← Work with Erika Ayers Badan
Work with Erika Ayers Badan
Why Work Feels Broken and the First Full Season of Women’s Lacrosse
00:37:28
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- [00:02]
A
Lemonade. Okay. Welcome back to work, Jessica Rose.
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B
How are we doing?
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C
I'm good. How you doing?
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D
Good.
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A
What's going on?
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D
You smelled.
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A
I walked into the office today just into a cloud of good smelling ness. It's like, what is that, Jessica Rose? It's like me, which is great. All right, what do we have today?
- [00:23]
C
So I wanted to talk about the building security here.
- [00:27]
A
Oh, we're talking. I thought we were talking about the dishes.
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C
We can talk about the dishes. I also have. Have pictures of the dishes. We can talk about dishes.
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A
Gotta talk about the dishes.
- [00:34]
C
Okay. Yeah. The dish situation here. I don't know who's doing it. I am.
- [00:39]
A
Explain the situation.
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C
Okay. So, I mean, I feel like this is with every office. I've been an office manager before.
- [00:44]
A
Okay.
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C
If you have a sink and or like, silverware, people will use it and just leave it out.
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A
Either they're leaving dirty dishes.
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C
Is dirty dishes scattered throughout the office as well as, like, just piled in the sink.
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A
Okay.
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C
Even though there's literally two dishwashers.
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A
Okay.
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C
It's not that hard to me to rinse it and put it in the dishwasher. I've put it in the slack channel. And so did Lauren, our previous office manager also put it in the slack channel multiple times.
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A
Okay. So the problem in the Food52 office, as I understand it, is you're telling me that the good people who work at Food52 in the Brooklyn office are eating food on plates and forks and glasses or bringing their own stuff, putting it into the sink, not rinsing it, not putting it in the dishwashers and just leaving it for somebody else to.
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C
And, like, stocking it up.
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A
And your resolution to this problem so far has been to put it in the slack. What do you say? In the slack channel.
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C
I have been nice. Okay. I'm getting to the point where I'm not gonna be nice.
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A
Oh, you're not nice anymore.
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C
I'm gonna start cracking the whip. Cause that's something Lauren did not do. I had to be like, Lauren, like, you can put it in the slack channel that people need to put their dishes away. And she'd be like, give me an.
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A
Example of how you say it. Are you like, er, hey, guys, can you, like, wash your dishes?
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C
She's very like, hi, everybo. Like, if you can put it in your sink or if you can, like, rinse it and put it in one of two dishwashers, that would be phenomenal. And like, a picture of how, you.
- [02:11]
A
Know what I would do. Okay, first of all, we should install a camera.
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C
That's literally what I've been thinking. I'm like, I want a ring camera.
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A
To see who the hell's doing here.
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D
100.
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C
I have my suspicions who it is.
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A
But who do you think it is?
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C
The men.
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A
Oh, you think so?
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C
Because the women here are not. They're conscientious.
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A
What percentage of this office do you think uses flatware or utensils or everybody?
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C
Because they've come and get it. We have new food every day, so people are going to eat it.
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A
But, like, so you think the women in the office are putting their stuff in the dishwasher? And so I'm gonna make you bet right now.
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C
Okay.
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A
It's not the men.
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C
It's not the. I don't. I. I think they're lying to me because I've been in the room with some of them when it's happened. Like, when there's piles of it. And I'll be like, is this you? And they're like, no, it's not me.
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A
And I'm like, okay, so let's just put a ring cam up, one for camera. Like, go buy one today. You have to do it.
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C
Otherwise it's still over the trash can.
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D
Yes.
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C
Well, it also happens a lot when they have the shoots. So, like, when they have guests here and they're doing the big shoots, that's.
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A
Also, like, for BP and stuff, or.
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C
For just in general anytime that they have guests in here, which is, like, pretty much every day.
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A
Well, isn't it somebody's job to clean up after the shoot?
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D
I don't know.
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A
Have you ever flagged that to anybody?
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C
That was. I mean, that was Alison Buford before.
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A
Well, she doesn't work here anymore.
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C
I know. And then if it once it wasn't.
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A
Allison Buford, you, in that case, probably need to be proactive and call a meeting with whoever's doing the shoots and being like, what's the cleanup?
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C
Yeah, I've asked.
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A
That's not a ring cam segment.
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C
I got a proactivity. No, I asked. I did have a conversation, and I got a lot of pushback.
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D
From whom?
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C
I don't want to say. I don't want to call people's names out on the phone.
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A
Well, we're basically. What do you call when you call somebody out on the Internet? You don't say their name.
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C
Vague posting.
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A
No, this used to happen at Varshall all the time. Subtweeting. We're subtweeting. This is a subtweeting conversation. That's fine. I am.
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C
But I don't even know if they listen to the podcast, so I'm not.
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A
I bet they don't. So I would force a meeting on that. Yeah, you have to have a meeting on that, or I'm going to have a meeting on that. And then the second is, go get a ring cam today.
