the end. So I don't know. I mean, a lot of momentum. Will they finally come back down to earth? Maybe, if Olivia Miles and TCU have anything to say about it. But it's been a good run by them, and it's.

Abby Wambach (13:13)

It's been fun watching them play, that's for sure.

Julie Foudy (13:15)

Yeah. Okay. Yukon, come on.

Abby Wambach (13:19)

Yeah.

Julie Foudy (13:19)

Looked another level. And Gino, I don't know if you saw this, Abs. Gino being Gino, which I love. You know how much we love Gino telling Az fud to clip her nails when she was saying that she was in a bit of a shooting slump after the first game. And then you see him, like, checking her nails in the second game as she came out, because she, as we know, crushed it in the second game. And it worked. Of course it did. And we also know that she can turn it up when the tournament gets going. And you might remember a little deja vu when she won outstanding player, most outstanding player in the Final Four over Paige Becker's last year. So we know Az, especially when her nails are cut, shows up big when it matters. All right, Abs, what are you looking forward to watch for this. This sweet 16?

Abby Wambach (14:09)

I'm definitely looking for the LSU Duke game.

Julie Foudy (14:12)

That's good.

Abby Wambach (14:13)

This one has, to me, has, like, everything that we've got. Star power, we've got personalities. LSU, they had 16 games with 100 or more points this season. So they're just. They're an offensive powerhouse, and they. They bring a kind of swagger. Right. Duke, I think, brings a little bit more discipline and defense and momentum after Carol Lawson's team went 3 and 6 to start the season. So for me, this feels kind of like a Final Four level game that's happening a little bit way too early. And I'm just going to throw my own little note in here just because I really love Carol Lawson and I don't really like Mulkey. I have chosen Duke.

Julie Foudy (15:03)

We have chosen Duke.

Abby Wambach (15:04)

We have chosen Duke. I believe that. That Duke can step into a different level of themselves. Although, you know, the LSU players are incredible. Right? Like, I gotta give it to him. The other matchup we're excited to watch is ucla, Minnesota. You know, to me, this is kind of like the classic trap game energy. UCLA has looked a little bumpy at times. Not gonna lie, despite putting up huge numbers. And Minnesota is the kind of team that hangs around, mucks it up, and then suddenly, like, they're in the game. And also Minnesota, UCLA doesn't want that. Yeah, I know. UCLA doesn't want it. We don't want that because then we're effed.

Julie Foudy (15:49)

You know, our bracket is busted.

Abby Wambach (15:51)

Our bracket is busted.

Julie Foudy (15:52)

So we're gonna put the link to the schedule for the weekend in the show notes. So sweet 16 games are Friday and Saturday, elite eight Sunday and Monday. That's four games. Four games of fun. And when we come.

Abby Wambach (16:06)

Four days of fun.

Julie Foudy (16:07)

I'm sorry, four. Get four days of fun when we come back. She took over the Dallas Mavericks, changed the entire organization, and she didn't even come from a sports background. Mark Cuban says bringing her in was one of the smartest decisions he's ever made. Plus, the stat is crazy. There are more statues of mermaids than U.S. congresswomen, by a lot. Yep, we're going there. You're gonna hear all about that. And we are closing out Women's History Month, so, of course, we are bringing the Kinger back.

Abby Wambach (16:39)

Let's go, Kinger. This episode of welcome to the Party is brought to you by McDonald's Big Arch Burger Abs. Yeah.

Julie Foudy (16:51)

I'm so excited.

Abby Wambach (16:54)

For what? What are you excited for?

Julie Foudy (16:55)

28th, baby. You know what's happening.

Abby Wambach (16:58)

Yes, I do.

Julie Foudy (17:00)

Noon Mountain, 11am Pacific. Denver Summit in their home opener. Finally, they're playing the Washington Spirit at Empower Field at Mile High. We know we're well over 50,000. We're hoping it can sell out that 75,000 mark.

Abby Wambach (17:20)

And let's go, people from Denver get to that game.

Julie Foudy (17:24)

I mean, it's crazy when you think about it. It's already set a record because we know the prior record was from last season. BFC took on Washington spirit as well. That's who Denver's playing on Saturday, March 28, and they had 40,000 at Oracle park in San Francisco. And now we're already crushing that. But wouldn't it be cool if we get 75 at Mile High? So I'm very excited to see that.

Cynthia Marshall (17:48)

I'm.

Julie Foudy (17:48)

I'm very. I've been very impressed as. As. As we know well, how hard it is to come into a league with an expansion team and do well. And Denver has been crushing it by all the different metrics. So let's go Denver on this one. I'm rooting for you on this one, this home field. I wish you could go abs, but you're busy, and I love that. Doing important things.

Abby Wambach (18:12)

Celebrating my wife's 50th birth. It's fine.

Julie Foudy (18:14)

Yes. All right, abs. And another game changer in the mix.

Abby Wambach (18:19)

Yeah.

Julie Foudy (18:20)

Is the new McDonald's Big Arch Burger. Yes. Right.

Abby Wambach (18:25)

Have you had it? It's so good.

Julie Foudy (18:27)

Yeah. Two quarter pound patties, three slices of cheese.

Abby Wambach (18:32)

That's amazing.

Julie Foudy (18:34)

I mean, tangy Big Arch sauce, lettuce, pickles, crispy and slivered onions, and a poppy and sesame seed bun to top it off. It's everything you love about McDonald's burgers between two buns. The new Big Arch sauce is tangy. It's creamy. Perfect pair to the Big Arch burger. I. I loved it. It's a true game changer.

Abby Wambach (18:57)

So good.

Julie Foudy (18:57)

All right. Order the new Big arch. The most McDonald's McDonald's burger yet at participating McDonald's for a limited time while supplies last.

Abby Wambach (19:07)

Jules, I have to tell you about the new hair routine that has fully converted me. Okay. It's from Hair Story. And their new wash method isn't shampoo at all.

Julie Foudy (19:22)

It's brilliant.

Abby Wambach (19:23)

It's just. It's so much better. Okay, so you start with pre wash, which is this incredibly gentle scalp rinse that, like, melts away scalp brush. Yeah, that melts away the buildup without that stripped, squeaky feeling. And then you follow it with new wash, this rich, creamy cleanser that replaces, like, both your shampoo and conditioner in just one step. And, Jules, what shocked me the most was how immediate the difference was. My hair felt softer, smoother, and somehow calmer after the very first wash. Like like, it had reset. And the best part, I don't feel like I have to wash it constantly anymore. It stays balanced and healthy for so much longer. So it's honestly feels like that's the biggest win. Yeah, it feels like I've been overdoing it for years. And this is, like, the first routine that's shown me less can actually be transformational. So if you want your hair to feel healthier, stronger, and more alive, hair story is absolutely worth discovering. Try it for yourself. Go to hairstory.com welcome to the party. And use code PARTY15 at checkout for 15% off your order.

Julie Foudy (20:54)

Party people, welcome back to the party. We've got our own women's history superstar in the house, The Kinger,

Billy Jean King (21:05)

everyone. I can't wait to hear Cynthia.

Abby Wambach (21:06)

She's.

Billy Jean King (21:07)

Oh, she's amazing. Yeah, yeah. Just everyone, please, please listen when you talk to her, because she's. She's really gifted. She's just a loving, special. She is so special.

Julie Foudy (21:21)

And we're so glad you're here for this day, Abs. There may be. There may be no one more in demand this time of the year, any time of you, really. Because with Kinger, you didn't just witness history, you literally built it brick by brick.

Abby Wambach (21:36)

Billy, what does it feel like to have made so much history actually happen? And also getting a degree pretty soon in history.

Billy Jean King (21:49)

That's true.

