Loving This Life Abbie Hillis

After 6 months of being silent on the podcast, I have finally been able to put together an episode that recaps the Advocating for Athletes series. The series launched an explosion of gymnasts speaking out about their experience, which, in return, led to a group of us filing a report with the US Center for Safe Sport. I wanted to give these survivors a chance to also share their stories so the episode begins with their stories. Halfway through, I begin sharing a recap on our experience since filing our report. It has not been easy and we are fighting an uphill battle, but we believe that together we are stronger. 
 
WARNING: The content in this episode can be triggering. Please skip over any parts that trigger you if you are not in a healthy place. 
 
Learn more about the podcast here: www.lovingthislife.org
 
Click here to listen to the Gymcastic podcast that shares the details of the security breach with Safe Sport. 

In the fourth episode of the Advocating for Athletes Series, attorney Michelle Simpson Tuegel joins me to shed light on her experience with USA Gymnastics, what needs to change in the sport, and how we can shift the culture. This episode is jam packed with knowledge bombs on the legalities behind sports and athletes and reporting, as well as addressing the issues with the governing bodies such as USA Gymnastics and the USOC. Michelle is one hell of a woman and is someone I admire for her work and just who she genuinely is as a person. ⁠⁠A little bit about Michelle:⁠⁠Michelle Simpson Tuegel has a national practice handling wrongful death, personal injury, and civil sexual abuse and assault cases. She was one of the first attorneys to file a lawsuit connected to the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas and she recently represented former U.S. National Team and Olympic gymnasts who were sexually abused by the Olympic team’s former doctor, Larry Nassar. Michelle started her legal career in criminal defense where she handled and tried multiple death penalty cases and numerous other felony cases. A former world-ranked athlete in slalom water skiing, Tuegel now uses that competitive drive and intensity to champion clients’ cases. Michelle was named to The National Trial Lawyers: Top 25 Women Trial Lawyers (2019), Top 100 Trial Lawyers (2014-2020) and Top 40 under 40 (2017-2020); D Magazine’s Best Lawyers Under 40 in Dallas in 2020; and to the Texas Rising Stars list, the Up-and-Coming 100 lawyers, and Up-and-Coming 50 Women lawyers. Michelle served on the board of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (2016-2018), and she currently serves on the honorary board of the Texas Advocacy Project and the Executive Committee of the National Trial Lawyers. Michelle is licensed to practice in Texas and New York.
 
Michelle's Firm: https://www.shewinslaw.com/
Michelle's Insta: www.instagram.com/michelleshewinslaw
To learn more about TAP visit www.texasadvocacyproject.org.
To learn share your story visit: www.lovingthislife.org/shareyourstory
To donate to TAP visit: https://www.texasadvocacyproject.org/LovingThisLife 

In the third episode, Mckenzie Wofford and her mom, Kristie Wofford, join me as they share their experience with being an elite gymnast and parent. Mckenzie describes her experience at the Karolyi Camp, abuse experience with Nassar and Valeri Liukin. Mckenzie is proof that your future is not determined by her past. She experienced being black-listed as an elite gymnast and how she overcame that and went on to win championships for the women's gymnastics team at the University of Oklahoma. This episode further illustrates the issues within USA Gymnastics and the demand that change needs to happen now. 
⁠A little bit about Mckenzie:⁠⁠Mckenzie began her sales career at Dell Technologies after graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor’s degree in HR. She competed for the OU gymnastics team where she was a 2x All American and earned 3 team national championship titles (2014, 2016 and 2017). Mckenzie was the Big 12 event specialist of the year in 2016 and ranked number one in the nation on uneven bars for the majority of the season. Before attending OU, Mckenzie was a USAG National Team member for 3 years. During her free time, Mckenzie enjoys shopping, boating, working out and spending quality time with family and friends. Her favorite quote is “she believed she could, so she did”⁠
 
Follow along Mckenzie's life: @kenzpire & @kenzie_wofford123
To learn more about TAP visit www.texasadvocacyproject.org.
To learn share your story visit: www.lovingthislife.org/shareyourstory

In the second episode of the Advocating for Athletes series, Adam Miller, the head coach at Crenshaw's gymnastics in Austin, TX shares his experiences as a gymnast, coach, and sheds light on what it is going to take to educate coaches on how to successfully train athletes and gymnasts. 
Adam believes that there is a need to kill certain stigmas. That the children we coach aren't just athletes, but people with problems like any adult has. As a coach, Adam believes you have to be transparent and care about more than just gymnastics, but the athletes as people, students, family members, etc. He believes that if the coaching community can embrace that, our governing body maybe will finally get the point, because people are calling USA Gymnastics and the Olympic Committee out and they should be. But the change also needs to also happen on a grassroots movement.
 
More about Adam Miller:
Adam is a former gymnast from Austin, Texas. After his gymnastics career ended he moved to San Antonio and worked as a women's team coach and preschool gymnastics director for Alamo Gymnastics for 5 years. He has been the Head Coach for Crenshaw Athletic Club in Austin since 2010. In his time there he has coach gymnasts to success at the State, Regional, Western, and National Level. Having produced multiple D1 scholarship athletes, Adam has had the opportunity to be a High Performance Coach for Region 3, University of Oklahoma, University of Iowa, University of Arkansas, Texas Women's University, and Utah State University.
 
