“Excellence in anything increases your potential in everything.”

Joe Rogan

If you’ve got big dreams, the standards you set for yourself are going to dictate your success.

I really can’t emphasize that enough.

Weak standards, poor performance. Strong standards, elite performance.

So that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about in today’s episode: the Gold Standard.

Our guest today, Leah Amico, has epitomized how discipline, self-belief, and faith lead to grandiose achievement – in any field. 

Leah is a three-time Olympic gold medalist with USA Softball, a two-time World Champion, and in the National Softball Hall of Fame.

While at the University of Arizona, Leah was a three-time national champion, a three-time First Team All-American, and a three-time First Team Academic All-American for her excellence both on the field and in the classroom.

Known for being one of the most clutch hitters of all time, Leah still holds the record for highest batting average in the Women’s College World Series. She’s also a college softball analyst with ESPN and Westwood One Sports, where she imparts her love and knowledge of the game to fans all over the world.

Outside of softball, Leah is a motivational speaker, with more than 20 years of experience on the national stage. 

In this episode we’re taking a deep dive into the pursuit of excellence and how you can increase your potential in everything that you do.

We’ll go through:

• How to perform at your best in unrelenting pressure
• The most fundamental characteristics for success in ANY field
• How to understand – and unleash – your potential, and
• The key to finding balance in the crazy world we’re in. 

Before we begin, the right bit of inspiration can completely change the trajectory of someone’s life, so if there’s a friend or loved one who needs to hear this episode or could use some help to Win the Day, share it with them right now.

And if this is your first time joining us on the Win the Day podcast, hit the ‘Follow’ button on the podcast and the ‘Subscribe’ button on our YouTube channel so you can:

• Get access to episodes like this one as soon as they’re released; and
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Let’s WIN THE DAY with three-time Olympic gold medalist Leah Amico!

James Whittaker:
Leah, great to see you. Thanks for coming on the Win the Day show!

Leah Amico:
Thank you, James! I'm very excited to be here with you.

What a journey you’ve been on. I want to kick off with your origin story.

Can you take us right back to what it was like growing up for you and how competitive it was in your household?

I was the first born. My dad loved sports, so I think he enjoyed having a daughter who came out rambunctious and was a tomboy. I was somebody who just learned to love competition at a young age. I ended up having a younger sister who was a year younger, and then my brother six years younger than me. 

For me, it was all about whatever I could do – any sports. In soccer, I was very aggressive. I was not afraid to run into other athletes and do whatever it took to get the ball and score a goal! In softball, I ended up being the pitcher, so it was all about trying to strike them out and get the winning hit, so I was very athletic and very aggressive.

How important was the attribute of competitiveness in all of the other things that you've pursued since then?

Being around world class athletes with what I did, I feel like it's just inside of me – that ability and desire to be the very best, no matter what I'm doing. So in the classroom, I remember thinking, "Okay, this might be the hardest subject ever for me, and I might not have the best memory ever, but I'm going to work to get an A, because that is the GOLD Standard that I live by. I want to be the best."

I feel like it's just inside of me – that ability and desire to be the very best, no matter what I'm doing.

So, eventually going into commentating, it started with everything I did, and it really was that competitiveness. One of things I found is I'm very hard on myself. I think a lot of people are, but more than that, I look next to me and I think, "I still need to be better..." If I'm not the best at what I'm doing, I'm going to be better than the person next to me, and that, I believe, has helped me.

You mentioned the Gold Standard there. Can you talk a little bit more about what the Gold Standard means to you and how you live by that each day?

For me, the GOLD Standard is an acronym, and I look back at just my experiences, my journey, and especially being a three-time Olympic gold medalist, there's four of us in the world with softball that have three Olympic gold medals. In order for me to be in that situation, I was not the fastest, the strongest, the best pitcher like these teammates I played with, but I had some core attributes.