Abby Wambach (21:51)

What is that like? What is the juxtaposition of those two things like?

Billy Jean King (21:57)

Well, one of the classes I had, I was reading some books on.

Abby Wambach (22:01)

Were you in them?

Billy Jean King (22:03)

Yeah, I was in them, but they didn't have it right. I was actually physically stuck there. I was physically there, what they were talking about, and they didn't get it right. I'm like, God, it's not right. And then I'm thinking, oh, my gosh. All the history that I love to read, I wonder how much of it's right and how much of it's not. And it's whoever writes it. And we know that women never, rarely write about history. So there's never anything about women because people write about themselves.

Abby Wambach (22:28)

That's right. That's why it's called histori. We should just start. We should rename it His Story.

Billy Jean King (22:35)

It should be her Story.

Cynthia Marshall (22:36)

Her Story.

Julie Foudy (22:37)

Can you imagine in a class, reading, going through history, and it's your history, and you're like, I'm sorry, this is incorrect. Mr. Or Mrs. Professor. That is incorrect.

Billy Jean King (22:49)

This is scary. But now I read all my other history books on other things. I'm going, is this correct? Is it correct.

Julie Foudy (22:56)

Yeah. Well, it's so funny you bring that up, because this is. This is how I want to start leading into since interview is I want to give you some stats, and I want y' all to react to them because, frankly, they blew my mind as I started reading them. I want to give a huge thank you to Lida Hill Philanthropies and my dear friend and Stanford soccer teammate Dr. Chris Simons for some of these numbers, because Chris sends me these often on Sundays before we record on Mondays, and I get all fired up. And then, of course, the National Women's History Museum has some phenomenal stats. To your point, too, about who's writing history, Kinger. Regarding women's representation, or more aptly, the. The lack thereof in U.S. history. So there is a reason why we are giving these numbers, too. It's not just to depress us. It's actually to fire us up and give us some perspective that we still have work to do.

Abby Wambach (23:55)

Sorry.

Billy Jean King (23:56)

Wait for these.

Julie Foudy (23:57)

Yeah. And my head's gonna go that way.

Billy Jean King (24:00)

My head's gonna blow up again.

Julie Foudy (24:02)

It is gonna blow up again. And I. And. And yes, we call it Women's History Month. But as we all know, it's every day. And it's not just women that need to be fight. It's men and women having a responsibility to change this. And as we obviously know, this isn't just a us problem. This is a global issue at large. But our goal in all of this, with all these numbers, is to remind us all of our responsibility to create a more inclusive, equal space. Party people. We all should be thriving in this. Okay, so here we go. According to the National Women's History Museum, women make up only 15% of people represented in historical state social studies. So those history books.

Abby Wambach (24:48)

So, like the social studies that our kids. That we took when we were kids.

Julie Foudy (24:51)

Yep. We women make up only 15% of those stories. So our children begin their educational journey with a skewed retelling of history, one that literally omits the contributions and accomplishments of women. So think about that for a second.

Billy Jean King (25:08)

Well, I learned all. You know, my history, I learned because I'm much older than you guys. It was all white history, just white. You know, white, white men. White men, white. And they didn't really tell the truth about the way we treated indigenous people.

Julie Foudy (25:22)

Right.

Billy Jean King (25:23)

We didn't get any of the truth. I didn't get enough of the truth on slavery and the things that really have shaped our country in a negative way.

Abby Wambach (25:30)

Actually, this is really interesting. My kids go to the school and SoCal, and we went into their US history teacher. We had, like, a school conference with him, and he was speaking to us in this very interesting way that I had never heard before. And I wonder if this is pervasive around different schools around the country. I'm sure not. This is a private school. He. He started to cite the author of the textbook. And so what it was doing in these. In the minds of. Of these. These students was like, to critically think about the fact that people made this textbook. This is not necessarily only fact. This is fact as the. As the authors of this textbook and the writer made it. So I thought that that was like, when I left that class, I was like, whoa, that blew my mind. Because I was like, I just thought textbooks were fact, but they're not.

Julie Foudy (26:33)

The National Women's History Museum also found that women's roles in the workforce appear in only about 2% of change, while domestic roles are referenced 50 of the time. So again, while young boys have the opportunity to see themselves reflected in almost any profession, young girls are not afforded that same opportunity in the history books that we're reading.

Abby Wambach (26:57)

Yeah, that's like. That's like a girl.

Billy Jean King (26:59)

That's why leadership. So important for girls.

Julie Foudy (27:01)

Okay, another stat for you. World Economic Forum publishes the Global Gender Gap Report each year, and it is the longest standing index tracking the progress of numerous countries efforts toward closing these gender gaps over time. So their 2025 report, they found that only about 23% of the political gender gap has been closed, making political leadership the area with the greatest disparity.

Billy Jean King (27:30)

Oh, well, we don't have a woman president.

Julie Foudy (27:33)

No.

Billy Jean King (27:34)

In this country.

Julie Foudy (27:35)

We're one of the worst globally, too, Right? I mean, there's progress in other countries,

Billy Jean King (27:39)

but not other women leaders in other countries. We don't. We've never. In this country. I know we're young. We're only 250 years old, but it's pathetic. We haven't had one woman in the

Julie Foudy (27:50)

White House and the same report. As if this wasn't depressing enough, based on the collective speed of progress of 100 global economies, it will take another 123 years to reach full parity globally for women.

Billy Jean King (28:07)

Yeah, I don't think it's gonna.

Cynthia Marshall (28:08)

I think.

Billy Jean King (28:09)

I don't really think it's gonna happen by then either. I think it's gonna be a lot slower than people think.

Abby Wambach (28:15)

Well, I was talking to Glennon the other day. It was a couple months ago. We were losing our minds over something, right? And I said to her, you know, we, we, you and me, won't. Won't see real equality in terms of feminism for sure, in our lifetime. And she looked at me like, what are you talking about? And I was like, we are just a. We are just a blip on the longer term plan. We are, we are here and we're going to do our part. And I think that that is a really important thing to embody here. Like, this statistic is one of the most important things because not only is it even more motivating for me, but it's also really important that we continue to motivate our daughters and our nieces and the girls of the next generation and so that they can also motivate their daughters, their nieces, the girls in their lives.

Julie Foudy (29:23)

Signs of progress. There is a little bit of hope. Education is one of the biggest success stories. The global gender gap in educational attainment is now over 95% closed. So that is huge. Huge. And health and survival parity is even closer with the gap more than 96% closed.

Billy Jean King (29:43)

Wow.

Julie Foudy (29:44)

Okay, King. Or listen to this. And this is staying with something that you say a lot, right? If you can see it, then you can be it. So there was a2016. So 10 years ago study done by Rosie rios. She was a former u. S. Treasurer under obama. She found just five statues of real women across outdoor public spaces and the largest u. S. Cities. In 12 u.s. cities, there were only five. Five.

Abby Wambach (30:18)

Wait.

Julie Foudy (30:18)

Statues of women. Which means historically, if you wanted to see who society values, you were for, you were far more likely to find a man on a horse than a woman who changed the world. Because as we know, statues aren't just art. They're. They're signals. They tell us who matters. And. And a reminder, they even say, this is. Statues are commissioned, Commissioned in honor of people who have made significant contributions. All right, so there were five. Then in 2020, the Mellon foundation launched the monuments project. So they audited almost half a million records of historic properties across the entire country in 2021. So five years ago and found this is what they found. Statues are, quote, overwhelmingly white, male, and focused on war. And that the story of the United States as told by its monuments misrepresents our history.

Abby Wambach (31:16)

That's right.

