Going for the Gold-Tokyo, Japan with Michelle Moultrie

To get to the next level you have to be able to perform at that level.

It's ok to dream of yourself in a position.

On processing failure:  "When you make a mistake you must learn to move on quickly."

On competition:  "Love trying to get the best out of myself."

Challenge yourself to succeed.

Focus is in alignment with purpose.

On team: "Provides opportunity to speak into others' lives."


Twitter: https://twitter.com/moultrie16

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/usasoftball

Transcript

Hello, everyone, this is Barbara Littles and I'm coming to you today from high capacity woman. And let me tell you this morning, I have a young woman here, and she is going for the gold. So I want you all to get your coffee, your latte and your tea. I want you to sit back she's as we talk to a world champion. Again, right now she's getting ready for the softball Olympics. And she said we're cheering her on, as she says to Tokyo, Japan. And so we're going to be talking today to Michelle Moultrie. And let me tell you a little bit about Michelle. Michelle is a world champions I said, you're gonna find out about her journey this morning. She's I know that she in 2019. She was a Pan American Games gold medalist. She was a gold medalist in 2000. And I believe 18 Gold Medalist with the WB SC, and she has her dossier. So long as I did this morning, we will be here all day. So I'm just going to stop there. And after we come back, we're going to hear from this world champion, and we're gonna hear about the journey. And I can tell you that it is a journey of faith, perseverance, focus, and leader.

Well, thank you for coming, I will have to tell everybody, ladies, this is my niece. And she's I told her she is actually living my dream. So Michelle, you are on your way to the Olympics. But before we get there, I want you to tell us tell the ladies a little bit about your journey.

So I had a really just cool story, I think of playing softball. And I don't even almost know how I ended up here. Because I think just it's been such a cool story of faith and of God putting me in places and giving me opportunities. But I started playing softball. When I was young, my parents put me in T ball and I spell in my I have older sisters, I was following their footsteps, they played sports. And I just it was something I always love is playing on a softball team. And I think it was I can even remember friends from those those young teams. And so even the friendship of playing on teams has been something that I've always loved about softball and youth sports. And I always just played in local local leagues, I played a little bit of travel ball, but not as much as a lot of sports are like now at the level. And I didn't think I would play in college softball, but I got an opportunity like pretty much to try out right at trial for my college softball team right after I had graduated high school to get seen by coach. And just that's not very common. But most people get recruited years before they start their college journey. And so I kind of got picked up right at the last moment. And I went to the University of Florida, which was one of the nation's best softball teams at the time. And still, and I ended up on that team ended up playing really well. When I was a junior in college, I got invited to try out for Team USA. And it was I never saw anything like that coming. And it was just an amazing opportunity. And even that year was a rebuilding year. So they were kind of rebuilding from scratch. And I ended up making that team and have been on that team ever since. And so that is in 2011

Wow, that Michelle makes sense, the way she says that she just makes it sound like oh, that's just you know, oh my God, and God truly has led you away. Because it seems like you've been involved in a lot of different intersections. And we're going to talk about that where you, you know, came up with the opportunity. And then there was a change. Like, for example, last year, you are supposed to be in the 2020 Olympics. And of course, that didn't happen because of COVID. Right? What she's going for the goal in 2021 so let's go back a little bit you started playing when you were young, and you know you continue to play you know, like you said t ball and a number of other things. What was it about softball necessarily that really interested you though?

I really liked softball, I think I like the the team aspect of it that just the team sport. I like the challenge of it as well. Like there's so many different parts of the game. There's there's the defense side, there's throwing and hitting, and then there's kind of strategy and you get a little bit of individual time I guess when you're at bat and things like that. And so I think I've always loved that about the game. And then even like I said earlier, I really connected like with teammates when I was playing softball kind of more than than other sports and so something that even like Adam Maybe like a youth level, I just felt like, I was part of a team I was we were going for something like, you know, we were gonna build all season and then at the end, try to win, you know, the league or something. So I think that's something I've always just really liked about softball in particular.