The first one, G stands for goals and goal setting. When I was 18 years old and we won the national championship at Arizona, I got the only hit in the championship game, off the best pitcher, Lisa Fernandez. I would go on to win three gold medals with her.

But as an 18 year old, as soon as they announced softball in the Olympic Games three years later, I was like, "I'm going to be on that team." I didn't know how, I didn't know what I needed to do, but I was going to be there. So setting those goals – what do you want? And then you decide how you're going to get there.

O is overcoming obstacles. I truly believe this is where the mental piece comes in. You have got to have a certain mindset to achieve greatness and excellence. It has to start with wanting it, but then you've got to be able to fight through the pressure, the struggles, the trials. I feel like with softball, that prepared me, because you face a lot of challenges to be the best.

You have got to have a certain mindset to achieve greatness and excellence.

Then L is leadership. I think it's so crucial. Who are the people we're following? What are we learning? Are we coachable? I really believe, not only did I have the best coaches in the world, more than that, I received what they had to share.

Then D is dedication and drive, and to me, I think back, it was daily choice and daily habits, daily routines, and on the journey to be an Olympian, my first time I was in college. The next time I was married. The next time I was a mum, but I stuck to my daily routines in order to reach the highest goals.

So that's what I live by, goals, overcoming obstacles, leadership. and dedication and drive.

About five years ago, when I had my second book come out called Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy, I was speaking at an event hosted by our mutual friend Brandon T. Adams. The speaker before me spoke about the power of podcasting, and I was like, "Wow, I've never been on a podcast before," but I set a goal of being featured on 100 podcasts in the next 12 months.

I didn't know the how, as you said there, the how came later, but once you're specific on that goal, it just paves the way for so many of those other things to open up, in terms of how you put the plans in place that you can focus on implementing, and then the big goal will ultimately achieve itself.

Yeah, I think that is so important because like you said, it needs to be specific. If it's like, "I just want to be successful," well that doesn't lead you anywhere, but you just said a specific goal, "I want to be on this many podcasts." 

Check out the YouTube or podcast version where Leah Amico does the Win the Day Rocket Round, answering questions about her favorite quote, what advice she’d give his 18-year-old self, the one thing on her bucket list, and a whole lot more. ????

For me, "I want to be on the Olympic team." I had my son and I was like, "I still want to go win another gold medal, and so what is it going to take? It's going to be harder now." 

Since then, when I was commentating, an opportunity came to me, so then my goal was, "I need to be the best at it," so I started listening to other people so I could improve. The idea is how do I get there?

That hunger to be super successful and be at that level is exceptionally important. Barbara Corcoran from Shark Tank, she had mentioned to me that you need to be enormously competitive, if you want to succeed in business. It sounds like that was very important for you too. 

You and I are both parents, and it's very important we have that presence. What do you do to balance that immense hunger and competitiveness that's required to want more in terms of a specific goal, with that calm and presence that's required in the short term?

I think for me just prioritizing. I have this goal and I'm working towards it, okay, so I need to put the time in there.

I think back to when I was a mum and I was competing, I wanted to be a gold medalist, but I had my daily duties and I didn't want my son to suffer because of it. So I would go in and I would put that time in that I knew was going to eventually lead to my goal, and then the rest of the time, I could really just be present. I think that's what it is. 

It's more me having a plan each day. Knowing what I'm working towards, when I personally would take care of what I needed to do working towards my goal, then I felt like I had the freedom to enjoy the rest of what I was doing in that moment.

Do you have any specific advice for mums who are in the midst of household pressures and have big dreams outside of that?

Yeah, I think it's really quality over quantity. I was so big into my sport and what we did, I could go take a thousand cuts, but if they're not the right cuts, it doesn't really matter. So for me, when I am with my children, I want them to have the best of me. I don't want to be constantly be thinking about all the other things that I'm trying to do or wanting to do.

When I am with my children, I want them to have the best of me.

So I really learned, if I'm going to an event and I'm there and I'm speaking, I'm not sitting there thinking of being back at home. But when I'm home, I'm all in and staying focused.

