Meet Elizabeth Emery

We recently connected with Elizabeth Emery and have shared our conversation below.

Elizabeth, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Confidence is such an interesting topic and I never hesitate asking guests about it. In fact, I’m putting together a mini-series that will post in the fall for Hear Her Sports related to confidence. I recently saw in Katie Moon in person and asked her about confidence. Katie is the Tokyo Olympics pole vault Gold Medalist and double World Champion. She’s been on Hear Her Sports a couple of times (here: https://www.hearhersports.com/archives#/episode-14-pole-vaulter-katie-nageotte-more-than-1-way-to-look-healthy/ & here: https://www.hearhersports.com/archives#/fast-track-katie-nageotte/) Katie has gone through lots of ups and downs and has had incredible success. Her insights into being confident are incredible!

What struck me about Katie’s answer is she addresses the fleeting nature of confidence. The word seems so solid and enduring, but for me confidence doesn’t work like that. Confidence comes from doing and practice and can change situation to situation. What I aim for in my own confidence is going into a situation knowing that I will do well. Too often, I don’t take enough boost from past successes to translate into future situations.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Since 2016, I have hosted and produced the female athlete podcast Hear Her Sports. Every episode features long form interviews (think a sporty version of NPR’s Fresh Air) with female athletes and other women in sport (coaches, nutritionists, doctors, and scientists).

I’m proud to be part of the conversation around women’s sports and to have stuck with it for so many years despite challenges. Even in the past two years the field has exploded! I find it exciting to have a center seat for those changes. Guests often say the conversation we have is one of the best interviews they’ve done. That makes me feel really great! I think guests respond to me because I’ve been a professional athlete and because I’m a woman. I offer a fresh perspective and give them respect as athletes and really listen to them.

Also, because Hear Her Sports is long-form, we are able to get deeper into what interests them. Hear Her Sports is one of the few opportunities my guests have to take charge of their own voice, their own story.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

To me what matters most is curiosity, willingness to experiment (which means sometimes failure), and pushing the ability to be uncomfortable and tackle the unknown.

In my own athletic career, both as a pro and now very much not as a pro, I most enjoy the training, the process of improving body and mind. That love of training makes each outing fun. What can I learn? What am I noticing? What can I try? Being less attached to the outcome makes me less fearful of things not working out.

To develop those qualities requires going back to your original question on confidence. It’s a balancing act. Confidence is terrific but overconfidence can close doors to discovery and meeting new things with an open mind.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

I’ll stick to a sport analogy. When I was a pro cyclist, the adage was train your weaknesses and race your strengths.
This acknowledges the reality of genetic gifts or interests we have that make us each good at certain things, while at the same time supports the idea that it’s important to improve and grow where we are less skilled. On Hear Her Sports, I love to learn about how my guests train and work to overcome weaknesses but then focus on where they shine to achieve greatness. Cross country ski racer Jessie Diggins (in Episode 157 https://www.hearhersports.com/#/ep157-jessie-diggins-olympic-crosscountry-ski-racer/ & the Tour de Ski Race Report https://www.hearhersports.com/#/jessie-diggins-tour-de-ski-race-report/) shares her strengths and weaknesses. She acknowledges each and works in the winter to improve, but when she competes, her focus is on taking advantage of her best qualities.

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