Balance Like a Pro Athlete

Speaker 1: anyone who wants to make it to this level or make it as far as they can with anything having a vision for your life and where you want to go keeping your eye on the prize as people say but at the same time focusing on who you're becoming throughout the process and the journey that you go through hi I'm Melanie bar welcome to the shiled experience with felony you're here because you want to experience the life and business that you crave join me as I talk to women who have successfully built it a career and business that they love we dive into the topic of how they built it and talk about everything from Having the courage to make career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively create successful teams Implement strategies for growth and Infuse Tech Innovation magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy so let's dive in Monique Billings Balan as a thriving WNBA and International probas basketball career while also being a sports caster social media influencer Global keynote speaker and author she values faith family friends and living life to the fullest thank you for joining me Mo'Nique you are balancing a thriving WNBA and international pro basketball career when you were growing up did you know that you wanted to play basketball and what qualities do you think are important for making it as far as you have in your

Speaker 2: career well thank you so much um I'm happy to be here when I was a young girl I started playing around 5 years old and I did not want to play basketball it was not on my radar I've always been super girly and feminine and my dad had asked me hey do you want to play on this team with some of your friends my initial thought was no I don't but I wanted to make him happy so I tried it out and ended up loving it it worked out great here we are 21 years later I'm still playing anyone who wants to make it to this level or make it as far as they can with anything having a vision for your life and where you want to go keeping your eye on the prize as people say but at the same time focusing on who you're becoming throughout the process and the journey that you go through and how do you think you stuck to your vision as you went from being a child who played and maintained your career I don't think I had the vision when I was young and so I tell young people to have that Vision I didn't dream big enough I didn't think that it was possible for me to be able to have this platform and to make to where I'm at today I would go to Sparks games and I'd see Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker balling out and I'm like they're super women they're amazing I could never do something like that and here I am playing against those greates playing against Candace Parker and it's just been a huge blessing but I wish that I did have that Vision when I was younger because sky is truly the limit if you just put the work in and stay

Speaker 1: focus and stay grounded you mentioned that you've overcome many obstacles on your climb to the top and that you've seen seen others succumb to Life's pressures what is one of the biggest challenges that you've been through and how are you able to turn that around one

Speaker 2: of the biggest challenges that I've been through and continue to go through was losing my father to ALS last year I actually dedicated my book to him it was very sudden it was a seven Monon process

Speaker 1: and he was gone I'm so sorry thank you

Speaker 2: but thankfully I had time to be able to let go and Say Goodbye it's definitely a struggle because my dad was my best friend I'm in a foreign country all the countries that I've played in we would talk all the time and we had a very strong bond and connection so it's been tough and I'm still learning and figuring out how to cope and adjust with the loss something that I'm doing is allowing myself to feel and just giving myself the space to feel the tears come which they come often it's okay and when the laughs and Giggles come too that's okay too but embracing all of it as much as I can giving myself Grace with that and understanding that I don't have to be perfect and relying on and leaning on my tribe around me has been crucial and

Speaker 1: essential for me and that's such good advice because when we allow ourselves to feel we move through the feelings easier than when we try to shove it down and push it away and I'm sure you're honoring him every day in all that you're

Speaker 2: doing man I am trying to trying to make him proud and yeah allowing yourself to feel it's allowing yourself to be at peace and so something that I'm really

Speaker 1: working on embracing in your book finding balance you talk about maintaining a busy High performing and high achieving life while keeping you as a star player I love that what have you learned on your road to managing it all

Speaker 2: yeah still learning I have so far to go when it comes to learning how to manage it all but the word Grace sticks out to me a lot giving myself Grace understanding that there's going to be different seasons that I go through I'm going to go through happy Seasons I'm going to go through drier more in the wilderness type Seasons where I don't necessarily feel like I'm hearing God's voice or know what to do and feeling kind of alone all these Seasons come just like in the cycle of a year we go through different seasons weatherwise that's the same thing that we go through in our lives and so embracing all of that and just understanding that Trials Come Happy Times come but trying to be present through it all I think is how I really focus on embracing all the things that I'm going through something that I heard recently that I'm really trying to apply is that we're living in the good old days now and so enjoy those times

Speaker 1: now so true and such good advice for everyone listening because we all go through things we might move we might have a job change I feel like I'm coming out of a season after having twins and then Co hit so I think I'm still trying to come out of that season but for everyone listening you're so right about giving ourselves Grace and understanding that we are going to go through things and moving through them with Grace and peace something that I'd like to add is holding space for yourself giving yourself that youu time you know we need that every single day and I don't have children yet you have twins so I can't