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C
Okay. I'm spying on the office.
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A
Just put an app on it.
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C
I'll look into it. I'll look into it.
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A
Then let's come back next week and just, like, let's just. Candy camera. Don't tell anyone you're getting the ring cam, though, okay?
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D
Promise?
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C
I promise.
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A
We used to do this at barstool. We obviously had candy.
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C
It's everywhere.
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A
So, like, everything. One night, one of the guys YP had. I think it was like, the St. Louis Blues. The St. Louis Blues or somebody was in town, some hockey team was in town, and he had, like, a rager.
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C
All night long, really?
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A
And denied it, and then, like, left it messy and denied it. And Dave and I were like, but we have cameras everywhere. Like, we see you, so we got to get a camera.
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C
Okay.
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A
We got to get a camera. We don't have to keep it after they don't do it, but let's.
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C
I'm on it.
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A
Okay, great. All right. Thanks, Jessica Rose. Appreciate you.
- [05:07]
C
Appreciate you.
- [05:07]
A
Well, this is exciting. All right, so welcome back to work. We have a special episode which is featuring all of the women or some great women from the women's lacrosse league. Big announcement this week in women's lacrosse. They've announced that they are partnering with Maybelline, which is awesome. Did have to have, like, a minor conversation with their CRO about how much money that was worth, because I think it's worth a bajillion dollars. But the most exciting thing about the WLL right now is that they've announced that they will have a full season in 2026. So this is a huge moment for women's sports. It's a huge moment for lacrosse. It's a huge moment for the pll, which I'm biased. I' and I'm just. I'm really excited about it. It's been so fun to see from last summer when these women were in New York City and talking about potentially having a league and the idea of being. Having a future where they could play lacrosse full time and they could compete fully and fulsomely to now seeing, you know, such a short time later, that this is manifesting. It's manifesting with a great brand in Maybelline. It's Right alongside the main men's league as part of the pll. So I'm really excited about championship for the PLL was this past weekend. They also had an event on Saturday which was exceptional called Street Lacrosse, which they do with Kevin Durant in Harlem. And it's just so cool. Like, in the spirit of work, it is so cool to see an organization trying and striving and experimenting and executing and believing and pursuing all at the same time. So this episode is a little bit special in that we'll have Rachel Decco joining us. She runs all of the on field operations for the PLL with special interest in the wll. We have four fabulous players on from the WLL itself, and they will talk about what's to come and what's happening, and we'll get a little bit of work talk in there in the meantime. All right, we're doing quotes and current events. And this was a quote I found on Instagram from a woman named Sally Pedlo. And what the quote was was that the culture of an organization is shaped by the worst behavior a leader is willing to tolerate. And what she says is, this quote has changed the way I've led and the way I practice hr. She's an HR person. Why? Because it reminds me that workplace culture is built not only in the moments when leaders choose to act, but also in the moments we choose to stay silent. When poor behavior goes unchecked, it sends the message, this is acceptable here. When problematic attitudes are ignored, they I believe all of this, and I agree with it. It actually makes me feel a little bit like, ugh. When you realize stuff that you put up with at work that you don't really believe in, or there's things that you tolerate or that you're too tired to address, or that there aren't enough hours in the day or enough bandwidth to solve. But I do think it's a really, really good reminder that it's the lowest common denominator, which is really what defines you. And if you can keep raising that denominator, if you can keep getting to change behavior, that doesn't work. If you can take out people who have bad attitudes or who are toxic or who aren't committed, if you can change things that you don't like in the organization, the organization ultimately raises the bar and becomes better and becomes stronger and ultimately becomes more emblematic of what you aspire to, not what you are. And I think that's a big challenge at work, which is you are defined by the lowest common denominator. And you are judged by the lowest level of what you put up with. And I think it's just a good reminder to think about at work. All right, so the next topic is an article in the Atlantic called the Job Market is Hell. We actually have been talking about this at work like a girl for quite some time. The subhead, it's an article by a woman named Annie Lowery, and it says young people are using ChatGPT to write their applications, HR is using AI to read them, and no one is getting hired. I highly, highly encourage a read of this article. It's actually going somewhat viral on social. I saw somebody repost it today, and they were saying that HR is the problem. But the net net of it is companies are lying about the job descriptions or the job descriptions are being determined by AI, the app. The applicants are lying about their qualifications or they're using AI to define their qualifications. The result is the computer is just yelling at each other from one side of the marketplace to the other, one side of the equation to the other. And as a result, nothing is. Is happening. It's just like a huge gridlock. And I think this is a very real issue. I don't think this is the reason necessarily that people aren't getting hired per se. I think for the first time this month there was a jobs report that came out or an article on jobs in the last week where it's essentially saying there's more people in the US Than jobs available. Hiring has without a doubt slowed down. I think companies are becoming. Companies are becoming more reticent to hire, and they're also becoming more skeptical of when a task has to be done, not automatically assuming that a human needs to do it. But I do think this is bad for employees and I think it's bad for employers. And what I'm really seeing is that there's this experience happening where I'm reading at least articles about how Google and Facebook and others are realizing that where you went to school or what your degree is in or what your GPA is is not actually an indicator of when and how someone will be great at their job. And then the second big trend is that the.