Julie Foudy (31:17)

In addition, likenesses of female figures often represented mythological or allegorical symbols rather than actual people. The survey found that. And this is where I lost my mind. The ratio of statues depicting mermaids to those of US congresswomen. You. You know what, you want to know what that ratio is?

Billy Jean King (31:41)

Kinger must be pathetic.

Julie Foudy (31:43)

22 mermaids to two congress women.

Billy Jean King (31:46)

Oh, my God. That's about right. And you wonder why we.

Julie Foudy (31:50)

God, let's go.

Billy Jean King (31:51)

Everyone out there listening.

Abby Wambach (31:52)

I was like,

Billy Jean King (31:55)

everybody has to do their part.

Abby Wambach (31:57)

Mermaids are not real.

Billy Jean King (31:58)

Make a difference.

Abby Wambach (31:59)

Mermaids are not real.

Cynthia Marshall (32:00)

That's what they like.

Julie Foudy (32:02)

Okay, so back to Lida Hill philanthropies, which we started this with. Okay, so based on these two studies and what they showed Lida Hill, who's this amazing woman in Dallas who said, I want to basically spend my money by helping women and helping women in stem. She said, okay, we're going to change this narrative if there are no statues and they did something about it. Okay? Lyda and her team, like us, firmly believe that if they can see it, they can be it. So in 2021, they created the if then she can exhibit. And it's the largest collection of statues of real women ever assembled with 120 life size statues of contemporary STEM role models. So science, technology, engineering and mathematics displayed across the country from Dallas to New York City to Boston and Maryland. They even included a Women's History Month installation at the Smithsonian Institute and on the National Mall in 2022. And now they're doing again this summer, as we've been talking about during the FIFA World Cup. So the Men's World Cup Fan Fest in Dallas, they'll unveil the if, then she can the exhibit game changer. So 26 life size statues of women whose work in STEM power sports. So it's women who are doing STEM and are in sport, which is so cool because a lot of people think, oh, I can't be a professional athlete. I can't stay in women's professional sports or sports. And yes, you can. And our next guest and and myself were chosen to be two of those 26.

Billy Jean King (33:42)

Congratulations, Julie. You deserve it.

Julie Foudy (33:44)

Yeah, thank you. Statues.

Abby Wambach (33:46)

Did you like. Do you like your. Your look like. Does it look like you?

Billy Jean King (33:50)

That's a good question.

Julie Foudy (33:51)

I wanted to do like a.

Billy Jean King (33:54)

And then I thought, well, that's our Julie. And what did they do?

Julie Foudy (33:58)

Let's be a little more professional here.

Abby Wambach (34:00)

Billy, do you have a statue?

Julie Foudy (34:03)

What's that?

Abby Wambach (34:04)

Does Billy have a statue?

Julie Foudy (34:05)

Kinger? Yeah. You have a statue, right, Kinger?

Billy Jean King (34:07)

I don't have a statue with your 3D. I think I have one at Cal State LA for sure.

Julie Foudy (34:11)

Yeah, but I mean like a statue. Yeah, you have one at Cal State la, right?

Billy Jean King (34:14)

Yeah. It's beautiful. It's huge. It's big. But with your.

Julie Foudy (34:18)

Was it with you in your playing days or is it.

Billy Jean King (34:20)

I'm playing. They have me actually playing. Yeah, if you can call it that. Yes.

Julie Foudy (34:24)

If you can call it that.

Billy Jean King (34:25)

No, it's.

Cynthia Marshall (34:26)

No, I'm playing.

Billy Jean King (34:26)

It's a backhand, which was my best shot. So it's nice. It's really wonderful. And it was great because that was the day I gave a speech about I'm coming back to school now, the statues, that was really a privilege. But we need more women statues all over the country and. Yeah, just every place. Good statistics in public places so people see them.

Abby Wambach (34:49)

Well, Jules, we gotta thank your teammate for hooking a sister up around. Around the. Thank you.

Billy Jean King (34:57)

Tell her thank you, Chris.

Julie Foudy (34:59)

In light of Hill Flint.

Cynthia Marshall (35:00)

Give me your number.

Julie Foudy (35:00)

I'll call her as well. So thank you. Thank you. They're doing great work. Fly to Hill Philanthropies. They are doing great work.

Abby Wambach (35:08)

That's great.

Julie Foudy (35:09)

And important work. Every day they're just thinking about how they can get more women into stem. This episode of welcome to the Party is brought to you by McDonald's Big Arch Burger. Abigail, I know you love some Mickey D's and McDonald's has a new Big Arch burger. Have you heard about it?

Abby Wambach (35:30)

I have.

Julie Foudy (35:31)

It is the most McDonald's McDonald's burger yet. Okay, picture this. Two quarter pound patties.

Abby Wambach (35:39)

Yes.

Julie Foudy (35:39)

Three slices of cheese.

Cynthia Marshall (35:41)

Tangy.

Julie Foudy (35:42)

I love cheese too. Tangy. Big Arch sauce. Lettuce. Pickles. Crispy. And slivered onions. I love the onions. And a poppy and sesame seed bun. Okay. So my favorite thing about a McDonald's burger is probably the sauces. They know how to do a sauce so well. And to hear there's going to be a special Big Arch sauce on this burger. Let's go. And I'm a big fan of the sauce and pickle combination, so I cannot wait to try this. So order the new Big arch. The most McDonald's McDonald's burger yet at participating McDonald's for a limited time while supplies last.

Abby Wambach (36:25)

This episode of welcome to the Party is brought to you by Cologuard, a non invasive colon cancer screening test. So, Jules, when people think about colon cancer, right. They often assume it only impacts them if it runs in their family. Okay? But the reality is up to 75% of people diagnosed have no family history at all. I repeat, there is no link to family hereditary because 75% of people diagnosed have no family history at all. The encouraging part though, Jules, is colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers when it's caught early. And whether you have a known family connection or not. And even if you don't have any symptoms, staying up to date on screening is critical. The cologuard test is a screening option delivered to your door. The test helps make screening feel, I think, more doable for people by removing some of the friction that keeps people from getting screening, like prep and taking time off work, et cetera. So when I heard that one of my dearest and closest family members was diagnosed with colon cancer, it was really scary. And I think that it, it kind of woke me up into really wanting to take care of myself and get the screenings done. And. And so I don't know. I think that I also have not used cologuard because I am considered a high risk. And so if you are high risk, then you would do. You would do a colonoscopy, which is what I do. Cologuard is for folks who are not necessarily considered high risk. And I think that for me too. I want to talk about this. Because colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. You just have to be on top of it. Don't assume that you're going to be fine just because nobody in your family has it. Go get tested. Order a cologuard test. It's at home. This is not one of those situations where you have to go into the hospital and get put under anesthesia. You can do this from the comfort of your own home. There are no excuses. Get screened for colon cancer, please. Party people. I really don't want any of you to go unscreened from this preventable disease. And the color guard test is simple. It's a simple way to get it done. So if you're 45 years or older and at average risk, ask your healthcare provider about screening for colon cancer with cologuard test. You can also request a color guard prescribed description today@cologuard.com the Cologuard plus test is intended to screen adults 45 years of age and older who are at average risk for colorectal cancer. Do not use the cologuard products if you have had adenomas, which are a type of colon polyp that can sometimes become cancer, inflammatory bowel disease or other hereditary syndromes, a personal or first degree family history of colorectal cancer or a positive result from another colon cancer screening method within the test recommended screening interval. Talk to your healthcare provider if any of these situations apply to you. Cologuard results should be interpreted with caution. A positive test result does not confirm the presence of cancer patients. With a positive test result should be referred for colonoscopy. A negative test result does not confirm the absence of cancer. Patients with a negative test result should discuss with their doctors when they need to be tested again. False positives and false negatives results can occur. Available by prescription only.

