Voice In Sport Stefanie Strack

Athing Mu, a professional track & field athlete and 2x Olympic gold medalist in the 800m and 4x400m relay in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, shares her journey of having success in running at an early age, and the transition to becoming a pro athlete. In this episode she takes us through growing up in a Sudanese family in New Jersey and the impact her seven siblings have had on her passion for running. Athing discusses her time as a high school and college athlete and what it was like turning pro, landing Nike as a sponsor and winning a gold medal all before the age of 20. After a disappointing result at Worlds in Budapest - she takes us through how she managed the pressure and disappointment and the steps she took to build a strong support system around her and climb back to the top of the 800m podium at the Diamond League Championship by setting a new World Record. While running is a huge part of Athing’s identity she emphasizes the importance of having hobbies and passions outside of sport and surrounding yourself with inspirational teammates that help keep the joy of sport front and center. 
““Pressure’s always going to be there. It’s about how to take that pressure and use it to fire you up for what you need to do and accomplish””. - Athing Mu 

CLIF endurance athlete and a leader in the space of ski-mountaineering and endurance sports, Caroline Gleich shares with us how she has built her career and broken barriers as a woman and as an activist. She began her ski career while attending University of Utah and then went on to become the first woman to ski all 90 lines of the Chuting Gallery, climb Mount Everest and has competed in several ultra-marathons. Carolines legacy extends beyond her expeditions as she combines her passion for sport and advocacy as an activist for gender equity and environmental policy, traveling to Washington DC to testify in front of the House and Senate and organize climate rallies. Today she shares with us the pros and cons of social media, how to best protect yourself as a woman when faced with online harassment and how to build your brand with a powerful community of women and mentors. Caroline explores with us the path to becoming a pro and how to tear down the harmful narratives in sport around the “ideal” woman's body type. 
"Sometimes I feel like if I fail on an expedition that I'm not just failing for myself, I'm failing for all women and that's just simply not true.” - Caroline Gleich

Emma Schieck, Paralympic sitting volleyball player and gold medalist in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games, shares her journey into adaptive sport and the challenges, relationships, and unforgettable rewards within it. She takes us through her childhood growing up without a knowledge of paralympic sports. She gives us an inside look at what it felt like to serve in the match point of a gold medal game. She emphasizes the importance of honoring our passions, never giving up, and believing in ourselves against all odds.  Emma expresses hope for a future where paralympic sports gain more viewership and respect. She is such an inspiration for all female athletes and especially those with disabilities who dream of achieving their own goals. 


“They're challenging and competitive. No matter what your disability is, no matter what your sports background is, playing a paralympic sport is going to push you and it's going to be different.” -Emma Schieck

Kaitlin Hawayek is Team USA Ice Dancer and a 2022 Pyeongchang Olympian. She is a 5x Bronze Medalist at the National Figure Skating Championship, 2018 Four Continents Champion, 2018 NHK Trophy Champion, and 2014 World Junior Champion. Kaitlin takes us through her junior career, highlighting the lessons she learned in competing in a multitude of environments at a young age. She shares her journey struggling with an eating disorder and how she grew into a healthy relationship with her body image. Later in her career, facing near career ending injuries, Katilin discusses how she took a pause from sport in order to take care of her physical and mental health. Through her journey, Kaitlin shares incredible advice for women athletes on how to take care of our bodies and minds, to advocate for our needs, and to find and develop resources for both our personal and athletic success and longevity.

"I am limitless. I am neither who I was or who I want to be, but I am who I am right now. I am a human that has so many values beyond sport. Sport is what I do. Art is what I share. But I love myself because of my kindness, because of my resilience, and because of my passion and creativity."  - Kaitlin Hawayek

Sasha Digiulian, professional rock climber and CEO of Send Bars is a key figure in the world of climbing. She has won the World Championships for Female Overall and has placed Silver in the Bouldering World Championships, as well as Bronze in the Duel. Sasha has been the undefeated PanAmerican Champion from 2004 to the present, and also a three-time US National champion. She joins us to share her journey in the world of climbing, the mindset of a risk-taker, and how she navigates body image and scrutiny in the age of social media. Sasha also teaches us how she manages fear and self-doubt when performing her difficult climbs, and the lessons she’s learned from becoming a champion in climbing - which she also writes in her new upcoming book “Take the Lead: Hanging On, Letting Go, and Conquering Life's Hardest Climbs” available September 26, 2023. Sasha’s impact reaches far beyond climbing, she is an example to many young women to embrace their own potential and carve out their own paths. 
“It's women achieving something that opens the floodgates to other women seeing inspiration and possibility.” - Sasha DiGiulian

Dr. Allison Brager, an Army Neurobiologist who specializes in sleep and circadian rhythms, shares her college athletic journey as a track and field athlete and how she got into studying sleep and its importance for athletics. Brager graduated from Brown and Kent State with a Ph.D of psychology, and also serves as a VIS Expert, where she conducts sessions about sleep. She shares with us the science behind sleep and gives us tips for how to create a sleep routine that benefits our mental, physical, and emotional health. Allison dives into her role on the NCAA advisory board and the importance of athletes finding hobbies outside of sports to realize they are more than just an athlete. She reminds girls that sleep is the secret weapon in athletic performance. “This [sleep]  is how the pros got to how they are, starting out at your age and doing the same things you were.”- Dr. Allison Brager