World Champion Athlete Rhonda Rajsich on Finding Your Power Within & Achieving Greatness

[00:00:00] Rhonda: Now I'm in a situation where I'm not just getting beaten, but I've literally been threatened with death. And again, I didn't scream. I didn't cry. Didn't run for help. Didn't fight back. I did not respond the way they expected. And then the cops said that that probably saved my life. Every single human being that comes into this world is born with these innate gifts.

[00:00:21] They are born with the resilience. They are born with the fortitude. They are born with the perseverance. They are born with the bravery, and it's just a matter of knowing that you have them, accepting that you have them, discovering where they are at deep within you. If you don't feel like you have them, you do. You just haven't looked hard enough.

[00:00:41] Kate: Hey, there. Welcome back to Rawish with Kate Eckman, another incredible episode for you today. I already am glowing from doing the pre-conversation with our next guest. It's so cool that you every now and then get to talk to somebody who is best in the world at what they do.

[00:01:01] And we have a world champion here with us today, Miss Rhonda Rajsich. She is the world champion in racquetball, has won more titles than you can shake a stick at, but I have to tell you, she is so much more than just a world class athlete. She has been through unthinkable setback and trauma.

[00:01:19] And while she's experienced the highest of highs in terms of success, she's also experienced one of my worst nightmares and something that was so horrifying to even read about or think about, and we're going to talk about it today because we're going to kick off the year with just some hardcore inspiration. So let's bring in Rhonda Rajsich. Thank you so much for being here on Rawish today.

[00:01:44] Rhonda: Thank you so much. I'm grateful to be here. It's awesome.

[00:01:47] Kate: We spoke on the phone. We had mutual friends and just hit it off and have such a sisterhood. We're born in the same year, so I'd love that we have that bond. And your story, just the athletic side, is extraordinary in itself, but you've been through so many things that would or could, which you could have even been killed in the process, and you've not only gone on to just survive but really thrive.

[00:02:15] And so I would just love to share so many wisdom nuggets that you can offer today because we're just coming off the holidays. We're kicking off a beautiful new year that I know is going to be great for so many. And I don't even want to dive into some of the horror that you've been through, but what does keep you smiling, which you are right now? What keeps you going to, again, not just have a great life, but really be best in class at what you do?

[00:02:43] Rhonda: Well, that's such a loaded question. The smile is a choice. I saw a quote once that said, you either make yourself happy or you make yourself miserable, but the amount of effort is exactly the same. And I've actually read that in some subsequent books phrased a little differently, but basically the same principle of you can ultimately decide your state regardless of what happens.

[00:03:11] You still have a choice. And I'm not saying that you have a choice to be affected or not affected. Of course, horrible things affect everybody. Great things affect everybody. I think it's having an awareness of the reality of the situation and how you choose to handle it, and I also think that's a skill.

[00:03:29] That's not something that you're born with or not born with. I think that's something that the awareness in and of itself creates the opportunity to choose. And I'm not going through a great time right now. I'm going through it. I know a lot of people that are going through it for some reason this time of year. Like you said, there's something in the air.

[00:03:48] But on the other hand, I've just at a point of surrender to what I can and can't control, and I would say surrender at this point is the chapter I'm in on this part of my evolutionary journey. I've been through this growth period, I think for about a year and a half now, and just keeps getting worse, which means the upside, I believe it, it has to be just as big as the slide. So does the climb. So I'm looking forward to getting through to the finish line of this growth period. Don't want to start at a deficit. I'm ready to start even and just keep going up.

[00:04:24] Kate: So for those who don't know about your extraordinary story of overcoming odds, and everybody has a different version of what that means in their own life or what they see in the news, but you were brutally attacked while you were living and training in Southern California and as a Southern California resident.

[00:04:42] I see the news too. And even I had a little bit of a nightmare last night. There's break ins and things like that. And I try to joke with myself. They're not breaking into your home. There's 60 million states up the street. They're breaking into those homes. And it's not funny, but it's because I've seen images on the news or on TikTok or something. And then it brings about fear. And you lived that firsthand. Can you tell us a little bit about what happened to you and how it changed the whole trajectory of your life?

[00:05:12] Rhonda: Sure. I love that you use that phrase because that's actually something that didn't happen. It didn't actually change the trajectory. What it did was it gave me a very unique experience. It's the gift that keeps on giving just endless life lessons. And I know this is going to sound very twisted, especially when you hear the story. It's going to sound very twisted, but I'm grateful for that experience.