Well, I want to come back and ask you about that. Because one of the things that I've noticed, as you have had quite a bit of media coverage and interviews, there think two things that stand out to me as I was reading those articles over the years. And there are two things that I've always heard you mentioned in those articles, and I'm gonna come back later and mention them. But you've always mentioned God, and your faith, and you always mention team. And so I know that that is a huge part of your life and what you do, and some people have such a hard time with team, whether it's business, whether it's, you know, in sports, and so especially when we're gifted, you know, so I will come back and ask you about that. But I also know that when you finished high school, first of all, you were on the number one team you on Florida Gators have it from Jacksonville, so she's in sunny Ville, Jacksonville today. So Jacksonville, Florida. So I have to say that because I'm in West Virginia, and the sun's not shining. And even if it's not sunny in Jacksonville, I know it's more sun than it is in West Virginia. But tell us because when you graduated from high school, you have scholarships or understanding to other places in the country. But you didn't want to leave Florida. That's the story I got. You didn't want Florida. Yeah,

I had some scholarships to like I actually did you get a scholarship to go to Howard, kind of right at the end of my high school journey. And I had some scholarships in Florida, I had some other scholarships in Florida that weren't like full scholarship offers, but I really wanted to go to the University of Florida, even just for the school, like, you know, being, you know, not very far away from Jacksonville, I just thought I just love Florida, I want to be like, this is a school I want to get to, and I wasn't sure I was gonna get an opportunity to play softball there. But I know their softball team is just like, really, really good. So I wanted to kind of pursue that.

So my understanding is that you walked onto the team. Is that not Yeah, and I want to bring that up, because people sometimes quit very easily. And it takes some perseverance to have some scholarships, even if they're partial, or whatever, other places, but then your mind is this is a team I want to play for. This is a school I want to attend. So I'm going to try to walk on Tell us about that experience. Yeah,

I think something that I didn't know, in high school was that you know that other people were being recruited kind of early earlier in their high school years, maybe like when they're sophomores or freshmen. And so I, I was kind of a late starter when I was a senior kind of trying to reach out to coaches and things like that. And so when I did reach out to the University of Florida, and to a lot of other schools, I got, you know, we're, we're done recruiting, we're already done recruiting your class of students. And so I got a lot of nose, and pretty much all nose from for most people at that point. So it did kind of take some perseverance there to say, you know, I'm going to continue to try. And I think I even wanted to was like, okay, maybe this is the end of my softball career. But I do remember my dad, specifically saying, you've put so much work into this at this point, like, you've got to keep trying all the way up until you know, until someone tells you know, for sure. And so I did get an email back from the University of Florida. And they said, well, we're done recruiting for your class. But we do have open tryouts sometimes. And you know, we'll take a look at you, if you're, I'd already gotten accepted to the school. If you're around, we'll take a look. And so I ended up getting to try out kind of at one of their summer camps. So I went to their summer camp, and they got to see me play, and game situations and different things like that. And then I got a call from the coach later that summer, saying, we're gonna let you play with a team for the fall season. We'll just see how it goes. And then we'll go from there. And so it was I played really well, and it got to stay on the team.

Well, we'll just see how it goes. I remember your coach, and I it's not exact quote, but I remember him talking about you coming and trying out. And he's, and you really turned out to be one of the top players on the Gators. And so you know, ladies, I just want you to know that to me your story. Michelle has been so encouraging and so inspiring, because I know to have my brother, your dad say, you know, listen, go. Go anyway. And to have that family support is so important. You know, especially at your age when you're trying to you know, really pursue something that you know, I'm not really sure but this is what I love to do. Tell us about your family support and because I know that you will tell us about your family. First of all, this is a brothers and then you have family support in terms of your journey.

Okay, so I have three older sisters, and they all played sports and we're very close and I also have two younger brothers, as well. And our family, I think we just have a great family. We all, you know, grew up together playing sports and stuff around the house and outside and organized leagues and unorganized leagues. And so we just have like a family that loves to be active, I think. And my mom and dad have always been very supportive on my journey, and just especially kind of a great bond with my dad playing softball, because, you know, I started off playing t ball for a couple of years. But then when I right around the age of maybe 10, my dad, he decided he was going to coach the team, he was going to coach my team. So yeah, so then. So then we ended up, it's been a great bonding, I think experience for us. And he's always coached me, even from then he was coaching my team all the way up through high school, I was playing on teams, where he was my coach. And then when I would come home for the summers, he would continue to practice with me. And even in this in this season, now, as a professional, I don't have that many resources, and most of the time practicing by myself, but when I get the chance, my dad still goes out with me to the park, and we were hitting together and talking through things. And so that kind of support has been, I don't think I'd be here without that kind of support. So it's very special. 