The biggest thing that I would say that really allowed me to be present, to be my very best and not to feel pulled, but to truly give my kids everything I have when I'm with them to support them, as they've gotten older especially, in what they love to do, then that also brings out joy in me.

Win the Day community, that presence is very important! It reminds me of the Jim Rohn quote, "Wherever you are, be there.”

I'm sure you didn't have that self-belief all the time. What was the moment for you when you realized you could do anything that you set your mind to?

Oh, I think as I started to see those doors being opened, it was really, "What do I want to do next? And what are my priorities and my goals and what do I want my future to look like?" 

Because I think everybody has different answers, and so success in my mind is different for different people. Some of them it's climbing the highest ladder and owning their own company. For others, it's being the best mum they can be and maybe doing some stuff on the side. 

So for me, I think just seeing really ultimately, knowing where I wanted to go, but then the hard work and being willing to put into it, could open more doors than I ever thought possible.

Can you let us into your own goal setting process? And how often do you define and redefine what success looks like to you personally?

Well, for the last 13 years, I was a homeschool mom, and so that was at the heart of a lot of what I did. And then I did some commentating, I did some speaking. 

So goals for me would be when somebody comes and they say, "Hey, Leah, we want you to come and speak to this type of audience." I've spoken to all different audiences. My process then at that point was: what is the outcome I need? What do I need to do to prepare to get there, and how much time do I need to pour into this as I prepare? It might be a month out, but what's the process to get there.

The three words that I go by is prepare, persevere, perform.

When commentating college softball, sometimes for that, you find your team's last minute. Okay, well, and I don't do a ton of it all year long, so my goal at that point is not for me to sound great on TV as a commentator. It’s to make sure that these athletes showcase their skills, and for me to let everybody know who these softball players are.

So therefore that process then is that deep dive of how quickly can I learn? Who do I need to talk to find more information? It just depends on what I'm going into.

For me, the three words that I go by is prepare, persevere, perform. Preparation is everything. If I do that, then when hard times come, I can overcome that. And then I'm able to perform at the fullest.

Something we often talk about on this show is that how you respond to adversity when it inevitably strikes is what separates ordinary people from extraordinary achievers.

Is there a particular adversity you have had, either personally or in your athletic career, that really stands out?

Some people will go through injuries and that will really challenge them. For me, I think the biggest thing was changing positions in college. Here, I had reached this top level, had come on the scene as a freshman, and then my second year, my coach switched positions. He moved me to the outfield. 

Well, here I am. Again, I have this other goal. The coolest part was I had to put my head down and say, "Okay, I've never played this position. I need to be the best at it."

Our team went on to win the National Championship. I led the Women's College World Series in hitting that year and I'm catching balls over the fence, and I'm diving on TV. That position is what led me to be an Olympian. 

I've never played this position. I need to be the best at it.

So I look at something that could have mentally taken me out of, "No, this isn't my strength." I think a lot of players would've been mad that they got moved to the outfield. I was a pitcher also, and a first baseman, it could have been a demotion in my mind. And I could have just been, mindset wise, taken out.

Instead it was like, "How can I still be the best?" And so I really believe that obstacle ended up being greater than I ever could have imagined through learning and growing and then opening new doors for me.

"I never played this position. I need to be the best in the world at it." Wow. That reframe says it all!

Where did that attitude come from? Books, mentors, or were you born with it?

I think it's a combination of a lot of things. I think, somewhat, we're born with some of it. We're all wired differently and I wanted to be the best. I believe it was really fostered through my parents and their belief in me. 

I know after a bad day, especially my mum, she would be the one that would just be there to pick me up and give me that encouragement as well some outside voices.

Coaching. I think about, to this day, my Olympic coach and my college coach is one of the best leaders, and truly in the world, Coach Mike Candrea, and I just think of just his belief in me as well caused me to have that much more belief, so I really feel like there's a lot. 