- [11:07]
D
The.
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A
The AI of it all is just getting one monolithic job description and one monolithic set of job applications. And nothing is compelling in it because everything is normalized and neutralized to be all the same. And, you know, my advice is if you are out looking for a job to. Yes, you gotta play the game, I guess, in terms of fitting into whatever the job description has or whatever keyw the algorithm wants to see. But it's the going the extra mile. It's taking the human touch. It's being extra creative that's going to land you the job, not necessarily your ability to toy with the prompt. All right, so our last current events topic is around employee satisfaction. So Gallup just released a poll that said fewer than one in five U.S. employees, so that's 19%, are extremely satisfied with their employer as a place to work. At the same time, more than half, 51%, are watching for or actively seeking a new job. I completely believe in this. I actually think we're in a place right now where nobody is satisfied at work. Like, maybe you have a small percentage of people who want to run through a wall and charge it and do it and love it. You see it in the lacrosse women, right? Like, they're so excited that they have a league. They love their jobs. They're passionate. They want to go on the road. They want to be spokespeople. They want to advocate and champion their future. I think you're seeing this not happen at most every workplace. We had an nps. We did an NPS study on which is net promoter score. So really understanding satisfaction of employees at Food52. And it was dismal, which isn't super surprising. We did it right after a layoff when morale is. Is understandably and obviously very low. But I also think there's something, and don't get me wrong, there's a shitload of stuff we have to fix here, like beyond. But. But I also think that there's something happening where people are just dissatisfied in general, always, forever. I think it's part of being less resilient. I think it's part of being less creative. I think it's part of being less solution oriented. I think it's a big part of being disillusioned with how much money you're going to make or what working at a company is going to get you. I think it's a large part of expecting that your company is going to be exactly what you want it to be. And when it falls anything short of that, you're just disappointed. I think there's a bigger. There's a bigger theme happening here, which is one we talked about this last week. Quiet quitting turned into quiet crashing or whatever it means where you still hate your job, you still have the same feelings, but you're feeling less emboldened and you're stuck there. And then the second piece is there's not a lot of Job alternatives. And there's a lot of headlines out in the world that are like, hey, the job market's slower than ever. It's harder than ever. It's more cumbersome than ever, and fewer and fewer people are getting hired. And I think those two things put on the backdrop of changing attitudes at work and changing workplaces, is making employment super, super, super tough. Welcome back to work. We have a special episode. The PLL Premier Lacrosse League championships were this weekend, and we're so lucky that we have the women here today. So we've got a special episode of with the women's lacrosse players. But I have Rachel. So, Rachel, I'm gonna have you introduce yourself. And our special episode.
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D
My name is Rachel dececco. I'm the vice.
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A
That's a good name.
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D
It's a solid name. Yeah. Vice president of lacrosse for the PLL and now helped launch the WLL within the last year.
- [14:48]
A
Okay, so how did they find you? They acquired you, right? You're acquired.
- [14:52]
D
I'm acquired. So in 2018, we launched a WPL, which was the second attempt at a women's professional lacrosse league. We lasted for two seasons. It folded in 2020. And we had partnered with Mike and Paul at the PLL during that time. And they brought me over to run their youth business for a year and a half. And then I took over the lacrosse organization. So I've been running that since mid June.
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A
The whole organization or just the women?
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D
The whole organization.
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A
Okay, so what's your day to day job like?
- [15:20]
D
So the way I describe it is anything that hits the field falls under me. So players, coaches, officials, rules, discipline, medical, so the actual gameplay falls within my team.
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A
That's so cool.
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C
It's.
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D
It's very cool. It is the most fun.
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A
Did you style across?
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D
I did.
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A
Where did you go?
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D
I played at Princeton and then I played for Team usa.
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A
That's so fun. What was your position?
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D
It was a defender.
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A
Okay.
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C
Yes.
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A
Were you good?
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D
I was pretty good.
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A
Yeah. She really good.
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D
Really good.
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E
Won every award you can win.
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A
Oh, that's so amazing. And your knees hurt now?
- [15:52]
D
I never had knee problems. I have really strong legs and my knees never bothered me at all.
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A
And where are you from? Outside of Philadelphia. Okay. And are you an Eagles fan?
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D
Go Birds.
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A
Whatever. Everybody hates you.
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D
I mean, are you gonna be good because we're good or just because you. It's like.
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A
No. Cause you're assholes. Philly people are assholes.
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D
I mean, there is a cohort of Philly people that are assholes.
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A
Most people so Are Boston people true?
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D
There's a little bit of a Venn diagram with Philly and Boston Asphalt.
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A
100%.
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D
It's kind of the same person.
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A
It's the same bridge. You guys are just a little worse, right? Okay.