To me, that is so awesome. It's so awesome. You know, like I said, you know, your dad and my brother and I used to play baseball together when we were young. And so I'd be the only girl out there is a little tomboy Michelle, I always say that you really are living my dream. Not only that, guys are number 16, which is my birthday. I always remember a number. And so to see you in this place is absolutely wonderful. And then to see the bond, you know, with the whole family, and you know, your dad, and I know, a lot of us in the family, we had our chickens to go to Japan last year. And that didn't happen. But we are so grateful to be really cheering you on. And I love the story of the perseverance of you, you know, really pursuing what you want. Because quite frankly, there are only a certain number of players on a team. So it's not like, you know, there are 50 players, you know, on a team, so it's competitive. It's competitive. Tell us how you feel about competition.

I really, I love competition. I love i think i think i love trying to get the best out of myself. And just seeing, you know, kind of that kind of almost competing with how good can I be by if I'm trying my hardest if I'm learning new things. And so that's kind of how I feel about competition. Sometimes it's kind of funny, because I sometimes I don't think I'm that competitive because I I don't know, I don't necessarily in board games and stuff. I'm not like trying to embarrass the other people or like, you know, I don't know, he's naive. That's a good analogy. Yeah. But I'm always trying to get the best, I think out of myself and challenge myself to succeed. And so I think that's kind of how I feel about it.

Okay, so that's what I was looking for was that key, because people see competition in a lot of different ways. But there's something about a person and I did think that isn't anatomy to an Olympian, I really do. There's something about a person who tries to get the best out of themselves. It's not so much about everybody else, we recognize people are there. But I'm trying to get the best out of myself. Tell us what it's like. Because I think this is so important in any part of life. Tell us what it's like to get the try to get the best out of yourself and to be disciplined enough. Talk to us about discipline to get the best out of yourself. See, I need some healthier lady. So you know, I'm digging in for the gold today, you know, because you've had to say you've had to stay active, you had to stay in shape. There's so many things and mentally that you've had to do in order to be in this place. So talk to us about discipline and really self leading yourself.

This is it's been interesting, I think. So for me, I think it's just one of the biggest things is even just staying in the sport and even if you fail, continuing to continuing to move forward. And so like there's a lot of failure in softball, you know, if you're if you have four at bats for the day, if you get two hits, you'd be to two out of four is considered great and you know baseball, softball, and so there's a lot of times where you're not having a good day, your swing doesn't feel great. And I think it's for me trying to get the best out of myself is really working on those those different skills and disciplines and thinking them through and coming up with my sometimes coming up with my own kind of trying to coach myself not necessarily just always taking information from others, but really kind of like taking information assess like is this what I feel is this good for me. And so kind of thinking about softball in that way. I do a lot of training that way. And then it is definitely hard to train even physically, like going to the gym and running and lifting and I probably don't do that. Great With those things, but it's, it's hard to do by yourself. But I think it's those things, you also have to just kind of keep pushing through and realizing that, you know, even if you have a team of people to work with, or you have to do it by yourself that I'm working towards a goal, and trying to prioritize what types of things I'm going to practice, those are type of things, I'm always kind of thinking about, Wow, well, I'd like you to speak in Michelle, to this word, this next word I'm going to give you because I think that everything in life that's worthwhile, I remember, my dad telling us this, you know, anything in life that's worthwhile is gonna be there's gonna be some difficulty in it. But I think of the word sacrifice, and I know that you have had must have had to make a lot of sacrifice over the years, to be where you are. And sometimes, people now don't want to make the sacrifice. Talk to us about the types of sacrifices and decisions you've had to make in order to stay in the game. And to perfect your game. 