Follow along Adam's coaching journey at: @crenshawoptionals
 
To learn more about TAP visit www.texasadvocacyproject.org.
 
To learn share your story visit: www.lovingthislife.org/shareyourstory
 
To donate to TAP visit: https://www.texasadvocacyproject.org/LovingThisLife 

In episode 1 of the Advocating for Athletes series, Abbie Hillis is hosted by Meghan Romere, who was also a co-founder of the 12th Woman. In this episode, Abbie Hillis specifically shares her experience at Capital Gymnastics in Austin, TX as both an athlete and as a coach. She describes her experiences as the subject of emotional abuse by different coaches throughout her gymnastics career, and describes stories of abuse she witnessed as an adult and coach.
The series then dives into a coach’s perspective on the culture with gymnastics and high-level sports and how, as a coach, it is hard to be an advocate when so many still treat athletes the wrong way. 
Abbie then transitions to share her story of her assault and how reporting it to Texas A&M University and College Station Police Department did nothing. She shares the issues that still exist within the administration at Texas A&M and how even though there has been change, there can still be more. 
Ultimately, Abbie is an example of an everyday athlete and college student and wants to share her story to show other's that you don't need to be famous for your story to be heard. Sharing and demanding change in numbers creates change and that is Abbie's hope.
 
Learn more about Abbie: 
Abbie is an experienced event planner and marketing professional committed to helping others live the life they are capable of living by creating work and business that is driven by passion and investing in others. She is the owner of an event and marketing firm, Gro Group, and its sister company, ACH Events, a wedding planning business. Abbie firmly believes that an event is a place for people to come together in a community, and whether it is business or personal, Abbie manages the vendor team through compassion and leadership, in order to facilitate remarkable events. Abbie has over 10 years of event planning experience and holds a BS in Sport Management from Texas A&M University with a focus on International and Cultural Management and a minor in Communication. Abbie is the creator of the Loving This Life Podcast, and co-founder of the 12th Woman, an advocacy group for sexual assault survivors at universities in the United States. ​Abbie lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, Kieran and son, KJ. 
 
To learn more about TAP visit www.texasadvocacyproject.org.
To learn share your story visit: www.lovingthislife.org/shareyourstory
To donate to TAP visit: https://www.texasadvocacyproject.org/LovingThisLife 
 

In this introduction episode to the Advocating for Athletes Series, Abbie Hillis, the host of the Loving This Life Podcast, approaches emotional and physical abuse as well as sexual assault issues surrounding competitive athletes from multiple perspectives. Each episode hosts one guest and includes their story and involvement of adolescents in sports, and how they believe society as a whole needs to change and it needs to happen now. 
Since founding the 12th Woman back in 2018, Abbie has passionately advocated for sexual assault survivors. As an emotionally abused gymnast herself, she decided to create this series to bring more light to the issues surrounding sports and the culture of competitive gymnastics. 
The four episode series, sponsored by the Texas Advocacy Project, includes Abbie Hillis and guests: 
Meghan Romere, co-founder of the 12th Woman
Adam Miller, Head Girls Team Coach at Crenshaw’s Gymnastics, 
McKenzie and Krist Wofford, an elite gymnast for USA Gymnastics and a 2x National Champion at the University of Oklahoma joined by her mother
Michelle Simpson Tuegel, Licensed and Practicing attorney in Texas and New York
Throughout the series, guests share their stories of emotional abuse from coaches specifically in Texas. Abbie Hillis specifically shares her experience at Capital Gymnastics in Austin, TX as both an athlete and as a coach. She describes her experiences as the subject of emotional abuse by different coaches throughout her gymnastics career, and describes stories of abuse she witnessed as an adult and coach. The series then dives into a coach’s perspective on the culture with gymnastics and high-level sports and how, as a coach, it is hard to be an advocate when so many still treat athletes the wrong way. 
McKenzie Wofford joins her mom, Kristi, in the third episode where she shares her first hand experiences with National Coach Valeri Luikin and her assault with Larry Nassar, the previous team doctor for USA Gymnastics. She discloses stories she has never shared before, and her mother provides perspective as a parent and learning to cope with subjecting her daughter to the emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse. 
The series concludes with an incredibly informative episode with Michelle Simpson Tuegel who recently represented former U.S. National Team and Olympic gymnasts who were sexually abused by the Olympic team’s former doctor, Larry Nassar. She provides insight into her experience with survivors, USA Gymnastics, and the issues in society surrounding sexual assault and emotional and physical abuse to athletes. 
Collectively, this series shares stories that athletes and coaches experienced for the first time publicly. Hillis’s hope is that this series provides insight into the issues athletes and coaches face in competitive sports by bringing on guests who shed light on their personal experiences with gymnastics, athletes, coaches, and governing bodies such as USA Gymnastics. Ultimately, this series addresses the fact that we, as a society, must change our entire culture around athletes, emotional and physical abuse, and sexual assault and addresses the first steps we need to take toward making effective change. 
 
To learn more about TAP visit www.texasadvocacyproject.org.
To learn share your story visit: www.lovingthislife.org/shareyourstory
To donate to TAP visit: https://www.texasadvocacyproject.org/LovingThisLife