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D
I grew up a rabid Philly sports fan. Eagles are my team. My family's had season tickets since.
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A
Okay, so you're like Eagles all the time.
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D
I'm all in on the Eagles.
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A
Okay, so you have a stressful job. So everything that touches gameplay. So how do you. How do you. How does your. What's your organization look like? What's a day look like in season versus out of season for you?
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D
They're definitely different. So in season, my team, we have head of competition Seth Tierney, who basically helps manage the coaches, refs, rules, operations, manager, who does all the player logistics, all the detail work, and then we have a head of personnel who's doing roster management contracts, keeping us organized there. In season, you know, we're week to week, so we have the game weekends. We hit the ground running Monday. We've got to do our discipline meeting. We have to do our medical meeting.
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A
Oh, what's a discipline meeting?
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D
Oh, so we pull. So we watched every game. Obviously, we're watching anything that looks like it should be disciplined. Any safety issues, any behavior that's outside of our handbook, we pull the clip, we review it, and then we issue fines for anything that falls off.
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A
How much is a fine?
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D
So we try. It's kind of percentage based. Like, we don't have set rules for fines. There's a minimum and a maximum, but based on the offense, you could be fined a pretty significant amount, we find.
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A
So if I, like Tomahawk somebody in.
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D
The head, what's my fine if you intentionally slash somebody?
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A
I hate this player. Oh, yeah, Slasher.
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D
I mean, you could. I think the biggest fine we've given was an entire game check.
- [17:41]
A
Oh, an entire game check.
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D
We take your whole game check. If it's something that's really either egregious, aggressive, unsafe with intent.
- [17:47]
A
Okay.
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F
That's the.
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D
And then you could be suspended as well.
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F
Okay.
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A
Have you ever suspended anything?
- [17:51]
D
We have.
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A
We've suspended those two guys who fought in a hotel. Remember that? A couple years ago?
- [17:56]
D
I loved that they didn't get suspended.
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A
Everyone's all bad. I thought it was great.
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D
Yes. We've only. We've suspended for in game play twice and out of game, out of field behavior a couple times as well.
- [18:13]
A
Okay. And are the women worse than the men or like, how does that work?
- [18:15]
D
So Interesting you say that. We have not had our first official full season for the women. So we are going to.
- [18:21]
A
It's funny I should mention that.
- [18:22]
D
Funny you should mention that. It'll be 2026, so we will need to build a discipline committee and update, make a full handbook on the women's side. And I'm actually really curious to see how the behavior is different between the men and the women because historically the women tend to sort of fall within the lines more. You're not gonna see as risky behavior, but there's some really good aggressive, physical play. So I do imagine there'll be a time when we need to find women for some of their conduct on the field.
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A
Okay. So next year at this time, I think you should come back. And my bet is going to be that there are more in game disciplinary actions for women than there are for the men.
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D
Why do you say that?
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A
Because I think that women's lacrosse. Because they're not gonna wear helmets, right?
- [19:01]
D
We are not.
- [19:02]
A
Yes, they're not gonna wear helmets. I just think you want the ball and you just move that stick a little too close. Like it's just. And I think you have a really great aggressive batch of women who want to win. And it's the first season and it's not a bad thing.
- [19:15]
D
I kind of hope we do, to be honest.
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A
I think that makes for a great Ed. That's my hope.
- [19:19]
C
Yes.
- [19:20]
D
Okay, so we will have that. That'll be the first run at a discipline committee on the women's side next year.
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A
So for lacrosse you have a discipline committee. You have a. What else do you have?
- [19:29]
D
A rule committee, Competition and rules committee.
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A
Okay.
- [19:31]
D
We have a health and safety committee that does some rule management. But like our medical department, we have ons as our medical partner. So they do all of our safety, player injury tracking. So we meet as a committee to say, how are we trending injury wise?
- [19:43]
A
Okay, got it.
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D
Are there any rules we can do to make sure people are more safe? And then we're. How are we taking care of the mental, physical, well being of our players?
- [19:50]
A
So during the season, are you on the road every week?
- [19:53]
D
Yes.
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A
And how do you maintain structure in your work when you travel so much?
- [19:58]
D
It's difficult. I am a list maker, listener. And even if I've done it, if it wasn't on my list, I write it down and cross it off just to feel satisfied. Just to feel satisfied. I need that box. Check the highlight off. I keep a ton of lists and we just have a really good routine. We have Our meetings Monday. I sort of know Monday what's happening. Rosters are due from the coaches, and then we have to see who's out with an injury. So that goes out. We have sort of a cadence every week. Every day, there's a sort of a different item that has to be done. And then we travel out, generally Thursdays.
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A
Okay.
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D
So once Thursday comes, we travel out. They have practices. We go to the practices, see the guys. And then games Friday, Saturday, mostly.
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A
Okay.
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D
And then out Saturday night, if we can. If not, out first thing Sunday morning.
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A
Okay. And then what's your day off? Sunday afternoon.
- [20:38]
D
Sunday afternoon, yep.