Then to this day, I'll read a lot of books. Jon Gordon is somebody I really enjoy on what he writes, because I can relate so much to how I've lived my life and how these principles are so true when it comes to leadership, power of positive thinking, who we surround ourselves with. 

So I think it's been a combination of all those things.

Any sentences or phrases or anything from a coach that stands out, that might have hit you at a particularly opportune time?

Well, one of the things that I love that our coach would always point out, he would say, "There's two things that you can control. No matter how many things are outside your control." He said, "Your attitude and your effort." 

It's almost too simple for some people at times, to believe how I respond to things and my attitude and approach, to no matter what's happening, and then how hard I'm going to work. 

And I'm like, "That is so simple yet profound." When you work your hardest, no matter what's happening, and when you have an attitude of, "I'm going to win, I'm going to win the day," then really, it opens a door for greatness to happen.

Yeah, I think you've summed up success in two words: attitude and effort. That's absolutely brilliant.

From your entire career that's taken you all over the world – and if you’re not watching the video version of this interview, you’re missing out because we have three gold medals that Leah has sitting here in the studio with us!

Your career has taken you all over the world. Was there a specific “pinch me, I'm dreaming” moment that stands out from the stellar career you've had?

I think playing in Athens, Greece. I knew I was going to be retiring after this Olympics. I had two previous Olympic experiences. I was a mum, my son was three and I could just feel I was getting older. 

The players coming up were faster, stronger. I just knew. I knew this is it, this entire journey that's taken me around the entire world, it paid for me for college with a scholarship, gave me some of the best relationships that I could ever imagine with my teammates and my coaches.

But being there and thinking of the history of where the Olympics started and just the greats that had come, I mean, hundreds of years before me, and to think, "This is where I'm going to finish my career." It was truly amazing. 

We had taken pictures prior and made these vision boards of the Olympics and had a picture of the stadium. And I had my family on the poster and some little sayings and Bible verses that inspired me, and then to be there in that stadium, and then to stand on the podium getting the gold medal placed around my neck, knowing I was retiring. It truly was just... That was my pinch me moment.

Yeah. Must have been quite emotional as well, I would imagine.

I cried more than any other time on that podium for a lot of different reasons. It was very, very emotional.

You were known for performing under pressure, it was almost as if you thrived on it. What was the process to develop that skill and what can others do to make sure that they perform under pressure?

The process for me was that daily preparation, so my daily habits, and then through that, the consistency that came from it. 

Each day, when I would get to practice, that's when I was becoming a champion. It wasn't in the games. It was all done behind the scenes when nobody was watching.

Each day, when I would get to practice, that's when I was becoming a champion.

I feel like if people, every single day, will say, "What are my priorities? What do I need to do?" And you will consistently show up and consistently give your best, because that's the other thing. It was not half-hearted ever. I might have had a bad day here or there, but generally, it truly was, "How do I get the best out of today?"

I believe then when the biggest moments happen, all the thinking was put aside and then the rest took over of just, "I was prepared or to do this. I was made to do this and have this moment right now," and in the biggest moments, it took over.

We've got some questions now from the Win the Day community. If you want to ask questions of me or upcoming guests on our show, email us at info@jameswhitt.com or join the Win the Day group on Facebook.

The first question comes from Donna who is currently on a cruise ship in Panama! Donna asks:

“Was this your only dream? And was it your dream – or someone else’s – for you to achieve?”

I think it was my dream. I'm so big on that, as I have three boys and as I've raised them, to find out what their strengths and their passions and their desires are and to foster that. That's what my parents did for me. 

As a young girl, I loved it, and eventually my goal became to get a college scholarship and then I got to college. Then my goal was to make the Olympic team, and then it was to win the gold medal. 

What happened was everything around me poured into that, but it was truly in my heart, my dream, my goal, and then it was uplifted by others.

Yeah, so much about success is just getting that little bit of momentum, which gives you confidence, which helps you raise the bar of what's possible, and you can keep going from there.

