Softball, Glory, and God’s Story with Leah Amico

Welcome to True Grit and Grace, a podcast designed to empower you to claim your resilience and thrive through life's challenges. I am Amberly Lago, a mindset coach, fitness expert, and best selling authority. Each week, I'll dive deep with the world's brightest thought leaders and elite performers to share tangible tools and practical advice to inspire you to keep your eyes on the prize and forge ahead. So get ready to conquer your fears, heal any trauma, lead with your heart, and elevate your life with grit and grace. Hi, and welcome to another episode of True Grit and Grace. I'm Amberly and I'm so excited to bring you our guest today. She is amazing. She's a three time Olympic gold medalist. She's been on the COVID of Sports Illustrated on the back of a cereal box, featured in so many books. And she has her own book. It's called Softball, Glory and God's Story. She speaks all over the world on goal setting, faith, leadership, mindset, and much more. She is a wife and a mama and a goal getter. Welcome Leah Amico to the show. Thank you for being here.

Thank you so much for having me. I'm very honored and excited to be joining you.

Oh, you're amazing. We did an event together where we originally met. We did the women's secret knock for women, and you were sitting behind me and I turned around. We hadn't gone on stage yet, and I turned around and I just see this beautiful smile that like, lights up a room. And we started talking and I felt instantly connected to you. And then I heard you speak and I was like, oh, my God, she's a gold medalist. And you brought your medals on stage. And out of everybody that was speaking that day, you said some things that really shifted me and helped me. So I want to get into that. But first, my daughter is so excited that I'm interviewing you. She wishes she could have skipped school and been here to see her face. Tell us a little bit about you, how you grew up and when you started playing ball because you have the three medals for softball.

Yes. Yes. So I grew up here in Southern California, in Chino, California. And when I was about 7 years old, I was the oldest of three. And my dad, he always loved baseball. So he signed me up for a local softball league. And I went out there and I just kind of took to the sport. He tells me of a time, you know, I asked him a little bit about those young days and he tells me of a time, how he had been working a lot and came to One of the games. And people were like, man, I can tell you've really been working with your daughter. And he's like, no, I really haven't. And so he just said, I kind of was a natural with it. And then they also signed me up for soccer. I got involved in soccer and absolutely, at a young age, fell in love with both of those sports, which went on through high school. Eventually, obviously, softball, beyond that, but ended up being kind of the two sports that would just be my love and my passion. I'd have a lot of success through high school, even with soccer, but softball would eventually open more doors. So at a young age, I began that.

Wow. I played T ball. I was so bad. I mean, I was terrible with sports. Like, I felt like I couldn't see the ball coming towards me, and I was scared of the ball. And so my sport was track. And I was just talking to my daughter this morning about you and how you went to the Olympics. And there was a time when I was in school that my track coach said, hey, if you train hard enough, we could train you for the Olympics. But I chose dance instead. But I know it's a lot of work being a successful athlete. And there are so many people that dream of becoming an Olympian. And what do you think that was really differentiates you from someone that is not Olympian? Like, how did you get there? Was it like just perseverance, grit? What was it that really led you to get these medals?

Yeah, you know, you look at athletics and you look at people who make it to the top. And for me, through my experiences, and I do a little bit of commentating with ESPN for college softball, and every year I do the Women's College World Series for radio with Westwood One. And I watch them and I'm thinking, you know, my four college years, like, I was on the stage, our team made it to the finals, and we won it three out of four years and got a second place finish. And so, you know, I'm amazed that year after year we were able to reach that level. There's so many factors, though. You know, obviously, the talent. You know, you have to have that. But more than that, you have to have the work ethic. You have plenty of people who have talent who don't have that time commitment they want put in. I believe the passion for that. I think you have to be coachable. Anything we do to be successful, we have to be coachable. And we have to be able to realize that we can always grow, like, never be settled. And, you know, because I Had success, but then I could have sat on that success. And so it was like I always had something in me. You know, I look back and I think I had something in me that allowed me to be thankful for the success. I hadn't feel like I was good enough, but yet not ever feel like I've reached my full potential. It was like this balance where, you know, and our coach in college who also coached me for the Olympic team, Mike Kandrea, he would talk about how it was so important for us to never get too high and pride or get too low and losing confidence. It was kind of that middle ground of how can you get better but also have that confidence that you do deserve to be there. And then, you know, you add in the people around you that is so crucial. You know, I think at the times, especially as I got later in my career and I was a mom my last Olympics, and I'm out there running sprints by myself on a field, you know, one of them Christmas Eve morning, because I had a workout to get in, and nobody would know that I'm doing this workout. If I speak, skipped it. Nobody would know. But for me, I would know. And so I think of these little, you know, kind of extra things. And then lastly, you add all that. The experience. For me, being able to play at the right college was a huge benefit, playing at Arizona, and we just kind of rose at the right time, which got a lot of eyes on me, allowed me in some major, major competitions that when I succeeded in those moments. So I will say that the final thing, it comes down to kind of mental strength and that battle in our head, because I think everybody has fear, but what do we do in those toughest moments and those biggest challenges? And I feel like that's when you kind of start to see people that rise up, whatever aspect of life, especially. But for sure, sport those that just think, all right, the bigger the battle, the better, the more that can come out of this. And so I felt like that's the difference with Olympians and other athletes is truly, I believe, kind of that mentality.