Julie Foudy (40:15)

So, as we continue to celebrate Women's History Month and are fully committed now to changing the statue ratios, we've got the perfect guest slash statue to close out. The party is part of our party. She's been called a force of nature. And if you ask Mark Cuban, he'll tell you bringing her in was one of the smartest decisions he's ever made. And that her leadership changed everything about his NBA team, the Dallas Mavericks. But her story starts long before the headlines. Growing up in a Northern California housing project, rising to become one of the first black female executives at AT&T, beating stage three colon cancer, and building a reputation as one of the most respected leaders in the business, including so many honors. We would be here all day. Her track teammates once called her, sent the sprint. And honestly, that still fits, because when she. She shows up, things move party people, and they move forward fast. And that's exactly what happened in Dallas. And in 2018, she became the NBA's first Black female CEO, stepping into the Mavericks organization after a Sports Illustrated investigation exposed sexual harassment, intimidation, and a toxic workplace culture in that NBA franchise. She rebuilt it. She restored credibility and set a new standard for what leadership and culture can look like in sports. And now she's stepping into her next chapter, what she calls her 3B phase. Books, boards, and better still, focused on one core idea. How do we make things better for others? Can someone please figure out how to clone this woman? Cynth Marshall, welcome to the party.

Cynthia Marshall (42:03)

I already love this party. Yes. Yes. It's good to see you.

Julie Foudy (42:11)

Send the sprint.

Billy Jean King (42:12)

Yes.

Julie Foudy (42:13)

Thank you.

Cynthia Marshall (42:14)

Yes. You're going way back, sister. You're going way back.

Billy Jean King (42:19)

They're too young, Cynthia.

Cynthia Marshall (42:21)

Yes. Yeah.

Julie Foudy (42:24)

Hey, how does it feel knowing you're going to be a green statue, by the way?

Cynthia Marshall (42:29)

I know. Is that thing crazy or what? You know, I know. Somebody painted a drawer, and it was crazy, but like a statue. That is nuts. Okay, you're gonna be. You're gonna be a statue, too. So it is.

Julie Foudy (42:43)

I know Julie.

Billy Jean King (42:44)

Our Julie's gonna be a statue.

Cynthia Marshall (42:46)

Yeah, baby.

Julie Foudy (42:47)

I know, y'. All. We had 26 women there at the event when they scanned us and did all the scanning for the statue and their 3D statues and sent and I were lucky enough to sit in front of the group and do a little chat. But the women that were there were data analysts. One was, like, a turf grass specialist, all in kind of the STEM sports space. Katie McConnell, who was the big wave surfer, who's a marine biologist, was also there. Dr. Colleen Hacker was there. It was cool to see all the. The various forms of STEM involved in sports that, you know, you never even sometimes think about.

Abby Wambach (43:28)

Right.

Billy Jean King (43:29)

Well, actually, they've done research, and women do better in STEM sports. Women do better than others. We do better.

Julie Foudy (43:36)

Really?

Billy Jean King (43:36)

Yeah. We do better in STEM than the others. Yes. That's why it's important for girls to get into sports when they're young. It's a lot of math in sports. You know, like, even look at your fields. Look at how you have to think about angles, think about how you. There's a score involved. There's all these things, spatial relation. All this is important. So we've done so much, so many studies on girls. Why you want to get girls in sports, the more of them go into stem.

Abby Wambach (44:03)

Yep.

Cynthia Marshall (44:04)

That is so true.

Billy Jean King (44:06)

Sally Ride is a perfect example.

Cynthia Marshall (44:08)

Yeah. It's art and science. I mean. Yes, it's both. And to know that some young girls and boys will look at those statues of us and think, okay, I want to go into stem. I want to go into sports. I want to do this. So that's what made me finally just step back and kind of, you know, say, this is. Okay. When somebody says they're gonna make a statue, you think, oh, wow, that's. That's heavy. Like, and I'm still alive. Okay. But when you think about why they are doing it, to kind of inspire this next generation to get into STEM and then bring STEM and sports together. And to your point, people, I mean, it all goes together, but most people don't know that, so hopefully now they will.

Julie Foudy (44:51)

Yeah. And they're gonna know Scent story, because it's such a good one. Sent. Let's go back to your AT&T days, and one of my favorite stories. I mean, you spent 36 years with AT&T, but can you tell the party people and Abs and Billy about the day when you got the call about serving as an officer on their board of directors and what happened? Because this is one of my favorite.

Billy Jean King (45:15)

Okay.

Cynthia Marshall (45:16)

It's a crazy story, but, you know, I'm 19, 20 years into my career, and I walk in the house one day, and I get this phone call from my boss, and she was giving me the news that I was basically just promoted to be an officer of the corporation. And I was stunned because, I mean, I know this company, and I know what it means, but I never kind of tried to get promoted. I was just doing my job. I was already a vp, had a great job. And so my husband is hearing my end of the conversation, and so he hears me say, you want me to cut my hair? You want me to do what? And so it was, because the woman on the other end of the phone, and I will say that she absolutely was well intended. So let me just set that up first. She meant well, but she said, you've been promoted to be an officer. She says, and so let me tell you what I want you to do. I think, you know, I left the magazine on your desk, so you'll see when you get in tomorrow, I want you to cut your hair. Because on the picture of the magazine. And so I think it was Black Enterprise or some magazine, so there's all these black people on it. And she says, it's short hair. The women have short hair. They're all in white. And she said, so, you know, kind of dress. Start dressing differently. Cut your hair. And I'm thinking, what does that have to do with me getting this job? And my husband's in the background going, my barber will fix you up. Don't worry about it. And so I'm trying to tell him to be quiet, okay? I'm like, boy, hush. So then. So then she says, and boy, hush. You can't be called Scent, because nobody knows what a scent is. So I want you to be Cynthia, which is my, you know, full name, or Cindy. And I've been sent my whole life, okay? And so I told her. I said, I've been sent my whole life. And she says, no, but nobody really knows what that is. So it's Cynthia or Cindy. And then you can't talk so loud, and you have to stop smiling so much, and people can't come in your office. And she gave me this laundry list of things she wanted me to change. And at this point, it's getting bad. I said, you don't want me to talk so loud. And my husband's in the background, like, yeah, okay, you can pipe it down. He's basically hearing my sound because he knows where this is going. And so I said, I don't know what that has to do with my job. And she says, well, you use words like. So this kind of went and went over the edge. She says, you can't use words like blessed. You have to say, lucky.

Julie Foudy (47:37)

What?

Cynthia Marshall (47:38)

And that's when it was getting Kind of crazy. I said, okay, so what if I don't believe that I'm lucky? What if I believe I'm blessed? In fact, what if I know I'm blessed? And she said, well, you can't use churchy kind of words. And she was basically letting me know that she needed me to fundamentally kind of change who I was. And so I'm listening to all this. My husband's in the background. He's already trying to dial up the barber. And he's. He's just like. Because he worked for our company for a long time, and his father retired from our company. So he knows this is the highest level you can get in our company is to be an officer. And I stopped and I said, you know what? I said, do me a favor. I said, I'm going to decline this promotion. I said, I'm going to decline the promotion. But honestly, sisters, let me tell you, I was nervous about losing my current job. I needed my job, okay? So many people in my family are relying on me. And so I said, can you help me figure out how to turn this promotion down, but also keep my job? And so she says, oh, yes. And she said, I think you're doing the right thing. Because in her mind, I just kind of wasn't sophisticated enough. Okay? Talking loud, people in my office all the time, you know, open door policy. And so when I told her, I told her I wanted to keep my job, but I declined. She agreed and said she would take care of it. I said, great. That was my biggest fear. I cannot lose my job because I am turning down the big, big promotion because I already had a big job. So a few minutes late, so she hung up. A few minutes later, the chairman of the company called me. Ed Whitaker. I love this man. And this is what the story is about to me. It's about his phone call. He said sent, and he put an emphasis on the T. He didn't say Cindy, say Cynthia. He says, sent, girl. I just heard what happened. He said, let's try this again. And he went on to describe me to a T. He said, that is the person the board has elected to be an officer in this corporation. That's the person who I want to walk in the office in the morning. He offered me the job, and I said yes. So here's what that story is about. The power of a leader. Okay? Words matter. That man set me loose. They probably regretted it after that. He set me to be sent. And so he gave me permission to meet my authentic self. And I've Been that way ever since.