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A
And what do you do in your time off?
- [20:41]
D
Spend some time with my kids. That's my family. I have four. Reintroduce yourself.
- [20:44]
C
My mom's back.
- [20:45]
D
Just disrupting the flow they've gotten into while. So I have four kids. So Sundays are generally family day, if we can do it. If they're not running all around.
- [20:54]
A
And do they play lacrosse?
- [20:56]
D
Two of the four play lacrosse. My oldest is a runner. My son is 14, and he absolutely loves lacrosse. He comes on the road with me as much as he can. It's just the best experience for him. I have twin girls. One is a competitive gymnast, and the other one's a lacrosse player.
- [21:08]
A
Okay, that's so fun.
- [21:09]
D
So fun.
- [21:10]
A
And what are you most excited about for the next season?
- [21:14]
D
I am. I'm just so excited that the women have a place to compete. I think we've been missing that for years in our game, and there's nowhere to put that when you're done playing as an athlete, there's really no equitable way to get that again, that sense of compete and that team. And now that we're able to extend careers for these college women and this platform. And you'll meet the women, they're incredible. They're so marketable and so athletic and so strong, and I think people have just not known they were there. So getting to watch the women on the stage and just compete hard, it's gonna be really incredible.
- [21:46]
A
Yeah, I'm excited about. It's so funny. I was having this conversation. I was in Chicago this week with someone who's on our board and who's also on the board of the pll. And we were describing, like, women's sports that are great to watch. And my opinion is tennis, I believe tennis of the major, like diving and all that, you know, whatever. Tennis, women's lacrosse, and soccer, I think are the three best, where the level of play and the game is exceptional, regardless of the gender. Like you don't feel any performance gap.
- [22:20]
D
Wholeheartedly agree with all three of those. Yeah. It's just unbelievable to watch their skill on display.
- [22:25]
A
So fun.
- [22:26]
D
So fun.
- [22:26]
A
All right, so let's get the ladies in here. Thank you for doing this. All right, we have the ladies from the women's lacrosse league here. I'm gonna have you all introduce yourselves. So, Sydney, we'll start with you.
- [22:40]
G
Yeah, sure. My name's Sydney Black. I play for.
- [22:42]
E
That's a great name.
- [22:43]
A
It's a star name. Thank you very much. Don't you think? It's just a star?
- [22:46]
E
I like it.
- [22:47]
A
You're gonna keep it?
- [22:48]
G
Yeah, I keep it for a while, so.
- [22:50]
A
Okay. And who's your team and what position are you?
- [22:52]
G
Marilyn Charm. And I play attack with Lizzie.
- [22:54]
A
And you went to school in Maryland? I did. And you're fresh off. You're like fresh on the bus.
- [22:58]
G
20, 24. So relatively fresh.
- [23:01]
A
How old are you, Sydney?
- [23:02]
G
I'm 23.
- [23:03]
D
Okay. Yeah.
- [23:04]
A
And keep going.
- [23:06]
B
I'm Allie Mastroianni. Ally Mastriani. I play for the California Palms.
- [23:12]
A
Okay.
- [23:12]
B
Midfielder. And I went to unc.
- [23:15]
A
Okay.
- [23:15]
E
I'm Lizzy Colson. I play with Sid on the Charm. And I'm a defender.
- [23:20]
F
Izzy Skane. I play for New York Charging. And I went to Northwestern for school. I'm an attacker.
- [23:24]
A
Does the charging end of the name bother you?
- [23:28]
E
No bothers me.
- [23:29]
F
I love it.
- [23:33]
D
Yes, it is a little.
- [23:35]
A
Sorry, I like.
- [23:35]
F
Okay. Why are we teetering off of the ing?
- [23:37]
A
But, yeah, it's like, I stayed in a hotel this week in Chicago. I was in Chicago till yesterday and the loyalty program was called Brilliant. And I'm just like, I don't. I wasn't an English major, but, you know, the word just sounds wrong for what it is. Like, I can't wait to join Brilliant.
- [23:53]
C
Yeah.
- [23:54]
D
Yes.
- [23:54]
E
Charging.
- [23:55]
A
I can't wait to be on the charging.
- [23:57]
F
We've had the same thought.
- [23:58]
A
Well, it's okay. Maybe next year. Okay, so the big news is that next year you all are going to have a full season, so. Which is amazing. It's an amazing, amazing, amazing moment. You should feel so proud because you earned it and you guys helped create it. What's this mean for the day jobs? Are you guys stressed about that? Like, this is a big change for your work? It is.
- [24:17]
C
A.
- [24:18]
F
Some of us.
- [24:19]
D
A lot of us do.
- [24:19]
F
I do lacrosse as my full time job, thankfully, so that helps. And a good bit of us are in the lacrosse world as our are basically careers, so coaching and running Businesses, camps, clinics, events are basically our full time jobs. And then obviously sponsorships and things like the wll. So for me it'll be hopefully a pretty smooth transition. I know Sydney works in a full time job.