Yeah. Oh, you said so much. And I think that's the difference between entrepreneurs, whether they're successful or they're not. And even people that I coach, I know, like, I was coaching someone, and I had there. I was telling them, you know, giving them some tips on what to do for their social media and how to do their bio on LinkedIn and their resume. And we were going over everything, and

she says, yeah, well, as soon as

I can get Somebody to do that for me. I'll get on that. I looked at her, I said, no. I said, you have to do this yourself. I said, you have to learn it. I said, once you start to grow and get bigger, yeah, it's good to delegate things, but really it's a willingness. You have to do it. And I think that's what sets people apart who are really successful and not like you. Training on a day when people wouldn't, you know, wouldn't know if you were training or not, but you would know. And it was the same for me. I remember there was one time I was about to do a relay marathon and I was on vacation in Texas before and I was running with four other guys and I was like one of the legs and they got a five minute, you know, head start or something like that if they had a girl on their team. And so I was like determined to run faster than all of them. So I was like training and timing myself every single day. And in Texas I was there and it was like 100 degrees and 100% humidity. And my mom was like, oh, why don't you just skip it, you shouldn't run today. And I was like, no, mom, I have to run and condition myself and do this every day. And guess what? I ran that relay and I ran a five minute mile and it was the fastest I had ever run.

Amazing.

So it paid off. But there is something that I struggle with and it's when, you know, you work hard and it's celebrating those little victories along the way. And then when you get to a place where you said something about recognizing and being not comfortable, but being okay and feeling confident that you're here. I remember I did a talk, I was at a speaking event and I was sharing the stage with Mel Robbins and Jay Shetty and Lewis Howes and Brendan Burchard and all these big people. And then there was me. And honestly, I. I didn't feel confident and I didn't feel like I deserved to be there. You know, it was like they had their whole crew, their media crew, their posse with them and then it was just me. But going through that and getting on the stage anyway and stepping past my fears is what really kind of built my confidence up.

Yes.

When you've arrived, like I know you do a lot of speaking, it's schools and events all over. And what do you do to build your confidence? Are there ever any times where you don't feel confident or you feel like nervous or intimidated to go out there and speak or have you worked so hard that you, like, don't get nervous about it or anything anymore?

No, I definitely have those moments. And I know what you're talking about. I've been in settings. I did a show on Trinity Broadcasting Network years ago with AC Green for the NBA Lakers, and then Frank Pastore from the Cincinnati Reds. And I remember sitting in the parking lot thinking, we're gonna do this three co host show. And I'm like, what am I doing here? Same thing that you just said. I think the key, what you said is doing it anyways because you've got to start somewhere. And, you know, for me, I've had that multiple times. My first time doing some television, commentating for college softball. My very first experience was not good. ESPN called later, wanted me to come back. It was a different organization the first time. The second time was espn. And I basically at first said, no, no thanks, I'm not interested. And my husband, My husband luckily talked me into sense a little bit and he said, listen, he said, this is espn. He said, you have to do this. Yes. How can you turn them down? They're calling and saying, we'd love to have you come do these games. And so I'm so glad he pushed me out of my comfort zone because after my first bad experience, I think about that with speaking, I had. I'll never forget, I mean, just a couple moments the first time I spoke and walking off the stage and saying, I never want to speak again. And I think everybody has to have that first. And it is such a growth time. And if you have that opportunity. And now I just take that mentality. And like you said, you said, you know, do you ever. I do. Because depending on the setting I'm in, sometimes I'm like, okay, this is out of my comfort zone. This is, you know, if I'm speaking to businesses and maybe it's a certain business I'm not really that connected with, you know, but I try to do my homework, I try to prepare. And then I think, okay, the message I'm bringing is from my heart. I think that's so crucial. I do not have a stacked message. That's never worked for me. I will speak to my, obviously my experiences because I feel like being an Olympic gold medalist and life lessons that came through that can relate to so many aspects of life. And so I just try to think, you know, we all have our story, everybody has that story. So if you're given that platform like you were talking about being there, you know, I just think, go for it. And like you said, I mean, you walk off the stage, you do your best, and then you can just hold your head high.