Abby Wambach (50:02)

It goes to show you how important it is to be yourself.

Cynthia Marshall (50:06)

Yes.

Abby Wambach (50:07)

And I think that you have to know yourself first in order to accept the person that you can be out in the world. Right. Where does that come from inside of you, that you felt the strength in order to push back in a way and say, no, I'm not going to do that. That doesn't sound right for me.

Cynthia Marshall (50:29)

I actually. That's a great question, Abby. I think it comes from, obviously, I think my childhood. My mom, the way she raised my mom is a very, very strong woman. She just turned 90. So I was going to be here visiting with her.

Julie Foudy (50:46)

She.

Cynthia Marshall (50:46)

I saw my mother go through a lot, and people ask her to, you know, do different things. And she always stood on who she was. And she would always tell us what you just said. Know who you are and whose you are. And no matter what, God has a great plan for your life. And there's some things you don't have to do. You never have to compromise. I mean, we were taught that as kids, especially as teenagers. And she talked to her girls. I have three sisters and two brothers. Well, one passed away last year, but she talked to her four girls about that a lot. We didn't have to compromise, and we could stand on who we were.

Julie Foudy (51:24)

It's so important, too, that story. I love to hear it because I know there are so many women listening to this who go, shit, I shouldn't have changed who I was in that moment. Because we do. We change because we think we have to change into someone else. And then what happens is we're not our authentic selves. We're not comfortable with who that person we think someone else wants us to be. Happened to me in broadcasting, right? Where you're like, no, that's not who I am. I'm not going to say it like that. I'm going to say it like this. And then. But it takes a while to get there. And that you had that courage from the jump scent is what I love. And I love that women get to hear how important that is and the success you've had.

Cynthia Marshall (52:10)

Julie, you made me think of something. And I think part of what was driving me, too. And, Abby, it goes back to your question as well. Part of what was driving me is my first week in the company at 21 years old in my operator services supervisory job in San Francisco. My boss's boss told me she came in one day and she saw me, and she pulled me in my boss's office and said, I need you to get rid of those red shoes and those braids. This is my first week. I'm 21 years old. I did. I went home. I still live with my mom. Called one of my sisters, and we stayed up all night taking my braids out. Yeah, braids. Like what I have right now, part of it is a statement right now. And so one of the things I told this, this boss of mine here, some, you know, 18, 19 years later, I said, you know what? I went through this my first week in the company, and I love this company and it's a great company and all this coaching is great, but, like, where does this stop? And so I got rid of my braids, I got rid of the red shoes, and so I'm not doing that again. And so when I had my. If you go on Instagram, you'll see one day. It was my first 40th anniversary of my professional journey. Okay. So I guess it must have been in 2021, I guess. And I got these long braids put in. I look wild. Okay. You may not even recognize me. And I had on some red shoes. And I just said, 40 years later, I get to be me. I. And the hair was a little red. It was kind of wild.

Billy Jean King (53:47)

Okay.

Abby Wambach (53:49)

Your kindness and your generosity to both of these women, these white women who show up in your life and you say that they were well intentioned, and I love that about you. And unfortunately, it was propagating this. This agenda that. That us white people feel the need to create spaces that look and sound like us in a way to create. To continue this. This power dynamic. And it's. And I just love that you just have. You are able and honest enough to say that. Oh, yeah, this happened to me when I was 21 and I gave in. And also it happened to me when I was older and I didn't.

Cynthia Marshall (54:30)

And.

Abby Wambach (54:30)

And. And that's an important story to tell, and I just am appreciative that you told it. Jules, I think we gotta get. We have to talk about the Dallas Mavericks.

Julie Foudy (54:38)

Yeah, that's where I was going.

Abby Wambach (54:39)

We gotta do that.

Julie Foudy (54:40)

Yeah, yeah, that's where I was going to. So you become the first black CEO of an NBA franchise. I need the party people to hear this story of how Mark Cuban found you and came to you and brought you in. Into his organization.

Cynthia Marshall (54:57)

Okay, so it's February 21, 2018, so I'm on the call, but my cell phone, like, I keep it, like, with me all the time. I think it's because I work for AT&T. And I love the phones, and so I like. Like people to use the phones because, like, that's my pension, okay? So love my phone. So I have my phone right here, and the phone just keeps going off. I'm like, what is going on? But I can't take it because, like, you know, I'm. I'm on. I'm with my client. So I literally. I told them. I said, I'll be right back. I have my husband the phone. And I said, one of the kids need money, take care of it. Because I still had two kids in college, and so that's the only time they'd be blowing up my phone, because that's how we do. I said, you don't.

Abby Wambach (55:40)

We know it. Julie and I know it. Julie and I know that.

Cynthia Marshall (55:44)

Don't track me down. I'm a busy woman. You need something, just text me. If it's 225, that's 225. I can transfer it. I mean, just. You don't have to call me.

Julie Foudy (55:54)

So honestly, do not call me. Just text me, okay?

Cynthia Marshall (55:59)

I'm busy. So I thought it was one of the kids. So I told my husband, one of the kids need money, take care of it. So he grabs my phone. He looks at. He comes back, and he said, you need to hang up. Tell these people, call them back now. This is my client, right? And I'm like, what? So I said, hold on. He says, mark Cuban is trying to reach you. And he's all like, you need to call this guy back. He said, this dude doesn't need any money. Mark Cuban is trying to reach you. I'm like, what? He says, mark Cuban. Okay, don't judge me, sisters. I said, who is that?

Billy Jean King (56:31)

Okay, that's fair enough. You're honest.

Cynthia Marshall (56:33)

I said, who is that? And he just looked at me. So I kept going with my call. So once I got off the call, couple hours later, I said, what is going on? Okay. The kids are okay. So then at this point, my son, who was in Los Angeles, so he had just been there a couple years out of school, he called, and he was the first one we adopted. So we called him the Prince. So the Prince called. I talked to the Prince, right? And he says, mom, dad says you won't call Mark Cuban back. You know who he is, Shark Tank? I said, I don't know. He goes, mom, you would love him. He does a lot of good stuff for people, because they know that's how to get me, right? And I said, okay. So he said, the Mavs are Having a crisis. I said, okay, so what does that have to do with me? And he says, we don't know. You have to talk. So I, I finally call him back. I finally call him back, very gracious. And he's telling me he's having a crisis. And by this point, like, my son and my husband, they're looking at the news. I'm like, let's try to figure out what's going on. So he asked me if I could meet with him at 2 o' clock that day. Oh, my gosh, that day. And I look, I said, I can't. I have a mammogram scheduled at 2:00'.

Abby Wambach (57:55)

Clock.