- [24:41]
A
Do you have a real job?
- [24:44]
G
I have two real jobs.
- [24:45]
A
Okay, what are your two? Okay.
- [24:46]
D
Yes.
- [24:47]
G
And then consulting.
- [24:48]
A
Okay. What kind of consulting?
- [24:49]
G
Government consulting.
- [24:51]
A
Oh, Jesus. Sorry, sir, would it be cool if you just want to hold it? I would totally. People holding it. And then you guys can just like pass the mic to each other. You don't have to hold it for them. Whatever feels comfortable. I think we should be able. I'm resting it. All right. So Sydney, you work in consulting, you consult with the government. What do you tell the government to do?
- [25:10]
E
Everything. Sydney is our president.
- [25:13]
C
Basically.
- [25:13]
G
Running everything behind the scenes? No, I'm an analyst. So I just started. I hit my one year mark about a week ago.
- [25:19]
D
Okay.
- [25:20]
G
Just learning really.
- [25:21]
A
And are you going to quit? Are you going to stay doing it for now?
- [25:24]
G
Stay doing it. The goal is to be able to do lacrosse full time, like these ladies. So we'll see.
- [25:29]
A
I bet if you have a job where you can work remote, you can.
- [25:31]
G
That's what I'm doing.
- [25:32]
A
You're gonna do that?
- [25:33]
G
Pretty much.
- [25:34]
A
Okay, great. So then are you excited? Are you stressed? Like, how do you feel about this whole thing?
- [25:40]
E
I feel like I just am like itching already for like 2026. Like, I don't know, you don't want to like rush time away. But honestly, like, once you hear that announcement, you're like, let's get there. Like, let's go. Like, we're fired up.
- [25:50]
A
And so the season is officially. The PLL championship was last weekend. The season's over. You're gonna take a little bit of break. And then when do you start gearing up? Like, how long is the off season? And then when will you gear up? Because the inaugural season is gonna be a big deal. There's gonna be a lot of pressure on you.
- [26:05]
E
Love a champ series.
- [26:08]
B
So we'll play in champ series, which is in February usually.
- [26:11]
A
And where's in dc? Is it in dc?
- [26:13]
D
Yeah.
- [26:13]
B
Yeah. So between now and then, we'll all just kind of be training for that on our own. But I think having that to look forward to and a full season is really exciting because now we have something to train for.
- [26:23]
A
Yep.
- [26:24]
B
We've been in this like limbo of like training but not really knowing. Exactly.
- [26:28]
A
Yeah, you're kind of in and out. You're in and out.
- [26:30]
B
So now like knowing we have a full summer ahead and champ series. It's really exciting to have that motivation.
- [26:35]
A
Yeah. And then what are your routines like?
- [26:39]
E
Oh, my God. I feel like everyone's routine is so different. Like, depending on if you have an office job or a remote job. If you're full time lacrosse, whatever.
- [26:47]
A
Like, are you full time lacrosse?
- [26:48]
E
I'm full time lacrosse, like, in different ways. I do the PLL through my own company, but I do a lot of mental performance coaching, essentially sports psychology. But I don't know my routine. I can just start and then y'.
- [26:59]
C
All.
- [26:59]
E
It probably looks pretty similar to all of us on the couch, but, like, mostly I just will get up, go to the gym, get some kind of workout in, obviously eat a good lunch. That's like one of my favorite parts is, like the lunch and the prep and the meal preps after and then getting ready.
- [27:14]
A
What are you eating for lunch?
- [27:15]
E
Okay, I like, I love. Wait, why is lunch my favorite part of the day? Okay, so getting into the real routine, I'm big into, like making wraps right now, but I get hyper fixated on foods and then they go in phases. But right now I'm big on like a hummus wrap with like a chicken spinach. I'm loving cabbage for the crunch lately. And like a pickle or banana pepper.
- [27:37]
A
Okay.
- [27:37]
E
Something like that. But anyway, so getting through lunch, we can talk about that all day. I just. I try to like, like, switch up where I'm working, whether it's at a coffee shop or home or at like a we work or something. Just like, keep things going and then I don't know where's home for you?
- [27:50]
A
Are you in la?
- [27:51]
E
I'm in San Diego.
- [27:52]
A
Okay, you're in San Diego? Yeah. Have you ever toured the Midway?
- [27:54]
E
No.
- [27:55]
A
You have to do it.
- [27:56]
E
Wait, really?
- [27:56]
A
It's the single best thing.
- [27:57]
E
The big ship downtown.
- [27:58]
A
Amazing.
- [27:58]
E
Wait, that's amazing. I just take the Duffy Boats next door, but usually I'm like, having a little bit too much fun to, like, appreciate.
- [28:04]
A
Oh, it's so great. You have to do it.
- [28:05]
E
Okay.
- [28:06]
A
Next time I'm downtown inspiring, like, okay, wait, that's great.
- [28:09]
E
So I don't know. My routine, I feel like, is probably similar to yours. It's definitely a workout. You know, six out of seven days. Seven days?