That's been absolutely the step by step. Each step was a new level of confidence.

The second question comes from Shawn in Sydney:

“Where do you think the mindset and dedication to training, and the will to achieve your dream, comes from? Do you think it’s something you are born with or something that is created?”

I think both. Absolutely, it can be improved with all of us. 

For me, I think it kept getting better and kept being better. At the older levels I got to, and the more elite levels, that's when we had sports psychologists that worked with us. 

We might have had certain abilities up until that point, certain talents, but then certain mindsets, but then the idea was to dig. "Why do you think this way?" And, "Are you recognizing your thought process?" And, "What is your routine?" 

Up until then, we reached a certain level, but I think that expanded our abilities. So everybody has room for growth in that area of mental strength. I think all of us need to continue to improve on that until the day we die.

The next question comes from Georgia in Texas:

“Aside from the intense physical training, what were some of the emotional / psychological struggles that come with being a medalist and how did you conquer those?”

Te hardest thing was, you're playing with superstars. So throughout the season, you have ups and downs. You have good days and bad days. You have a weekend that's a little slump, and then you got to come back from it. 

Normally, you're going through that in college, but now you're on the Olympic team and now everybody else being so great, it exposes and makes you feel that much worse when you go through that little rough slump. 

The biggest thing for me is that got magnetized, and I'll never forget calling my college coach before he had become my Olympic coach in my last Olympics, and just talking to him about a rough day that I was having.

He said, "You know Leah? Your ability to excel at this elite level is going to be your ability to deal with your failures in a positive way." He said, "How you deal with it is going to dictate everything." 

And isn't that true in life and everything we go through? It's how do I process it? How do I maybe use it and put it in perspective, which sometimes we got to step back for a second, and then what can I take from it, learn from it and then move forward? 

So it was really just allowing those voices to remind me, and then that's right, stay mentally strong, you could overcome this.

The next question comes from Danny in Sydney:

“Did you feel that you would let yourself and the team down unless you won the gold medal? Also, was there more pressure on winning the first gold medal or the third gold medal?”

These are all great questions!

So here's the thing, when you play for Team USA, it's gold medal and nothing less. It’s the GOLD Standard. We don't even talk about silver. We literally do not sign autographs in a silver pen!

So losing is not even on our mind. When you’re a champion, it's all full speed ahead.

In terms of winning the third one compared to the first one, I'd say probably the third one was harder. The very first one, we went in, history was being made, because softball's never been in the Olympic games. USA is still number one in the world. We end up bringing home the gold medal against China. 

Second Olympics, we actually lost three games in a row and almost went home, not even competing for a medal. We came in fourth in the medal round, then we worked our way back up and we ended up beating Japan to win a gold medal there, so the world had caught up. The world was a lot better.

Our motto with this new coach, my college coach and my last Olympics was, we are not going to just win, we are going to dominate. It was a new mindset, full speed ahead, full throttle. That's where I talk about, "We don't even talk about losing," and we went in and we scored 51 runs and only gave up one run in nine games. 

I would say that was harder in the sense of the world had been catching up, but now we separated ourselves again.

The next question comes from Andrea in Brisbane:

“How do you adapt your mindset to Olympic training – is there a change of focus or re-prioritisation of goals?”

I would just say it's more zeroed in on focus. The higher level I got, I would say the smaller things we focused on, the smallest fundamentals. 

We're going through a drill defensively and it's not just about making a good throw. It's making a perfect throw to the perfect spot, because the way we trained, we said when the pressure's on and we're in the Olympic stadium and the crowd is so loud behind us, we need to be able to make a perfect throw, to make the perfect out. 

I would say with hitting it was the tiniest adjustment, so I was not happy unless I could hit 10 line shots in a row where I'm trying to hit the ball. Not just, "I hit the ball hard today."

The focus got zeroed in more and more and more to perfection, the higher levels that I got.

So it's progress over perfection in everything else in life, and then you're at the pointy end, at the most elite level, you got to dial it in! 