Yeah. And for me, I can get in my head, and my inner critic can just have a party saying, you're not good enough. Who do you think you are? You know, all this stuff. But if I remember to get out of my head and stay in my heart, it's always so much better, because I have to remember, you know, my very first talk, I was going to give my very first presentation to a group of lawyers, financial advisors, and realtors. And here I was. I've been an athlete, a dancer my whole life. And I'm like, what the hell? They. Why would they want to hear me? And I didn't even own. Like, I only had workout clothes. I didn't even own a suit. So I went to Nordstrom's, and I was like, I need a suit. And they're like, well, what size are you? I'm like, I actually don't even know because I don't wear suits. And so I had a suit on. I was early in the morning, I was on my way to give this presentation, and I called my dad, and I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm so nervous. And he goes, what are you doing? I said, I'm going to give a talk. He goes, you're doing public speaking now? He goes, why would you want to do that? Don't you know that's the number one fear other than death itself? And I was like, thanks, dad. And he goes, well, you know what? He goes, just remember why you're doing it.

Yes, absolutely.

Those words right there, that shifted everything. And if we can just focus on our why, it takes it off of me. It's not about me. It's about the message and the other people that I'm talking with.

Yeah. And the thing is, like, you have a message to share. I think that's the key, is, why am I sharing it, and who is this audience that I'm sharing it to? So for me, it's like, okay, what do I want them to walk away with? But that doesn't change my story, and that doesn't change, really, ultimately the message you want to share. And so I think for me, I've had a couple times where a couple people approached me after I spoke or maybe said, well, maybe you need to have this speech that you say it exactly the same way. Every time I remember, I had to have a gut check, because I was like, that wouldn't work for me. So maybe I'm not the right speaker for you. And I'm so glad that I learned that through sports as well. I mean, I played with some of the best women in the entire world in my sport, and there were some times where I tried to all of a sudden swing like our big home run hitters, and guess what? That didn't work for me. And so that lesson is like, what is your strength? What is your strength? What are you bringing to the table? And stick with that.

Yeah. And I like that you said a gut check. I like that. And it's really. For me, I think our gut never lies. Like, if we listen to our gut, it never lies. Our head can confuse us. You know, our heart will pull on us in different directions, but our gut never lies. And it's interesting you said that you had somebody telling you this, because this weekend, I just gave a presentation at City Summit, and they had called me kind of at the last minute, said, hey, we'd like for you to come on stage, share your message. So on the way there, I got lost. I could not find the address. Well, the address was in this huge mall, and the whole Mall's address was 395Santa Monica Place. And so I was like, I couldn't find it. I was lost. And I'm like, what am I doing? I, you know, dressed in a sweater and a skirt, and I'm sweating. My hair's a mess at this point, and I'm like, I don't know if I can do this. And I really had to, like, do a mindset reset. I found it, and I get there, and I'm trying to, like, you know, I like to get to know my audience. And it was already started, so I can really talk to the audience, but I feel most connected. And I do this because I love people, and I love connecting with audience. And I was sitting there, and there was a guy that was about to go on to speak, and he was just on. On me. Like, well, what you talk about? Well, what is your lead? What is your. Like, what are you selling? Like, you got to sell it. You got to sell it. You got to do this. And he was like, really? And so I started freaking out, and he's like, you got to have a good testimonial. What's your testimonial? And I was like. And my girlfriend had actually showed up to come support me, and I love her. She looked at him, and she goes, she's got a really good story. And I was like, oh, she's got my back. And Then it was a thing. I'm not trying to sell this audience. You know what I mean? It's time to sell them something. I'm really genuinely speaking from my heart, and that is what I could tell about you. When you were up on stage, you spoke from your heart. You captured the audience. Not just that, when you were off stage, for everybody listening, I have to tell y', all, she is beautiful on the inside and out. You had your gold medals with you, and you let me try them on, and they're. Evie. And you let so many people try your medals on, and you were taking pictures with people, and you were so humble. I mean, there's a lot of people with medals that would not be so humble. And there is, like, you have all this success, and I think it's really important to stay humble and grow. And you said something about always wanting to grow. I had my husband tell me. He goes, when's enough, enough? And when I heard you talking, I was like, well, we think alike. Because I always want to grow, too. I'm always like, okay, what can I do next? How can I grow? What can I share? What can I give you? Talk about balance. When you were on the stage, and it was something that really hit home for me. How do you balance all your success and all you do with your book launch and you're speaking all over the world, and you're, you know, you're on tv, you're a mom, and you're. I saw you do homeschooling.