- [28:14]
G
Yeah.
- [28:15]
A
Yeah.
- [28:16]
E
And then eating well and clean and with things that will fuel our body and then making sure that we're, like, prioritizing work and our personal and social lives as well.
- [28:25]
A
Does anyone do anything different? Is anyone like, fuck it, I eat cheeseburgers and drink all the time.
- [28:33]
F
I am a.
- [28:33]
A
Are you that person?
- [28:35]
F
No, I'm not a. I'll eat healthy. I'd say, like 95% of the time, I do like to drink. I feel like we're at the age of, like, I live in Chicago and I love Chicago and I think there's so many good food places, so many good bars and places to like, go have fun with your friends and socialize and.
- [28:50]
A
How old are you?
- [28:50]
F
I'm 25. Just turned 25.
- [28:52]
A
You're 25 and do you still drink or are you part of this? Like, everybody says you guys don't drink.
- [28:57]
F
No, honestly, I'm a really big advocate for, like, balancing your life. I think we should be able to drink, have a good time, go out with our friends. And then also we obviously train so hard, work very hard, care about lacrosse as much as we do. But I think there's such a balance of, like, being able to do the things that you want to do while performing at a very high level. That's something I've always thought, I thought in college very similarly. And I think it is very important for like, your mental health and well being to be able to I think, at least personally balance the both of them. I know a lot of some people are very regimented about when they're in season, which I'm a little different when I'm in like. Like when we're at champ series or when we're in a lacrosse season, I'm more strict. But in the off season, I think.
- [29:39]
A
It'S something that you guys all feel the same way.
- [29:42]
G
Pretty much. I feel like coming out of college too, like, kind of recently, everyone, all your friends are traveling, living in new places, so you enjoy your weekends too. Especially this time in the limbo we were in to do so.
- [29:52]
E
So, yeah, there was kind of no.
- [29:54]
A
Point to sacrifice everything, which I would hope you guys wouldn't change.
- [29:57]
D
Change?
- [29:58]
E
No. I think also, like, for so long we haven't had teams, so at any given point, all four of us have played together. So there's still that, like, unanimous, like, group dynamic. Kind of like, we're all still very close and very good friends. So when we do all get together in settings like this, it's like, why would we not hang out? But I think maybe once we get into, which is so exciting, once we get into teams and a little bit more of that division, like, not to say like.
- [30:25]
A
Smaller groups will get tighter.
- [30:26]
D
And then you'll have to go more.
- [30:27]
E
Rivalry, a little bit more naturally organic. Which we want to see, but, yeah.
- [30:31]
F
That'S great for, like, team bonding, too.
- [30:33]
A
Yeah.
- [30:33]
B
I think we all, like, miss being on a team. Yeah.
- [30:35]
A
Yeah, I could. I could see that.
- [30:37]
E
Yeah, for sure.
- [30:38]
A
So next season, the first season, you're going to play alongside the men. My thinking is I actually think that you will be bigger stars. How do you guys feel?
- [30:50]
E
Do you think.
- [30:53]
A
That'S fine? I'm done with that. How do you think about that? What do they say to you? Do they feel like you're, you know, kind of boxing in on their space? Like, what are the. What do the guy players say? I feel support.
- [31:06]
B
They support us. I think they just know, like, everyone holds themselves to, like, a high standard, and they see how hard we work, and I think they're just genuinely happy and excited for us to have that platform, and they're really supportive. When we had our All Star game and they had theirs, like, they were all on the sideline.
- [31:22]
A
Is there a lot of dating in between the two?
- [31:24]
E
College, for sure. I'm trying to think, like, pro. I don't think as many.
- [31:28]
D
There's a couple.
- [31:29]
G
Yeah.
- [31:29]
E
Maybe a couple overlaps, but not as many.
- [31:31]
C
Like Alex.
- [31:32]
E
And we know our power couple.
- [31:36]
A
Power couple. Our king and queen. Who's the power couple?
- [31:39]
E
The Holmans. Charm girl, actually.
- [31:41]
D
Yeah.
- [31:42]
A
Okay.
- [31:42]
E
Alex and Marcus Holman, they're actually having a baby soon.
- [31:45]
A
Oh, they're married? Yeah, they're married.
- [31:46]
E
They're married. They're married.
- [31:47]
A
Sorry, I shouldn't assume that, but, yeah, they're married. Okay. So that's kind of fun. Yeah.
- [31:51]
E
Yeah. I also feel like the guys, like, it wasn't too long ago that they were in our shoes, like, fighting and clawing and hunting, and so they, like, see the struggle, and they see us, like, pushing for something, and they're like.
- [32:01]
A
You'Re moving much faster than they did, though, which is what's happening.
- [32:04]
E
Is anyone surprised that the girls.
- [32:06]
A
That's when I showed up. That took a long time. That took a long time.
- [32:09]
E
It did. And credit to everyone who's helping build it, but I think they just still understand.