The first or the, I think that kind of the biggest thing that comes to mind is, is really like a financial sacrifice. Because I think in softball, there's not very many opportunities to continue playing after college. And so it's definitely not like men's sports, where they're making millions of dollars. And so you're kind of trying to mostly, I think, in softball, you kind of get a little bit of stipend here or there. Sometimes your stipend is attached to if you won, if you winning. And so it's very, I think, I see a lot of women in sports having to have other jobs, besides they're working out their sport. So they have to go into coaching, or they have to have something part time, as well as practicing, and training. And so that's kind of been my journey for a long time. Only in the past, maybe two or three years have I been able to focus, particularly on softball, because it's been an Olympic year. But the years prior to that I've had to have other jobs. So I've had other coaching jobs and having to do like softball camps or, and I've had some internships and things like that. And so this, that's been one of the biggest kind of sacrifices. And I think even it's been a little bit difficult, because sometimes people will discourage you not they're not trying to be discouraging, but they'll say, like, is this really, you know, what are you working towards? There's no softballs, not usually an Olympic sport. So 10 years ago, someone might say to me, like, this is not a good choice for you to be playing professional sports, when there's not, it'd be better for you to get a stable job to go into this a different area. And so I think, kind of mentally you have that battle as well, if Am I doing the right thing? And I'm just trying to, like you said, you know, I'm pursuing my dream, so I'm going to stick with it. And so I think those are some of the biggest sacrifices that I've had to deal with.

I love that, because those are huge sacrifices. They really are. And I think when you are taking a path that has not been traveled, or the road less traveled, I love that, but the road less traveled, especially when people have not traveled that road before they look and say, Well, why are you doing that? You know, I, you know, I've had people in my life, say, you know, why are you making that change over here? Why don't you stay here? And a lot of times, it's because it's not because people are mean or malicious is because they think that they're looking out for your best interest. When you're asking the question, and then you know, sometimes you begin to ask that question yourself. So I really applaud you for staying in there and really pursuing your dream. One thing that I've noticed about you seem to have an extreme eye and maybe this is just from the outside looking in a focus. Talk to us about focus, how important has focus been to you, in your career, and in life,

It's been, it's been very important. And for me, my focus is kind of in, in line with my purpose. And so I've, I've actually found a lot of purpose in softball, not just playing the game, just playing the sport. But also when we talked about like, earlier about our team, I found a lot of times that the people that I'm with on my teams that I've had an opportunity to, like speak into their life, or to be just a good friend to somebody who really needed a friend, sometimes you're watching a sport on TV, and you just see an athlete as an athlete, but they could be going through some things hard things in life. And it's a really cool dynamic to be a part of the team that way and to kind of get to know people as as people and not just as this is your profession, and this is what you're doing for us. And so I have found so much purpose in that. And that's why I do like a lot of faith type of things. Try to mix it in with the sports because I think there's people who and there's people who almost need, they need friends, they need somebody who's a light to their life. They need just people who are going to be encouraging and I feel like God has put me on teams like special Typically, to just even just be friends to people and to be a minister to the people around me. And so I'm always thinking about that. And so I kind of focus on that when I, when I feel like I get some, maybe noise from the outside about issue good enough to be on this team or something like that. I just try to keep the focus there. 

Wow, that is absolutely awesome. You know, and the issue of faith, I know is important to you, and the central part focus of your life. And we're going to talk about a little bit more how you've incorporated that into softball. But I you know, we've had women that have been on the podcast, Michelle, and they talked about building their businesses and things that have happened to them. And each one of them their business, and what they were doing was fueled by their faith and some things that they know. And acknowledge would have never happened for them, no matter how hard they worked, absent their faith. And so to find purpose in that is absolutely so critical. And I know that you do camps, if you've done camps, right during the summit, tell us about your camps.

So I do some softball camps where I'm teaching, instructing. And so that way, we get to interact with youth players and and help them get better. And a friend of mine, Jamie Reed, who's also on the US team, she just had a great idea about going out to just be more more visible going out to youth tournaments and things like that, and speaking and, and doing instruction and camps. And so, when we do a camp, we try to incorporate not only the softball instruction, but we'll have question and answer time, we'll have time where we're sharing our stories, whether it's faith, whether it's our softball journey, letting the young woman know like, it's not just about softball, but there's some things there's now here's the hard parts about college softball here is the teamwork type of issues that people go through. And so we're trying to give them kind of like a more whole experience than just like the softball instruction. So it's really cool. 

Some of the camps that we get to do. That's great. So you're really giving them out life lessons, right? That may have come from your experience playing softball, but like, this is life. These are the life lessons and the things that that you've learned. So tell us because I understand that each year that you've been on the USA softball team, and even for the Olympics, you have to try out each year. Yes. And I don't think people know that. I didn't know that, you know, kind of once you get on the team, and you have you still good you're on the team. But you actually have to try out each year, what was the first year that you weren't on the USA team?

The first year was 2011.