Yes. I saw you.

Oh, my God.

For 13 years. I only have my youngest now, who's in seventh grade. My eighth grader this year was his first year going to school. And I'm so proud of him because he's getting straight A's, and I, you know, as a homeschool mom, you're like, am I ruining my kid? You know? But no, I'm so thankful for the time I had. And My oldest is 18, and I homeschooled him up until eighth grade. And so I just kind of. Each kid is different. You know, their path is different. And I really kind of felt led. And so, yeah, there's so many different things going on. This has been a really busy 14 months for me, travel. And I just think, you know, for me, it's so important that I constantly making sure, okay, what is the priority right now? And I need to make sure that's my focus because I'm going in so many different directions. And, you know, I don't have anybody that helps me on the Side, it's more, okay, does this work with my family schedule? Does my husband, you know, he works for Under Armour, and he has his schedule. And so obviously, I have to be sensitive to that. And I need to make sure my kids, you know, my son's in football. And so we just. We have a lot of different things going on here. So then for me, when I do set these different speaking engagements, I make sure it works with my family. And then I just have found it's been so important for me, like, being all in where I'm at. Because, you know, if I'm thinking of the next thing that's coming up or if I'm with my kids and I'm thinking about my speaking engagement, that doesn't mean there's not time for preparation that happens. But the time that I have, you know, I think is so crucial to say when I'm at my event. Like, I do softball clinics, I do speaking. I do, like you said, a little bit of TV with espn. You know, I do so many different aspects. I take teams in the summer overseas for, you know, eight or nine days, coach a little bit, but they become, like, almost like my daughters. And so it's just so for me, I love people. I could get that from you. When I met you as well, I really felt connected to you as well and just truly genuinely loving. Meeting people and hearing their story and wanting to connect, to let people know, especially for me, these young girls, just how much worth and value they really have.

Wow. Yeah, I see. Like, I look at, you know, I follow you on Instagram, you guys, if you don't follow her already, you gotta follow her. Leah L E A H20 USA and I see the girls that you work with. I keep up and see what you're doing, and I think it's really important, what you said to be all in and be in that moment. For me yesterday, we were already decorating for Christmas, and it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but my husband has recently retired, and so he's got a lot of time, and he was like, let's decorate. And so I found myself starting to do the tree, but I was thinking about all the stuff that I had to do for work, and I was like, okay, I need to stop and be in the moment. And sometimes that's hard. So I turned on Christmas music, and I gave myself permission to take a break and be in the moment. And I think that everything goes a lot better if I do that. Time is, I feel, like, the most valuable asset we have, you know, we don't get that back. And so whenever anybody, you know, agrees to talk with me or like, you being on the podcast, it is so valuable to me because I am so respectful of people's time because I don't know about you, but it seems like it's just going faster and faster.

Yes, it's absolutely. I mean, even the kids are saying that now.

Yeah, it's so fun.

And I think we're just so fast paced with everything we do as well. You know, we have more commitments than ever. So I think it's not only that life always has gone fast, but it's truly our commitments as well.

Yeah. Yeah. And I'm amazed that you homeschool because I can barely do homework with my daughter. You must have a lot of patience.

At least when I'm doing it, I know how it's being taught. And I'm not like, I don't know what they taught you at school. And they're like, mom, that's not what the teacher said.

That's what it's like. That's what it's like.

I will tell you, I have three boys and it's probably been the hardest thing I've done in all my career and, you know, different opportunities I've had, it's probably the most challenging, but I knew at the end of the day, it'll be the most rewarding as well. And I knew I would never regret the time I had with them, you know, as hard as it is on some days. But then we have amazing days and we get to kind of explore together. And I took my son with me to Utah. I was speaking in Utah, and I took him and we went an extra day and went over to Zion and we just explored the day. That was one of our school days. And so I try to take advantage when I can, of some opportunities that way, because I do homeschool.