Cynthia Marshall (57:56)

I said, I have a mammogram scheduled. I am a cancer survivor. I'm a colon cancer survivor, okay? Stage 3C. Okay. I said, I am a cancer survivor. I know what happens when you don't take your health seriously and when you put off your medical business. I learned that the hard way. Okay? I said, so I can't miss my mammogram. And he just said, okay. And he was. And I joked sometime. And I said, because he offered. He said, well, do you need me to come to you? And I joke. I said, you know, I don't need him to come to the mammogram. But he wasn't trying to do that. He was really trying to make it easy for me to see him that day. And I said, no, if you could just wait until later in the day, I can probably get to you by 4 or 5 o'. Clock. So I go to my mammogram, I come back in the house, my husband is decked out in Dallas Mavericks club. That boy is sharp. Okay? He's got on. And then I told my husband, okay, we're gonna call a driver. And it's storming outside. I said, because I need you to get on your iPad and read the stories and see what's going on. And I need to do the same thing because I gotta prepare. That's my big thing. I don't care what it is. I gotta be prepared. I gotta know what's happening when I walk in there. So we're on our way over. It is storming and we're reading all this stuff. And by the time I got to the Dallas Mavericks office, I told my husband, I'm not doing this. I said, I'm not going in. Now, of course, you can imagine he's about to die. I said, what? We have to be Mark Cuban. We? Okay,

Julie Foudy (59:35)

we.

Cynthia Marshall (59:35)

And I said, no, we don't. I Said, if any of this is true of what I read, I don't want to be associated with anything that treats women like this. Not doing it. I don't know him. I don't know what's going on here. I'm not feeling this. He said, wife, and that's what my husband calls me, okay? He does not call me by my name. I've been married almost 43 years. He called me wife. He said, wife, we need to go in and talk to him. I said, okay. He goes, no, you're always talking about, you know, just this morning, impact and what? You just don't know. You don't know what is going on in here. You always say, the Lord, can we do a different thing? And my husband is not a spiritual guy. That's me, right? He's quoting scriptures and everything on me, okay?

Abby Wambach (60:25)

Like, please, God, I want season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks game.

Cynthia Marshall (60:29)

Bingo. Bingo. Okay?

Billy Jean King (60:32)

That's right.

Cynthia Marshall (60:33)

He prayed up on some tickets, okay?

Abby Wambach (60:35)

So.

Cynthia Marshall (60:36)

So anyway, so I go in. I go in, and my husband gets to mark first. Okay? Mr. Cuban, Kim Marshall. And the receptionist. I saw the receptionist, and then I just hugged her, and she just burst into tears. Oh. So the receptionist, I'm over there hugging her. My husband is over there, you know, just being a fanboy, okay? And finally I got over there to Mark, and something just compelled me to give him a big hug. And so we just looked at each other, and he said, you know, let's go down this way. I just need. I just really want to talk to you. So we take off. My husband is starting to walk with us. I'm like, you got to sit out here in the lobby,

Abby Wambach (61:18)

fanboy.

Cynthia Marshall (61:18)

Stay, look around at the pictures or whatever. And my husband is not even a big smile sports guy, okay? But he loves Mark Cuban. So I said, okay. So I go down. I sat down with Mark, and we talked for 55 minutes. And he was so genuine, so transparent, and just telling me everything that he had found out from this Sports Illustrated article that had just broke about almost 20 years of misconduct. Y' all know the story, right? And he's telling me this stuff, and I'm just thinking, this is crazy. I said, I'm gonna. So he offered me the job, right? Then he said, I know what you've done at AT&T. Your name has come up a couple times. You come highly recommended. And he said, I want you to be my CEO. He said, I want you to come in here and run the Dallas Mavericks. I need help. I gotta do something with the culture here. I mean, he was broken. And I found out later he had met with employees that morning and just said he was gonna fix the this. He was going to own it and fix it. Honestly, you know, you all know Mark, so his. His focus was on the basketball. He is a basketball guy. And, you know, you try to trust your CEO, you try to trust your people to run the business, and, you know, in this case, it just didn't work out for him. And so I told him, I said, let me. I'm going to go home and pray about it. I said, because I pray about everything. And then I'm leaving his office. And two women stopped me. And this was the moment that got me. And they said, can we talk to you? And they came right up to both of us, and I looked at Mark and he said, yeah, please, you could go back to my office, talk to them. And these two women apparently had been very vocal that morning, and they were upset. And one of. I mean, they had gone through some things, and they started telling me their stories, and they were not stories. And they said, mark told us a little bit about you this morning, and we think you could have a big impact. Impact on the place. And they use the word impact four times. I got the chills when that happened. And I said, well, I'm gonna go home. They said, no, you have to do this for us. I mean, like, you just have to do this for us. We really think you could impact this place. We need something different and blah. And they're just going on and on with why and they're crying. So ended up, you know, embracing them. And I said, let me. I'm gonna go home, pray about it. So I went home, prayed about it, came back the next day. I was in the building for three hours before Mark even knew I was in the building, because I was getting ready to break left to go to his office. And some employees came from the right and pulled me away. And they pulled me into the conference room talking to me for three hours. And Billie Jean, to your point, I just listened because that's why I have this. I have this leadership philosophy that in order to be effective leader, I need to do three things extra extremely well. Listen to the people, learn from the people, and love the people. So I was in my listening mode, and I heard just different stories. Men and women were coming in, and Mark didn't know I was in the building for three hours. And they said, somebody asked him, they said he wasn't. He wasn't looking great. And they said, mark Are you okay? And he says, well, I really thought scent was the person and I was really hoping she would come back. But she didn't come back. And they said, the woman who was here yesterday? And they said, yeah. And they said, well, she'd been in that conference room for three hours

Julie Foudy (64:37)

when

Cynthia Marshall (64:37)

he came in there. He was like, he was like, yeah, I guess the Lord said yes, because we ended up, we just ended up bonding and we got on a mission. We got on a mission. I told him yes. And then he called me like the next day and he said, we're going to do a press conference on Monday. And I said, okay. And I was on my way back to California for my mother in law's 82nd birthday. So I am on the plane, literally on the plane, writing this 100 day plan. I mean literally from just everything I heard, those three hours with the employees, things that Mark had told me, then I had to draw everything I had learned in 36 years about great workplace culture and how to really, truly run a business. I just laid out a hundred day plan and said, okay, Lord, I mean like, I hope this is it. And we had our press conference that Monday. I laid out a vision that said we would be the, we would set the NBA standard, the global standard for diversity and inclusion. Because my first little meeting that I met the team, there were 10 white men running the Dallas Mavericks. You need some women at the table, fellas. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry. You just gotta have. I mean, I know the business case. I have lived it. You need different people at the table. And so, so that was the vision. So it wasn't about winning games. It wasn't about, you know, ticket sales. It was about, we are going to be inclusive around here. Laid out a promise, a workplace promise that says every voice matters and everybody belongs. That is the workplace promise. If you work for the Dallas Mavericks, you will know you belong here and your voice matters. And then I laid out a set of values that spell crafts. Character, respect, authenticity, fairness, teamwork and safety. Both physical, physical and emotional safety. So I laid that out. I talked to the employees right before I went over to the press conference and I told Mark I don't want them to hear anything ever from the media that they haven't heard from me. So I met with all the employees, told them I was a new CEO. I gave them my background, I told them where I was from. I talked about the Easter Hill public housing projects. I let them know all about me. I mean, half holy have hood. Okay? I Just, I just needed to know who. Who I am. I needed them to know who I am. And then I told them, you know, I love them, and if they wanted to come over to the press conference, they could. And I laid out the vision, the values, what they meant, all of that, and said it was a new day. And to my surprise, when I walked in that press conference, first of all, to my surprise, was like a gazillion cameras. Okay. Because I still keep in mind I don't know the business of basketball. Which Mark said, don't worry about that. You know how to lead. I need a leader. He said, we will teach you the business of basketball. And he did. I just got to give him so much credit. That man spent so much time helping me learn the business, as did the NBA and my colleagues. I mean, everybody. And I learned it, okay? But he said I needed a leader, and he was not trying to make history. He was trying to make a difference for his people. And we got in there and I told him, I said, I only have one request, and that is that I speak during the press conference. Because if you come in there and you're talking, then they're just going to think, okay, well, he just went and found somebody. No, no, you own it. I run it. I said, we just need to make that clear because you called me.