So you've been trying out every year? What is that? Like? What is that process? like? What does it feel like? And what did it feel like when you try it out for the Olympic team?

It's always a nerve racking process. Just like you said, I mean, there's only so many spots open on a team. And so to know that, you know, you can go out there, you can try your hardest, but it may or may not happen is always just, yeah, just nerve racking. And then a lot of times in professional sports, you're training on your own, so you don't necessarily have a coach to follow. And you have to come up with your own plan your own training. And so sometimes it's it's thinking, you know, did I do enough? Am I doing the right things? Am I practicing the right things. So I think there's a lot of pressure there. But it's been it's been good. Over the years, I've been fortunate enough to continue to make the team. And it's always hard, even the trial process is hard, because we end up scrimmaging each other and playing each other. And so you're facing like, a world class pitcher after World Class pitcher. So it's kind of just, it's just a fun, it's kind of a fun environment, because everybody knows it's gonna be really hard. Yeah, but then that final Olympic tryout, it was just more pressure than ever, because, you know, you know, there's, there's different people, some years if there's not really anything going on, maybe you don't get everybody trying out for the team. But on this year, you know, everybody in softball wants to be on this team. And so you have a lot of competition, you know, it's like, you've been working at this and, you know, you know, you don't really necessarily know if it's just the right time for you, and if it's gonna work out, so it was very stressful, but it was very, also just almost like surreal when I didn't make the team so it was really cool.

When you make the team it's like really rewarding. It's like, it's so funny because I remember one of you. Well, first when you first tried for USA team, but then when you tried out for the Olympic team. We were all sitting and waiting. We were waiting for that number to come up we know. And I think it was wasn't a Sunday they announced it. I think it might have been a Sunday that they came out the rubies I say that because I remember posting on Facebook. I remember calling my pastor. So but that is so wonderful. I just absolutely love this journey. I think that your story is is so critical to people who are doing business, or who are doing sports or who are doing life, this issue of perseverance, this issue of getting up and trying, again, you talked earlier about being you know, there's a lot of failure, you know, in softball, because you know, you might have a good game and you know, some days, you may not have a great game, how do you process failure in life?

I've been thinking about this lately. And I, I think, especially when it comes to softball, I think that the fact that I am on a team helps me to not put as much pressure on myself when I do fail. And so I kind of tried to think about it that way that you know, if I failed during one at that towards it was if I was the last one, I was the last chance for our team. And it's the bottom of the seventh inning. And it's not to put so much pressure on myself in that moment, because our team had a whole game to, I guess, perform or succeed. And so I'm not trying to put too much pressure on myself in that situation. And then also, I think I had some moments and college where I did fail, kind of in a big in a big game, I dropped the ball or something. And it was a great learning experience for me, because I just realized, you know, everybody gets over it, you know, you have to kind of keep moving, you know, even a lot of times, you might fail, you might make a big mistake in the third inning of the game. And you have to, you have to move past it, you still have a game left to play, and there's a chance for you to to do well. And so you kind of have to be able to move on quickly.

I love that lesson, because now you're in the outfield, right? Yes. And you play different positions in the out what position you're playing now in the outfield, right now I play right field.

Right field, okay? All right. I love that analogy. Because Because a lot of times, things do happen in life. And you can sit there, and you can ponder it for the rest of the game, and you're just out of the game, mentally you're out of the game. Or you can say, you know, third inning, I have, I have the rest of the game to play. Let me get up and get past this. And it really takes some mental self talk, the right self talk, to be able to do that. So ladies, I want you to no matter what you're building today, I just want you to remember that that you are going to have, you know, success is on the other side of failure. And I just don't believe you can get to success, success without experiencing some failure. And so it's a matter of how you process it, how you move through it. And that's in your business that's in your career no matter what it is. And I would say, Michelle, that one moment doesn't define you. Right. You know, one moment doesn't define you, even though sometimes people will try to keep you in that moment. Yeah, you remember when right? But one moment doesn't define you. But we enjoy the moments that are great. And those that are not we move past those moments. So tell us what is what's next for you. I know you're getting ready for Tokyo. And what is that training process? Like, as you're getting ready for for going for the gold? As you're getting ready to go to go to Tokyo take the gold what what does that training process look like for you.