Oh, that is awesome. Were you speaking at the Salt Palace? Is that what it's called, the convention center there?

No, I went to Salt Lake City. That one was for the Huntsman World Senior Games in October. And they have 11,000 athletes that are 50 years and older that compete in over 30 different sports from all around the world. And so, you know, I was at this, you know, opening ceremony. I think they said about 5,000 athletes in attend that usually. And even like you were mentioning, you're sitting there and you like to see your audience. Like, I kind of have an idea, obviously, of what I'm going to share, but once I see them filing in and Once I kind of get the feel of the environment. And then, you know, I'm sitting next to the governor of Utah and we're talking sports, you know, wow. I just laughing because then all of a sudden I grab this little tiny paper and I just start writing down a couple new thoughts. Like, you know what? I think I'm going to share this too. And so I laugh because that to me, like, that's more fresh and it's real and it's kind of straight from the heart. It's not that I don't message already, but it's like, wait a second, this I see something now, you know, and respond, yeah.

I just had a friend of mine asked me the other day and she's entrepreneur, huge, owns a business, she's a producer, she's amazing. But she said, how do you do it? She said, you know, I've been on huge podcasts. She said, I've been on Lori Harder's podcast, which has like a million downloads. She said, I've never seen anything like how your podcast exploded. You had so many people sharing it on their page and in their story. She goes, how do you do that? How do you connect with people? And I said, I listened to them, Yes. I said, I love them. I said, I know how much it means to me to be heard, to have people understand. And that's what I do. So I love that about you. You have a gift for connecting with people, for making them feel at home. I have not read your book yet and I can't wait to read it because every morning I wake up, I read out of a few different spiritual books that just give me like a quote of the day, an affirmation, a day, or a prayer of the day. Tell us more about your book because I can't wait to read it.

Yes, a 31 day devotional for softball players. And I had some friends, they have young boys that play different sports, but they were like, we read it anyways because the lesson in here are so good and they connect. And I have my other friend, you know, also had three boys. She's like, I was crying on today's day and all it is really, you know, she said, because again, it's the idea of so many life lessons in sports, you know, so it goes so much further than just the sports field, but different lessons on, you know, leadership, teamwork, you know, setting an example, perspective, being conquerors, trust. I mean, all these different things. So I have 31 days. They're just a short little story of like an Olympic story. Or a story from, you know, my college years and then from that that I also tie in like a Bible truth with it or a story that kind of relates and then just kind of some verses that maybe go with that. And so I also have some follow up questions for little softball players because obviously you want to get them to, you know, kind of how do you perform better in practice or in a game and why do you think this happens? And you know, the mental side of it and then, you know, just placing trust in God. Have you done that? And just different questions to kind of get them thinking. And so through the years, I've spoken at many different events. I also would do softball camps. Some of the camps, probably the last 10 years have been with Jenny Finch, who is like our big time famous softball player. She's amazing, beautiful on the outside and the inside, and she always had a faith. But she asked, hey, Leah. She said when I joined her kind of her staff, she's like, you know, would you lead like a devotion on Sunday morning for whoever wants to come 30 minutes prior to camp on Sunday morning? You know, we're all at the softball field all weekend and a lot of people miss church. And so she said, would you offer that and would you do that? And so I was like, yeah, like that was a passion of mine. And so, I mean, we were in Virginia, we had about 200 athletes and parents. The first one, you know, Oklahoma, we had about 50. And so we found this, that when we offered it, we were able to come and share a little bit about our story, a little bit about the truth that God says about them. And so, you know, and related it. How do I even play for God on the softball field? What does that look like?

Oh, really?

You know, it can relate to every aspect of our lives. And so with that, you know, last year I thought, you know, I've been doing that for 10 years and 10 years book, you know, and so I just last year finally kind of sat down and all the things I've been speaking for all these years, I kind of just put it into a book and so.

Well, how long did it take you to write your book?