We know we're not perfect, but we're striving for it in the Olympic arena.

Did that motivate you, or were there some people who caved in to that pressure?

All the athletes that made it to that point had consistently performed at the highest level on the biggest stage at our point – whether for the USA, other international tournaments or college – and those are the people who, time and again, came through in the biggest moments, and those were the people that made the Olympic team.

Final question from Clara in Boston:

“How do you retain your authenticity and identity while also being part of a team?”

Oh, that is a great question!

These are great questions, aren't they!? I was very proud of the Win the Day community for this!

Very good questions. 

I love that question because the idea is it's team first, but it takes a bunch of individuals knowing their strengths and bringing that to the table to make the team the best. So I think the key there for me was always to stay within my strength. 

I respected my teammates. I was so thankful for the gifts that they had. I got into a little bit of trouble when I was training with one of our power home run hitters, and I changed my swing a little bit, and let me tell you, her balls that went over the fence translated into a popup to the pitcher for me.

So I very quickly learned I cannot be her. I have got to stay within my own strengths. Even though it doesn't look maybe as flashy as hers, and what everybody's celebrating as much, do what I do well. That is to go up and battle every bat. I consistently make contact. I hit line drives when they're needed. I come up in big moments and I had to stay focused on what I brought to the table.

Remember, if you want to ask questions of me or upcoming guests on our show, email us at info@jameswhitt.com or join the Win the Day group on Facebook.

Leah, if you were sitting down with someone who felt they lost their spark – and no longer recognized their own potential – what would you do to help them get the spring back in their step?

I would just talk to them about what are those dreams that you've pushed to the side, and let's talk about those first. Let's get that goal mindset up there again.

Then let's talk a little bit about what happened along the way to cause you just to think it's not possible? Because I think a lot of people give up when it gets hard, or maybe something has happened, or maybe there's too much comparison.

So finding out and then saying, "What do you think your purpose is here?" Because I feel like when you find your purpose, everything changes.

I really believe I was made to play softball. I was given a gift by God to go out and to compete, and then I had to work at it very, very hard and eventually became one of the best, because of the work I put in. 

So I would just really try to get back to the why, your purpose, and then remind people it doesn't have to look like anybody else. Set out on your own journey. You can just really find that joy in living out your purpose. 

Sometimes it's just being reminded and encouraged, because again, I look back at my parents and my coaches and they were part of that journey for me to make that possible.

And find out what brings joy to you, because I think sometimes, like you just said, on social media, I think it happens to all of us, you can look, in a second. You think you're doing good, and then you're like, "Oh, I'm not." And it's like, "No, no, no, wait." If I just put my head on, I say, "Does this bring me joy?" This is what I should be doing, and reminding people of that.

How do you handle bad days when they happen?

You know how I handle bad days? I remember that this is just today and tomorrow's a new day. That's literally, it's like, "This is going to be over soon. I'm going to figure out a way."

Also, "Why is this a bad day, and what do I need to do to make it better?" Just finding the solution instead of focusing on the problem and dwelling and trying to complain about it. What do I need to do? Can I change anything? Can I learn anything? And tomorrow is a fresh new day.

When you think of an amazing leader, someone who's been able to inspire you along the way, who comes to mind?

My Olympic coach, Mike Candrea, he is like a dad to me. He was just a strong figure. His belief in the athletes that he trained, his ability to not just give orders, but to show, I think that is just the best example of a leader. He cared for us.

So even though we're out there training for gold medals and he is pushing us to excellence and expecting and demanding us to be at our best, his caring and his love for us, was something that was always felt. 

I wanted to not only be my best for myself and my team and my country, but for him, to make him proud. I think great leaders do that. They inspire us to want more, to believe for more and to look to them to say, "You're my example and I'm going to make you proud."

Let’s switch gears and chat about parenting.

You mentioned the homeschooling you've been doing. As a parent, what's the biggest fear that you have for your children as they grow older?