So right now, we started back in January. And we're our team got back together. So because we weren't practicing together at all for the last couple of months. But we so we've started practicing for about two weeks at a time, we'll get together and practice because we also all live in different places of the country. So you can't necessarily practice together all the time. So we'll get together and practice. We're practicing everyday lifting and running and just working on different things. And then we we have some games, hopefully there's some college teams that are they've started up even I think last week, the college season started. So moving forward, we'll play some games probably against college seems to prepare. And then we have, we kind of stay in that schedule. So we'll go probably two weeks on then two weeks at home by ourselves preparing and then back with the team for two weeks. And then as we get closer and closer to Tokyo, our whole team will be together. Some of our players are still in college. So we've got three college players that aren't practicing with us right now. But starting in June, our whole team will be together and we'll probably go all of June and then all of July and then Tokyo. The Olympics is the end of July. Wow.

Wow. Well, you know, I just I love it. I you know, the it's so funny because when you say no, we're two weeks, you know on someplace and then we're two weeks home by ourselves. And the interesting thing is and I think that is these lessons are so important in life that you know what you're gonna have periods of time when you have to push yourself you know, so that those two weeks at home ladies remember it's not two weeks off, it's two weeks Oh, we're she has to push herself in reference to making sure that you know you stay on top of your game physically and otherwise. And so but softball has given you An opportunity also to see different parts of the world. Yes, tell us about that. Because I, you know, I like to travel. So I think that's wonderful. Where have you gone and what you've been able to see playing softball,

I've gotten to go to I've been in preparation to go into Tokyo, we've been going to Japan. So that's been a really cool experience. and Japan also has, they have a great softball team. So we go over there to practice sometimes in the past couple of years. And then we also play we play a lot in Canada. And so some maybe like one time, a summer, we might have a Canada tournament, every now and then we'll go to a South American country and play. And we've been one time when I was on the team, we went to our championship World Championship was in the Netherlands. So we got to go to Europe and play there. And so it's always really cool just to see different cultures. And even, you can kind of see cultural differences, even in the game of softball, which is kind of cool, because you know, different. Different countries have different strategies of how they play and different kind of even mechanics and stuff of how they do things. And so it's it's really cool to be able to play on an international level.

That is absolutely awesome. So what would you say? Because there are a lot of, you know, of course, you know, your uncle Frederick, my husband, he just brags about all the time. And so he has all these little girls used to be in Michigan, they say, the show was over 16. So they're, they're young girls out there that are watching you, their parents are watching, what would you say? What advice would you give them if they really were thinking about pursuing a college career or professional career in softball,

I would tell them just even to, it's okay to dream of themselves in that position. And so for me, I don't think I ever really saw myself playing in college or playing Pro, but I kind of wish that I had that dream on my side a little bit younger age. And so I would encourage them to Yeah, to just have the, I don't have the just encouraged to be able to pursue that dream. And then I would also say that the practice is important. So it's important to practice the skills of the game. Because even when you do get to a next level, you're gonna have to perform at that level. So it's, there's a lot that goes with that. And then, and then I'd also say, to, to kind of be maybe proactive, maybe in those high school years of reaching out to coaches there, there's some different rules about whether you can actually talk to them at a certain age, but you can always reach out and you can send them videos, and you can say, I'm interested in coming to your school, and they might not be able to respond to you. But they do get that information. And so I think, you know, if there's somewhere that you really want to go, just kind of starting the process of reaching out and seeing if that opportunity is there, reaching out,

That is great advice. And I think ladies, that's great advice for anyone, no matter what you're doing is to reach out to that next place, the next level of where it is you want to go. So lady, I want you to refresh your coffee, and your latte and your tea. Because when we come back, we're going to have we're going to take notes, and Michelle is going to give us some notes just on life lessons learned that we can apply anywhere.

All right, Michelle went back to let's take notes. The ladies have their notepads out and they've refreshed the coffee, tea and latte. And so I just want to ask you in this segment, what are some of the things that you would say, advice that you would give to people just in general, in life for whatever it is they want to pursue?

I would say one of the greatest things I'm learning and have learned through softball really is that point of purpose. And so what is it like, intrinsically to you, you know, why are you doing what you're doing. And I think if you can, if you can find something that clicks for you that this is what I love to do. And this is how I feel like I'm making an impact on others. I think that that's going to be the best. I've always found that as extremely motivating. And I'm not always motivated by other people saying, Okay, this is the step you should be on. But I've always found that internal purpose as, as something that just keeps me going keeps me being to be able to persevere through hardships and different challenges. And so I think purpose is just really important to me.