You know, it probably took about three months in the sense that I feel like so many of these things again, like not all of the stories, some of them were newer that I hadn't talked about yet, but a lot of them were just key truths that I really believe in. And you know, and then my stories from my Olympic years and my college years and the successes, but a lot of it the hard time. One of the guys who was kind of looking through my book with me, he's like, man, Leah, you really kind of share some of the harder moments or the struggles or when you didn't have confidence or you didn't know if you should even keep playing. And I said, yeah, because you know what? Those are the real moments that most people have. If I only talk about the success, then other people are going to be like, what if I haven't had that? I said, the reality is, no matter how successful you are, everybody's had to overcome and everybody's had to learn to find that confidence.

Yes. And that is actually what you just said. The reason I wanted to start this podcast. Podcast is to share struggles to success. Because nowadays, like, especially on social media, it's like a highlight reel. Everybody's just posting whatever's going good. And, you know, I do share some of my struggles, but I think it's important to share that so we know that we're not alone, you know, and we see that, you know, it does take hard work, and it is hard sometimes. What has been the hardest thing? Struggle. Besides homeschooling,

what is like, your most

difficult time that you've had to overcome and how did you get through it?

Let's see. You know, I think just different time periods with my boys. I have three boys, and they are a handful, and they're amazing, Amazing. But I laugh because when my kids were little, like, we would be going through just some major stuff. And I look at my other friend and she's like, my daughter's so hard, and she's throwing a tantrum on the towel. My kid's over running in the street. You know what I mean? My kid was literally like, you know, taking some kid out, and I'm like, I'm so sorry. Or getting called to the principal's office again when he's in kindergarten. That's why I homeschooled. So I think back to some of those times, and I'm like, man, I never like to be in trouble, but my kids. Now I feel like I'm getting in trouble again.

Yeah.

You know, I kind of had to humble myself and think, like, okay, it's my child and they're going to make their own choices, and I need to learn, like, okay, God, you need to show me how to then being an example, because then I want to lose it. You know, I learned a lot about myself in parenting alone. That is really the hardest thing. I think so much is perspective, too. Obviously. I read your story and was so inspired by it. So inspired. First, your fight to live and to make, you know, your story known because of all the other people that are dealing with what you deal with. And so for me, a big part of even just my passion to share God and his love for everybody came when I was 22 years old. And a teammate of mine who was 21, who had really shared God with me. I always believed in God from a little age. But really in college, you know, everybody's trying to find themselves. I had this teammate who just loved Jesus, and she was just on fire and lived it. And I noticed that about her. Well, she invited me to Bible study. I went. We became really good friends. I kind of just started saying, okay, God, I want to follow you like this, too. Like, I didn't know. And it just transformed my life. Well, when she was 21 years old, and it was right after my last year of college softball, we won a national championship. Everything's on top of the world. And I get a phone call that Julie, my friend, had passed away. And she was 21 years old. And I remember thinking, oh, my goodness. Like, she had struggled with diabetes. She had had, you know, during college, her kind of. You could tell just her levels were just a lot tougher. Her body was changing a lot. But I don't think any of us knew it was that serious in that sense. But it's always serious. It's always serious. But I say that as an outsider. Like, she. She always seemed like she managed it so well. But so that happened, and that just rocked me. I was 22, and I'm thinking, you know, none of us. None of us know what tomorrow holds. And every single day is a gift. And so I just remember being so thankful that God allowed her to be in my life. And thinking, you know, everywhere I go, I want people to not only know how much God loves them, but just to feel that value. And even if I go somewhere and that's not cool to talk about it, that's okay, because I want to bring my heart into that. And they'll eventually, you know, see something in that. But that's truly at the base of it.

Oh, can you see I'm crying? You've made me cry because that's beautiful. And I think what you describe. I remember one of my best friends seeing her, and she had this, like, light about her. And I remember thinking, I was really, really struggling after my accident, and I had really kind of disconnected my connection with God. I met my friend. Her name's Terry. I swear she had, like, light around her, rainbows coming out of her ears. And I was like, I want what she has. What is she doing? I want my life back. And she shared God with me. But it was a little bit different because I grew up, you know, going to church, but I had a very punishing God.

Okay. Yeah.

And so it was different. And I really kind of got disconnected because I felt like, well, I've screwed up, so he doesn't want me anyway,

you know, So I disconnected.

But then when I met my friend Terri, she really introduced me to the God that I have in my life now. And I had somebody tell me the other day, I was talking about just God and on social media, and I had a friend say to me, wow, I think it's really brave that you talk about God. And I said, well, people can talk about Buddha or light or universe or whatever they believe, you know, believe in a power greater than myself. And if, you know, if people are offended by that, then they're not. My people maybe eventually come around and they'll find light. But it's what I love. It's what I do. And so I'm going to share that. And I loved that. The more I got to know you, the more I stalked you on social

media, I did the same. I did the same.