Speaker 2: even imagine where you find I went through a lot of time where I was not me time and I look around I think oh yeah I'm still here I I need to make sure I honor and take care of myself really good advice and it's the little things we live in such a fast-paced life too we're always is distracted I got into watching Netflix at night but I've started to read I'm slowing life down a little bit which has been really really good I'm living in Europe right now and it's so different the way of life here compared to living in the States because they truly know how to slow down and enjoy the moments and it's still fast-paced but it's just different so yeah I've been working on slowing down too taking walks doing what I can to have my me time it's essential for everyone and that has to be a nice Dynamic to be able to travel and then come back to the States it's such a blessing I've played in 10 different countries abroad so I'm getting to live in so many different places around the world meet different people eat different Cuisine learn language it's been a blast I never imagined that my life would be this cool and could a

Speaker 1: young girl read your book absolutely my

Speaker 2: book is centered to everyone it's me writing to my younger self it's the keys that I wish that I had when I was a young girl I didn't really have anyone that I can necessarily look up to who was feminine and girly but also an athlete and dealing with different things of trying to find balance and so I never feel like when I was a young girl that I had those life lessons or had someone to teach me those life lessons I want to be what I didn't have when I was growing up and that's what this book is here to ser best I cannot

Speaker 1: wait to buy your book for Parker we'll read it at night you know we do our reading time every night with a mom who has a company called she built it there's a little bit of girls empowerment in in our house yes ma'am how was the writing and Publishing process for you what did you like about it and how is the process different from your life and career on the court the

Speaker 2: writing and Publishing process was very eye openening for me because I didn't know what to expect I've picked some people's brains and who written books and ask them different things but you don't know truly know until you go through it like many things in life it took me about two years in its entirety from writing the book I was in orberg Russia living there playing there and it was in the winter so there's not much to do in orberg Russia especially in the winter so I was in the house at night writing my book and that was that was my me time I'm a big journaler like I love journaling of journal for years now and so felt like putting all my journals from over the years into this book so

Speaker 1: that process took maybe six months and then I had hired an editor and he polished it he helped me figure out what I wanted to say that took another couple of months and I hired an illustrator who helped me kind of get the feel of the book and the layout and really brought it to life and I did a photo shoot two of my best friends took the the photo that's on the cover of my book it was definitely a process but it was was beautiful going through it and something that I learned was not to rush the process because if it were up to me the book would have been out within six months instead of two years but I learned that we can't rush our processes God wanted that book to come out in May on my birthday last year so that's when it came out and it was divine you're right it all has to happen within the right time and for many authors that I've talked to they thought oh I'm going to do it quickly and then it took a year and a half to two years and you just have to let it let it be and just be at ease with it just let it breathe honestly it's going to come out at the right time everything's just going to fall into place and work out how it's

Speaker 2: meant to be you are leading on and off the court what do you think are the biggest elements in leadership and building successful teams and you're

Speaker 1: asking all the great questions being a great leader and leading a team it comes down to being selfless and being willing to sacrifice that's something that I have not always been the greatest stat but it's something that I'm learning and I'm trying to be very diligent to do leading is an act of like I said being selfless I've seen different leaders have those attributes to them being selfless giving and really putting the team before themselves and so that's something I'm trying to focus on and just learning how to do um but I think that's a huge key of being a good leader

Speaker 2: so true with listening to everyone and as a woman who has worked in sports before I worked for the Dodgers there weren't a lot of women at the time so it's nice to see more women going into sports and also encouraging more of a team environment on and off the court the table's getting bigger and there's more room for women it's a great time magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy what is one way that you make sure to find and live your joy each

Speaker 1: day one way that I learn to find and live in my joy each day is practicing different acts of self-care so whether that is journaling whether that is eating some really good food because I am a foodie and I love eating great food or getting massages going for walks and maybe not bringing my phone being just intentional to be in tune with my environment just those things I think I call myself the self-care Queen I love

Speaker 2: it and I was looking at your Instagram you have some pretty amazing videos of the the restaurants that you have have been to and you mentioned the photo shoot they're beautiful when I was looking at them I thought I love how you

Speaker 1: bring that feminine side and the athletic side so that's really fun to

Speaker 2: see thank you that means so much thank

Speaker 1: you you have built an incredible career and you're such a light I'm gonna buy your book as soon as we stop recording and I cannot wait to read it with my daughter we can also gift it to her friends please share with us how and

Speaker 2: where we can find you yes Instagram is Monique billings my book is at milling.com m o b i l l i n gs.com and I'm having an audio book soon and an ebook so stay tuned for

Speaker 1: those thank you for joining us today I'd love to hear from you reach out to me at hello sheet.com on our Sheil website or @ she builted on social thank you to my editor Rich draino who always makes us sound good until next time let nothing stop you from experiencing the life and business that you crave