Another thing I'm learning lately is just how to how to work well with others and how to kind of collaborate. And so it's interesting on our team, you know, we have 18 players who are all really great at what they do. And we have to somehow kind of come together and sometimes it's sometimes it's not necessarily easy because everybody is very sure about this is how this is how I prepare when I'm by myself. And this is how you prepare when you're by yourself. And so we have to kind of come together and, and work together. And I think that I'm learning that if someone else prepares differently than me, it's not necessarily wrong, but it's their journey, it's how they think. And so kind of having some grace for each other, and that we're not all the same. I'm really learning that lately. And I think it's really, it's really going great. It helps with the communication, it helps with the unity of team. So that's something I'm learning lately, too.

But that is awesome. Because I always tell people, you know, you are more than enough, and to give yourself grace. And sometimes we give out some grace, you know, Michelle, but we're not wanting to give other people grace. And so I think learning that lesson, you know, in collaboration and in teamwork, is that, you know, it's not necessarily my ways the highway, I could learn from other people, they can learn from me, but it's only when we give each other grace, that we're able to do that we're able to do that. So as we come to the end, Michelle, I know that there's some fun facts about you. I got some fun facts about you. Your favorite book I heard was, of course, the Bible. Yes. And redeeming love, and you love Beth Moore. So we have a lot in common. Tell us about that. Tell us about I know, you've talked about your faith. But how do you incorporate that in your daily life in terms of you know, your daily living, whether it be about softball around life?

Yeah. So I, I tried to read the Bible every day and get the word. And maybe it's, I feel like it's very important. And then also, I've found that I want to learn from others I want to be getting, you know, I want to listen to other podcasts or other people speaking about different also messages from the Bible. So Beth Moore is one of my favorite people to follow. And I, I've done some of her Bible studies and things like that. And I feel like it's helped me to even say, Okay, this is how I'm going to read and study. And so I feel like that's been a really cool part of my journey. And then I also really liked music. So I like listening to, I like to go on walks and listen to music. And, and a lot of times, it's it's going to be some sort of Christian music, that I'm just helping me get to, like a good place. And so I think that's kind of part of my daily routine as well.

That's wonderful. I love that. And then you have this downtime when you when you do have some downtime. I hear Pride and Prejudice, Sound of Music, and you got mail some of your favorite movie. Yeah. I like this. So tell us about that. Tell us. It's so funny. Because on my husband, and I've watched movies, we like different movies, okay. Your list would be my list, and he would have a totally different list. But is, obviously there's a type of movie that you like to watch. When you have that time. Tell us about that type of movie type of downtime you like? Yeah,

I like I really tend to like, like, kind of historical fiction, so kind of the Pride and Prejudice kind of, you know, back in time or something. And I also like, you know, family oriented, family oriented movies. romantic movies. Yeah, I so that's kind of like the type of things that I like, and also things are like, pretty calming. And so maybe comedy, but more like in a more like a sitcom type of comedy, then, you know, it's just funny to me, like everyday life, you know, everyday life. So tell us how we could support you as you are heading for the gold people. If they want to follow you follow where you're doing, follow what the team is doing. How can they follow you?

If you follow me at my on my Twitter, which is at Moultrie, 16. And, and then our also our softball team has a Twitter page, Facebook page, Instagram. So if you search USA, softball or USA softball, women's national team, they all are always posting pictures from our practices and camps and sometimes game clips and things like that, or streaming some of our games or stream so you can even watch them. So if you want to follow along, you can follow USA softball, and yeah, there'll be plenty of content on us there.

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. And, you know, I want to say before we close, Michelle, as you know, I remember when you joined us a team, they took softball out of the Olympics that year. Yeah, I mean, so you've had some longevity here. You've been waiting. And we're like, okay, let us stay healthy enough. Now they're putting it back in the Olympics. So I just want to say we are so proud of you. Thank you for coming by today and visiting that high capacity woman and truly you are hiking Capacity woman and you are such an example for women your age, and for women who are older in terms of really how to persevere, how to have faith, how to focus, how to really lead ourselves, and how to have a life that has a high capacity life, not only for us, but in the glorification of God. Thank you so much for coming, Michelle. We're praying for you as you go for the gold.