I could tell. I could tell. Oh, my God. No wonder. That's why I felt so connected, too. And so, yeah, I love all that you do and the message that you share. And actually, before I go speak anywhere, before I interview for a podcast, I always say, God, come sit down beside me.

Yep. Yeah, absolutely. And even for me, I mean, I know people don't like to always hear, like, you know, how do you get all these opportunities? And, you know, I have to say, like, God is the one who really connects me with people. Now, again, it sounds cliche, and I know God works in many different ways. I just know that as I finished up my softball career, you know, I was a mom already. I wanted more kids. I kind of didn't know what that next stage was gonna hold for me. I had gotten a degree in teaching. I was gonna be a PE teacher. And I just started having this crazy passion to speak. But I was, like, so weird because I had this passion, but I was, like, total not confident at all. Like, I can't. And so I knew God was putting this on my heart, because I was like, I'm telling myself I can't, but I feel like God's saying, like, I want you to. And so I finally was like, okay, then I need an outlet. And God has really taught me a lot during that time. God put on my heart that there's a lot of people out there that can go and can motivate and can encourage people. But at the end of the day, I believe the Bible is real. I believe God is real. He offers his love to every single person on this earth who says yes to him. But with that, he said, you have a message that's eternal. And so, again, my message isn't always that I have different audiences, but I have to say that people that I have met, and I'm sure you're similar, have been phenomenal. Like, it's just genuinely good people. And you're right. Sometimes I come across people that have a different view. But that's okay.

That's okay. Different views, exactly. You know, it's interesting. When I did my TEDX talk, this was the only thing they told me before. This was the advice I got. Okay. They said, don't talk about your motorcycle accident too much and don't talk about God. Then I was like, okay. I was like, oh, my goodness. I have to be really careful here. And I don't get up and, you know, go, go preach or anything. I mean, I wish I had that ability, but that's a whole other thing. But, yeah, my favorite part of my entire journey is connecting with other people. That is my. Absolutely my favorite part. I did a podcast interview the other day, and they said, well, how did you get all of a sudden from your accident? You got your speaking and you're doing a podcast? And I started laughing out, and I said, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just called to do this, and I'm leading with my heart, and I'm figuring out. Figuring it out along the way.

Yeah, well, you're a natural at it. I mean, you know, again, just talking with you and reading your book, I can just tell you do have a story that needs to be told. And even, you know, I just think too you, what you went through, it's just that reminder of how literally just breath is a gift, you know, and

so it shifted my perspective.

Yeah. Yes.

Because I think so much your friend did for you.

That's it. And that was at a young age. And so I kind of hold that in the balance like always with my boys and, you know, just knowing you guys every single day, you know, And a couple weeks back, my son was playing tackle football. He's 14 and got knocked out. His head hit the ground, and he Was just out. And just that moment again of like, okay, like, okay. Immediately went to prayer and got down on that field with him. And then after a couple minutes, he woke up. But, you know, just again, how quickly, how quickly things can change. It's just that, you know, I say that, but when you go through something, obviously it.

In the blink of an eye, everything can change. And it's funny, you know, when after my accident, my husband. Humor has saved our relationship, I swear. But he's always like, he goes, yep, you just won't die. He goes, God keeps spitting you back out. Like, you know, it's not your time. God spits you back out. He'll say that in front of doctors, like, before, I'm going in for a surgery. Yep, she just won't die. God keeps spitting her out. And I'm like, thanks, honey. Thanks a lot. But, you know, especially whether you're an athlete, whether you're a mom, whether you're an entrepreneur, or all of the above, starting out a business in the middle of growing your business, we all need resilience.

Absolutely.

What do you do to be resilient? Do you have a routine that you follow to be resilient, or what is resilience to you?

You know, I don't have a routine. I think for me, it's just always about kind of. You go back to that balance. It's kind of about re. Centering and like, okay, what does matter most to me? Like, at the end of my life, I don't want to just regret that I wasted all this time or I chased all the wrong things. And so, you know, I love that kind of Our talk comes down to people, because obviously to me, like, that's what it is. If I can impact somebody's life or they're impacting my life. And so for me, that resilience, I think is, okay, you know, what do I have before me? What do I want to try to achieve? Or what are my goals with that? And then, okay, how do I get there? What steps. What steps do I need to take sometimes, you know, for me, again, it. Connections, you know, that I made. Like you said, I say yes to a speaking engagement. And I think, oh, gosh, how did I get here?