- [32:13]
A
Yeah. It's not that long ago. That's awesome. All right, so tell people how they follow you. Like, go to. How do. How do people follow you? Follow your team.
- [32:22]
F
Yes, follow the teams. We each have our.
- [32:24]
A
The charging.
- [32:25]
F
Yeah. New York Charging. Instagram. Wll instagram. Pll. Instagram. And then I'm ir skein18 on Instagram. Is Skain. You can find me anywhere. I know, I know. I've been told many times to Change it to my name. I know.
- [32:39]
A
Why don't you get on that?
- [32:42]
F
It was my, like, high school grad year.
- [32:45]
D
It's.
- [32:45]
A
So you're about to be a professional.
- [32:48]
E
I know.
- [32:48]
F
I've been told a lot of times. And then Izzy Skein 27 on TikTok as well, but.
- [32:53]
D
Yeah.
- [32:53]
A
Is that your number?
- [32:54]
D
Yes.
- [32:55]
F
Always has been. Hopefully always will be.
- [32:58]
E
Oh, my God. I'm Lizzie Colson. Of course you can follow the charm. The wll in general will lead you to a lot of these accounts, but just the W. And then I'm. I think I'm Lizzie Underscore colson. And then TikTok is Liz Colson 025. So pretty straightforward.
- [33:13]
A
Your TikTok's too good. She's really good at the TikTok. I said I've never gone to TikTok Committee for Social. Dude.
- [33:19]
E
I always said I would never get into TikTok again.
- [33:22]
A
Okay, you're in the doom scroll some.
- [33:25]
E
Days, but I'm about to get a brick. Have you heard of the bricks?
- [33:28]
A
No.
- [33:28]
D
What's a brick?
- [33:29]
E
He's heard of. Basically locks you out of social media until you, like, brick your phone again. So you have to walk up to the brick, tap it it. So you, like, leave the brick. And other.
- [33:38]
A
Because you want to do.
- [33:39]
E
When you work from home, you're just like, oh, la la la. So you just forget. But that's my next and best.
- [33:45]
A
Okay.
- [33:45]
E
Yeah, yeah.
- [33:46]
A
Okay.
- [33:47]
B
So I'm on the California Palm. So wll Palms and then my Instagram and Tick Tock is Ali Mastriani. Amazing.
- [34:00]
A
They've, like, Sydney Black. Please tell me black 5, 4, 7, 3, hashtag.
- [34:05]
G
Someone owns Sydney Black. Like the normal. Just my name. So it's Sydney Black. Underscore.
- [34:10]
A
Okay.
- [34:10]
C
Yeah.
- [34:10]
G
On TikTok and Instagram.
- [34:11]
A
Yeah. Okay, well, we can't wait to root for you. Next time you come back, you'll have a hand. Great. Congratulations.
- [34:18]
B
Thank you so much.
- [34:25]
A
All right, next up, we're doing strategery. Our strategery phrase is compliments of our interim cfo, which is a gentleman named Peter. And his phrase that he gave me, which I've now stolen, is going into the gully. So gully is just such a funny word. It feels funny coming off your tongue. But the net. Net of it is, is that going into a gully is the same as saying you're going into a rabbit hole. And it's essentially the idea that you've lost track or you've lost the plot, but you're now deep into discussing or trying to solve or iterating or debating a side problem that's semi related, but it doesn't actually map bigger. It doesn't actually attack or solve for the bigger thing. So I like this analogy because I always. It's kind of like I. The thing I think about, which I'm sure it's not called a gully, is like in the bowling lanes when like the ball goes into the little alley on the side. But the visual of going into the gully is a great one where you're on the same core path, you're just a little bit lost and you're kind of meandering into a different place. It isn't necessarily bad, but I do think, as always, when you get off track, it's good to call out.
- [35:36]
C
Out.
- [35:42]
A
All right, so that was today's episode. Huge, huge congratulations to the pll. Huge excitement and enthusiasm for the wll. I had an interesting week of work overall. I was in Chicago for work. I had a bunch of meetings with a potential partner. We have a lot of conflicts here that we're trying to resolve. We're making a transition in just about every area of the business. So I have just a happening that I'm very excited about and I feel a lot of energy around. I also feel like we're deep in an execution mode. We this is a company that works in the retail space. So, you know, something like 37% of our revenue will occur over the next three and a half months. That's a lot of pressure on execution. So we have a lot going on. And my parting thought is really just a heads up for anybody who's actually still listening to this is that we are going to also be in transition around work. We're starting to think about what is this podcast, where does it live, how does it work? Who is it for? How could it be bigger? How can it be more meaningful? How can it be more consistent? How can it be more practical? How can it be more productive for the people who listen to it? And also how can we find more audience who is interested and passionate about work and wants to strive and succeed at work and wants a forum and a place to be able to connect with other like minded people around work? So just a heads up that we all also are under construction and we're also in a deep mode of execution and stay tuned. So that's it for today's episode. Thank you for listening and we'll be back here next week.