It’s not a matter of wanting my kids to go out and have to be so talented, it’s about them giving their best, no matter what they did. That's what my desire is for them.

My fear would just be that they would not feel the worth and value that they bring, because I really believe that everybody needs to know that we all carry worth and value and God has a plan for every one of us. 

Check out the YouTube or podcast version where Leah Amico does the Win the Day Rocket Round, answering questions about her favorite quote, what advice she’d give his 18-year-old self, the one thing on her bucket list, and a whole lot more. 🚀

And just that they would compare themselves and want to give up and think that there wasn't hope. Especially in today's day and age, where we hear about so many people struggling with mental health, so I just want them to mentally know they're worth, their value and then to be able to really live out their goals and their dreams.

How do we build resilience in children?

I think through explaining what we've all gone through and been through and really allowing communication. That's the biggest thing, because I think a lot of people have really lost the art of communication.

Explaining, "No, everybody's gone through this type of stuff, and here's what I went through, and this is normal and this is natural." Like you said, it is hard because everything is out there and that is different than when we were growing up.

But that idea of, again, high school was hard for me. I think of just the friends that I had in high school, the male athletes that just found me a target and just loved picking on me and making fun of me and saying all kinds of really mean things about me. 

I can remember going home and just crying about it. Like, "What did I do? I didn't do anything." But then I think of kids now that can't get away with it at home or away from it, I should say, because it is on the internet and people are being attacked in their own homes as well, in that sense. I think being able to communicate allows people to share what they're struggling with.

I've done some speaking at some schools and at the end I ask, "What struggles do you have?" And the things that constantly come up are anxiety, anger, depression and so okay, let's talk about that. Let's talk about why and let's get to the root of some of these things, and I think if we can talk through and communicate, it can open a lot of doors.

The things you're talking about there, they're simple questions, but they're really deep in a judgment free environment, just to get some really great responses from these people to feel like they have a voice.

The power of story – having a conversation and being able to listen – it's critically important. I feel like today, it's such a noisy, angry, emotional world we're in that people don't feel comfortable asking questions or leaning into that voice more and more.

Yeah. I completely agree. So one of the things that I know, when the riots were happening, I wanted my kids to be able to go talk to an African American cop who was our friend, and let him tell you some stories so that you see that that's not the bad guy. That's not the enemy. 

Although in certain areas, it's being lifted up to look like that, and we all have a lot more in common than our differences. 

So I agree with you, the power of story, it matters.

The last few years have been crazy for the world. What have you learned about yourself during the last two and a half years?

I learned that I thrive by having a lot to do and when I have nothing to do, I can waste a lot of time! I would've never known because my life was always busy, and then it came to a screeching halt, like everybody else, so for a couple weeks I was like, "That's good." And then I realized, "Wow."

I was used to traveling a lot and speaking a lot and I did some online things, but it was a lot different. 

And the good thing again, what's the solution to this? Luckily it was like, "Okay. Well, what do I want this to look like going forward then? If this is what's happened and it has changed, what do I want to do?"

That has allowed me to then open up opportunities to really work on my brand and the GOLD Standard.

Yeah, and just being with people in person again is so nice, isn't it!? I mean, I don't care what we're faced with, two years is way too long to not be able to see people.

I think introverts were a bit like, "This is okay," but extroverts, "Give me people. I need people!"

What's an affirmation that you would write on a flashcard that you could show yourself on your worst day?

This is a hard one. I would say just, you are capable. You are capable. Just show up. 

I think at times, I get overwhelmed at moments and I'm having a hard day, maybe I get into the comparison mode for a minute, and then I think, "I want to shut down." It's like, "No, you're capable. You can do this."

Final question, what's one thing you do to Win the Day?

Every day I wake up and I pray and I give the day to God and say, "Let it be whatever your will is. I'm going to give my very best," and then, I read the Bible and then I hit the day.

Love it. Leah, thanks so much for coming on the show.

Thank you so much for having me.

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