Julie Foudy (67:59)

I'd love that.

Cynthia Marshall (68:00)

He said, okay. And I'm telling you, we worked together and we changed out a few things, but it was vision, values, a workplace promise, a diverse leadership team. And we rallied the employees and the exits that needed to happen. We made sure they happened, and we did what we. What we needed to do. I met with the NBA, met with Adam Silver called me. Literally, he called me. I was walking into a meeting and he said, this is Adam Silver. He told me who he was. I said, I know who you are. And he said, I need you to have my cell number. He says, if you ever need to call me, you call me. And so everybody just embraced it and we just did what we needed to do. And I never take credit for turning around the Dallas Mavericks. There were a lot of us who just bought in and said, I had some women who I brought in with me. So I brought three women in with me and said, you know what? We're going to help these people have a great place to work. They signed up for this. And this is what was new to me because I had a one on one with every single employee in the organization. Like, every single employee. And I'd start out one way. I'D say, give me your life story. And, I mean, I'm looking them in the eye. I'm listening. I want to hear the life story. And they'd say, oh, this is my fifth season at the Mavs. This is my tenth season at the Mavs. And then I say, hold on. Were you born here? Were you born on the court? Were you in the arena? Star from the beach? And it would always catch them off guard, right? I said, start from the beginning, because I just wanted to know these people. I mean, you gotta love people that you lead. And so I just wanted to. To know them. And then I'd end. Then they would tell me all kind of stuff, and then I would end the same way. And most of these sessions last about an hour, hour and a half. So then I would. In the same way, I'd say, tell me where you see yourself five years from now, personally and professionally, because my job as a leader is to help you get there. And then they would kind of, like, lay out. They would think, because most of them said, you know, nobody had asked them that before, they would think about it. Then I'd make sure to cover our values one on one with people. I would cover our values. I would tell them what character looks like. I tell them what respect looks like. Authenticity. Do you. Okay. I mean, so I'd go through the. The whole thing, and then they leave. And so then all the chatter started. And then I called in two of the three ladies who came in with me. My chief ethics officer, my chief human resources officer one night, and I was sobbing, and I said, I love these people. I said, I love these people in here. Most of them, 90, 95% of them intentionally chose a career in sports, unlike us, okay? I chose a career in communications, telecommunications. I said, they chose a career in sports. They deserve to have a great career and a great place to work, just like we did. I said, are you all in? You can't be here just for me. You can't be here because, like, 25 people, 2500 people either called or text me when the announcement came out. People who knew me who have worked for me before just said, I'd quit tomorrow. What do you need me to do? And so I said, you can't be here just for sin. You got to be here for these people. If I left tomorrow, are you all in with these people to give them a great place to work? And they said, yes. I said, because I had just fallen in love with the people. I said, okay, let's go. So we did it wasn't perfect. Every day wasn't perfect. I mean, we made mistakes, but, I mean, we were all in. And my three years turned out to be almost seven.

Billy Jean King (71:31)

Yeah. But this is. Oh, my gosh. Listening to you is just like, oh, my God, what a great leader you are. A loving, great, unbelievable leader. So thank you for all you've done so far, and I know you're going to continue to do. But wow, what a great story. And just also now I love Mark Cuban even more as well.

Abby Wambach (71:49)

So it's like, oh, and I know that Mark loves Sint because.

Billy Jean King (71:54)

Oh, it's obvious.

Abby Wambach (71:55)

The valuation of the Dallas Mavericks went up so much during that time that he sold a portion of it off of few. Few years ago. He's a job. I'm hoping you got a little echo.

Billy Jean King (72:04)

I hope you got some. Cynthia.

Julie Foudy (72:07)

I missed the sprint better. Got a sense of that.

Billy Jean King (72:10)

I hope you got some. Yeah, few. A few cents would been good.

Cynthia Marshall (72:14)

I should have. When he came in my office that day and told me that he was selling the team and I was in a meeting, and so when I came back, they said Mark, Mark was around because he didn't come in all the time. I mean, because, you know, we were over there running it, and they said, he's been looking for you, but we told him you were meeting with the people. He said, oh, no, we know she loves her people. So this was like a meeting with the people. He said above. And he said, I'm not going to interrupt that, but when she gets back, just tell her to call because I need to come and see her. And he walks in and he sat down and he just kind of put his head down. He was kind of emotional. And I said, what? Because twice I was leaving before then, and he convinced me to stay. It's like we were in this together. And then when he told me, I said, dude, you ain't right. I said, dude, you ain't right. Okay, so you made me stay twice and now you're leaving me? He said, yes. And I said, okay, well, I love these people, but we're good. I got a great leadership team. I'm leaving, too. He goes, no, no, no, no. Can you stay for an extra year and kind of help with the transition? And I said, I'm leaving at the end of the season. He said, no, no, you got this part. And so. And so we laid out a plan,

Julie Foudy (73:21)

and it worked out when we were together for Lida Hill Philanthropies if then exhibit the game changers, which we. We sat down together. Can you give them the hasu story, please?

Cynthia Marshall (73:34)

Yes. Okay, here's what I tell people. Like we have. Here's what I've learned as a woman, okay? We have to be there for each other, okay? So many times people are relying on us to be stabbing each other in the back or we think, you know, this whole one thing. I'm going to be the only one. I had this woman one time. She was. When I went to North Carolina, stabbing the other woman in the back. I'm like, what is going on here? I called her in. She goes, oh, around here, you can see there's only one of us, so I'm gonna be the one. I said, well, news flash, sister. I'm here now, so I guess I'm the one. We don't do that. What we do is look out for each other. And so we have to learn how to be able to just pick up that phone, call each other, and have that hasu moment. And so it's h A S u and I'm paying you. Don't overuse it. But you need to be able to rely on your sisters when nothing. When you can't rely on anybody else. And you just. It says a hasu moment, and all it means is hook a sister up. Okay? You text and say, call me. It's a hot soup moment. And that's when it's like, okay. And the answer is just yes. You tell me it's a hasu moment. The answer is yes. Because as a woman, you need to know that you got a sister who's got your back. And so I'm into the hasu moment. This is a hi su moment. They said, hey. I said, you know what? I got stuff going on clear the morning. This hasu for Julie. Okay? Then I saw all the rest of y' all involved. I'm like, this is like quadruple hi, suit. I mean, it's like, this is triple hoon. I'll never forget you calling me when I got that job because we had met years ago when I was at AT and T. Yeah, at.

Billy Jean King (75:27)

AT and T. We were so excited for you. Lana and I were so excited for you.

Cynthia Marshall (75:32)

Yes.

Billy Jean King (75:32)

We're saying this is. This is fantastic.

Cynthia Marshall (75:36)

That was a hot suit moment. Because you told me then. I remember what you told me that you knew I didn't know sports and however you could help me learn the industry and do anything. You were there for me and gave me your number. That is a. That's a. That's a hassle.

Billy Jean King (75:53)

That's our Job, right? That's our job. Let's go for it. I know, but your. Your story is just. And I love the way you ask people about, like, just start from the beginning. That's what I love doing that. Just, where were you born? They go, huh?

Julie Foudy (76:08)

Right?

Billy Jean King (76:09)

It's so great you do that. I mean, you're such a great leader.