I do that all the time. I'm like. I say yes, and I'm like, what did I get myself?

Yes. But I think it's so good because, you know, it's that challenge. And I think too, like, you know, I don't know, we're adults now. We're not necessarily in school and having those tests. And then for me as an athlete, I'm not having those at bats anymore that are challenging me, like, what kind of growth happened? And so for me, I think it is. It's like a test to say, okay, can you get ready? How do I get ready? So for me, you know, just that resilience of, like, what I have before me, the time that I'm going to put into preparing for that, you know, And I don't know, like you said, not overthinking it, truly, like, I think that was the best comments that I've had. I spoke one time at an event, it was a Fellowship of Christian Athletes type event in Alabama. And they said, In 53 years, you're the first woman speaker that we've had. And this guy said, I've been coming for over 20 years. And he said, that is the first time, like, I feel like the Holy Spirit was speaking, like, that message from your heart. And someone else saying, you know, even after that Senior World Games that I just went to, a couple of them came up to me, these older athletes, and they just said, you know what? We so related to your story. Thank you for not just giving a canned message. And I think what they're saying by that is just the kind of the same thing everybody wants us to say, or what should I say? And just know what is from my heart, what do I want to share? What's personal?

Yeah, well, you can tell you do speak from your heart. You really impacted my life. Out of all the speakers that I heard at that event, I was like, oh, my gosh, I fell in love with you. I was like, oh, my gosh. And I went home and I thought about what you said about being all in and being where you. If I'm home and I'm with a family, that's where I need to be. And I think that applies with anything you do. Because if we start thinking about too much of the future, it can get scared or be in fear. And if I start, you know, thinking, oh, man, I should have done this, or I should have done this better, or thinking about the past, I can start getting depressed. So it's supposed to be all in the moment. That's, like the best advice.

One more thing about that, I think I had to kind of learn that early on, too, because I would walk off a stage and I would beat myself up of what I did say, what I didn't say, and questioning everything. And I had to just let that go and say, I'm gonna go In I'm gonna give everything I have and I have to walk off and be okay. If I didn't say it, it wasn't meant to be. Because if not, I could just like you said, I could find myself just sitting there dwelling and then thinking, I don't want to move forward. I don't deserve to move forward. I'm not being over critical. And so I kind of had to learn to just be like, it's okay. And I'm not perfect. There's always room for growth. But you know.

And you know what? I don't think people want perfect. They want relatable.

I think so, too.

Some of the things that I've shared or even pictures that I've shared on Instagram, the ones that have done the best are not the ones that are all perfectly polished or it's like the one that, you know, my daughter took with her iPhone and I've got no makeup on, a baseball hat or what, you know, those are the ones.

Because it's real people and that's what people can relate to and people can

sense your authenticity because you are. You come from the heart. Yeah. First of all, how can people get your book?

Yes. So it's on Amazon and it's, you know, again, it's called Softball, Glory and God's Story. And I tell people, like if you know any athletes out there or even again if they kind of want to, some Olympic stories and different things. But it's Amazon as well as my website is. Leah20.com l e a h20.com and I did actually, I do have my medals here as well.

Wait, wait, wait. Wow, that is so cool. And I am telling you, it was so cool to get to be able to put a gold medal on and three gold medals. So I will definitely share that in social media. And you know what, in these show notes, I'll have the link for your book for Amazon, I'll have your website and then I'll definitely be sharing the picture of us together and you putting them all over my head.

That was so cool.

And thank you so much for sharing just your tips and tools on how to be resilient and sharing all your wisdom and love and faith and for being here on the True Grit and Grace Show. I really appreciate you. You. Thank you, Leah.

Thank you so much for having me. And again, I'm just honored that you had asked me and, you know, really felt a connection and have been excited to kind of see all the different opportunities that you're having because your story is important, and I think it's a reminder of perspective and perseverance and, you know, truly just really what matters most in life.

Oh, thank you. Thanks so much for joining us this week on Trip Britain Grace Podcast. If you like it, please rate it or share it with your friends. That would help too. If you're not yet on the newsletter list, come over to amberlylago.com and jump on it. While you're there, you can grab a free downloadable gratitude journal. And you might just want to check out my book or even check out my monthly motivational membership. Thanks again for tuning in and we'll see you next week.