Cynthia Marshall (76:12)

I was born in Birmingham, Alabama. So the church that was. Oh, you were.

Billy Jean King (76:15)

You were born there. You weren't born in Richmond.

Cynthia Marshall (76:17)

My parents. My parents left when I was three months old, but that's their story. So the church that was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama, churches, the 16th Street Church and Bethel Baptist, those were my mother's. That's where she went to church.

Billy Jean King (76:31)

That's where you went to church? That's where she went to church.

Cynthia Marshall (76:33)

And I tell people, wow, I lost a meter. Four black girls lost their lives. My mother has four daughters and two sons. I think about those girls all the time. Okay. But by the grace of God, okay? So that's part of my story. That's my family story. That's where all my relatives are. I have uncles who marched and went to jail with Dr. King. So that's part of my story. Even though we left at three months old, my parents were still very much involved in the movement. So that's kind of who I am. So I start at the beginning, and then I get on that train, Richmond, three months later, and then talk about the housing project. I want people to know who I am, and so I'm the same way. I want to know who they are. Because what's sitting in front of you is just what's sitting in front of you. But there's so many different things that happen in people's lives. And so when I talk about loving the people, I want to love that person who gets up out of bed in the morning. The baggage they have, the cultures they have, the issues they have, the dreams they have. That's who wakes up in the morning, and that's who I need to walk in my doors every day or get up on the screen. And so I got to know them. I got to know all that. So. Because my job as a leader is to meet them where they are and to understand all of that. Because it's deeper than just the person. The employee who's walking in your building. I gotta love and know the person. I'm not gonna go somewhere to an old phone booth and put a big M on their chest for Mavs or T for AT and T. No, the person who gets up out of bed in the morning is who is walking in my door, and that's who I need to know and love so I can meet them where they are. That's how I'll get the best out of them. So I truly, like, love to people. I mean, anybody who's ever worked with me or for me in my. What, 40? How old am I now? So my 45 years of my professional life, they will tell. If they tell you nothing else, they'll tell you. She loved us.

Julie Foudy (78:25)

I. I think you should be CEO of the United States of America.

Billy Jean King (78:29)

As in, let's go.

Julie Foudy (78:30)

Like, forget it.

Billy Jean King (78:31)

That would be awesome.

Cynthia Marshall (78:35)

You don't even want to wake that up. Okay. Lord have me. Don't want to wake that up. I love it.

Billy Jean King (78:41)

Okay, we better not go there. I can tell that giant.

Julie Foudy (78:44)

Come on.

Cynthia Marshall (78:45)

We haven't had a president yet, but, you know, you got that right. We're the greatest country 60 to 70 countries have, but we haven't. Okay, we got work to do.

Billy Jean King (78:54)

It's unbelievable, isn't it?

Julie Foudy (78:55)

We got work.

Cynthia Marshall (78:55)

Not one.

Abby Wambach (78:56)

A giant. Thank you, Sint, for coming on with

Billy Jean King (79:00)

us, and thank you so much.

Abby Wambach (79:02)

Yeah. Your story is just incredible. Thank you for spending the time, and also thank you for all of your service in the work world.

Billy Jean King (79:11)

Right.

Abby Wambach (79:11)

Because you and your presence make it easier for the next person to come along, especially with your kind of leadership, the servant leadership that is really open to and requiring diversity and requiring difference at the table. So I just want to say I loved listening to your stories in this conversation so much.

Billy Jean King (79:35)

It's so inspirational. I'm ready to. I'm ready to go. Let's go for it.

Cynthia Marshall (79:40)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Y' all doing. Thanks for. Y' all doing.

Billy Jean King (79:43)

Bless you.

Cynthia Marshall (79:43)

Y' all have an awesome week.

Abby Wambach (79:46)

We do a party pose. Would you do this party pose with us? Which is like, you just. You just do a pose. Your pose in your way, and it will be like freeze frame that we put up on social and.

Cynthia Marshall (79:57)

Okay, I'm ready.

Julie Foudy (79:59)

Party pose on three. One, two, three.

Billy Jean King (80:06)

Oh, she's. She's the greatest. I mean, she is. I'm so pumped. Just listen to her. And she's so wise and loving.

Abby Wambach (80:13)

Oh, I'm not kidding, Jules. What you said, I really feel it in my bones that I feel she should run for president. I'm not. I'm not being hyperbolic. Like, I'm being actually serious.

Billy Jean King (80:25)

Well, she would be. She would be great for messaging, wouldn't she? She'd be unbelievable. She'd figure out the Right. Message.

Julie Foudy (80:31)

What this world needs, it needs someone that can love on people, that can show compassion, that can bring people together. I mean, she's a uniter because she cares so deeply. How can you not want to be around that energy?

Billy Jean King (80:46)

Yeah, we do need more people like her, don't we? I don't know if she's one of a kind, though. She's totally one of a kind. She just takes over. I mean, I just want to go. Just tell me what to do.

Julie Foudy (80:57)

Potential in them. Right. Obviously it comes very naturally to her. But I think, and I do think a lot of women think, oh, I've got to. I've got to put up this strong front and I can't be vulnerable and I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't. All the things like she said that people told her. Right. And yet she is like, no, you can be you.

Billy Jean King (81:17)

She figured it out and be vulnerable.

Julie Foudy (81:18)

Yeah. Listen, learn and love is what you said.

Billy Jean King (81:22)

That's what I wrote down. I wrote it down.

Julie Foudy (81:25)

Is the hasu so good. I was like, you cannot leave before you tell the hassle. Hook his sister up. All right, party people, don't forget to subscribe to the welcome to the Party YouTube channel. You can actually watch the party and click that little bell icon so you get updates when new episodes go live.

Abby Wambach (81:46)

Yeah. And if you can take just one minute, it really only takes a second. We would appreciate it if you could rate. Leave a comment and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. And be sure to follow us on Instagram or YouTube and wherever you get your socials at. Welcome to the Party show where Julie, Billy and I will bring the party straight to your feed. You can also email us atparty people questionsmail.com because sometimes we do give the power to the party people. So email us.

Julie Foudy (82:14)

So we want to hear from the party people.

Abby Wambach (82:16)

Right. And shout out to Kate Diaz. We still love our theme music. Billy, Julie, do you want to do an oosa? You want to bring it in?

Julie Foudy (82:24)

Kinger, count us in.

Abby Wambach (82:26)

Whoa, I love this.

Billy Jean King (82:28)

1, 2, 3.

Abby Wambach (82:36)

Welcome to the Party is an independent production brought to you by Treat Media. Treat Media makes art for humans who want to stay human. Initial Digital is our production partner and you can also watch our full conversations on the welcome to the Party YouTube channel. And follow us at welcome to the Party show on Instagram and TikTok. Thanks for listening.

Cynthia Marshall (82:58)

Monster Energy.

Julie Foudy (82:59)

Everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra.

Cynthia Marshall (83:02)

That's the OG it kicked off this whole Zero Sugar Energy drink thing. But Ultra is a whole lineup now. You've got Strawberry Dreams, Blue Hawaiian Sunrise, and Vice Guava. And they all bring the Monster Energy punch.

Julie Foudy (83:16)

So if you've been living in the

Cynthia Marshall (83:17)

white can, branch out. Ultra's got a flavor for every vibe, and every single one is Zero Sugar Tap the banner to learn more,

Julie Foudy (83:29)

to realize the future America needs.

Abby Wambach (83:31)

We understand what's needed from us to

Cynthia Marshall (83:33)

face each threat head on.

Julie Foudy (83:35)

We've earned our place in the fight

Cynthia Marshall (83:37)

for our nation's future. We are Marines. We were made for this.