[00:05:34] As much pain as I'm in, even right now on a daily basis and needing more multiple surgeries, I've already had several, I'm grateful for that experience because it actually gave me more than it took from me. And with that I'll go ahead and get into it.

[00:05:47] I was living in Hermosa beach at the time. This occurred on June 1st, 2008. And I was walking on the strand. And for any anyone watching who doesn't know the strand, it's that big piece of concrete between the homes and the sand of the beach where you see in movies and films people rollerblading, walking their dogs, running, pushing a stroller.

[00:06:07] It's a very beautiful area. It's a very beautiful area. And it spans most of the coastline of the beaches. Anyway, I was walking on the strand. It was late at night, and I saw a guy standing underneath a street lamp. And I noticed him. I didn't really approach him or anything, but he just turned and saw me, and he's like, "Hey, what's up?"

[00:06:27] "Nothing, man. How you doing?" He's like, "I'm all right. How are you?" And I was like, "Eh, could be better. Whatever." As I'm thinking we're just having this casual SoCal casual conversation exchange, this other guy comes off of a darkened patio from the right and I never saw him. I never saw him until he came up on me and then I saw this figure and I turned my head and he gets all in my face and he goes, "What the fuck did you say to my boy?"

[00:06:50] And I was taken aback. I wasn't prepared. I wasn't expecting that. I was surprised somebody had that reaction to me walking by. And I was like, "Nothing, man. I'm just on my way. You guys have a good night." And I walked in between them and I intentionally shoved my hands in my pockets so that they knew that I wasn't any threat to them.

[00:07:07] And I think I took about six steps, five or six steps, and next thing I know, bam. My head just flies sideways, and it felt like everything that was over here is now over here. And it was the geography of my face that I trying to process. And it wasn't an immediate pain sensation. It was the sound.

[00:07:33] It was the sound that I was trying to process. It sounded like when you snap celery in half. That's what it sounded like. And I was trying to process that sound and as my brain is, what the fuck? Bam, from the other side. And it was after that second punch that I realized, holy shit, they're beating me up.

[00:07:53] And I tried to do this and I just tried to cover up and protect myself as best I could and I took a few steps as I was doing so and I was able to actually squirrel away and turn around and square up. And when that happened, when I turned around and squared up, that was when I realized that they were punching me with brass knuckles and that's what that sound was. That's why it didn't sound right.

[00:08:16] I ended up taking maybe 10 to 15 shots to my face and head. My eye was very swollen. I took the brunt of the damage on this side. When I turned around and squared up, my immediate instinct was, of course, I want to hit back. I want to defend myself. But my immediate thought was that I have Worlds in six weeks, and I don't want to break my hand on your dumb stupid face, not be able to hold my racket and go represent my country next month.

[00:08:44] So at that point they had stopped swinging and I didn't see the need to escalate if they had stopped by trying to throw my own punches. There was some jibber jabber between the two of them. I don't really remember what was said other than one of them was a lot more panicky than the other. The panicky one was saying stuff like, "Someone's going to see us. We got to go."

[00:09:09] The other guy was just staring at me like he was trying to figure out exactly how he was going to continue pummeling me. The cops actually said this to me a couple of weeks after this happened. They said that I didn't respond the way that I was supposed to. I was never unconscious, and I was never off my feet.

[00:09:28] And because I didn't respond the way that I was supposed to, and because they weren't expecting me to react the way that I did by being upright and turning around and facing them, fight or flight response, fight, flight, or freeze, I did none of the above because I was very aware of what was happening. I was very aware of my surroundings. I didn't freeze. I made conscious choices of what to do and what not to do.

[00:09:51] And so I never screamed. I never cried out for help. I didn't run. I turned around and squared up, but I had the presence of mind not to escalate when I realized I didn't have to. So I don't know what to call that, but I feel like it's also supposed to start with an f. Maybe we can come up with a word for it.

[00:10:06] Kate: I think that was the very Gen X of us. That was the fuck around and find out response.

[00:10:12] Rhonda: There you go. There you go. There we go. Okay. Now it all makes sense. I'm going to have to incorporate that in my next interview. It has been given a name finally. But after those few seconds of them talking and me just micro-evaluating the situation, waiting to see if I was going to need to defend myself from that point on, they just took off and ran that way.

[00:10:32] I didn't want them to know that I actually lived in the property that this happened right in front of. That darkened patio that they came off of, we lived behind and above the garage of the house that they came off of. So I don't want them to know I lived right there, so I started walking South to take the long way back up over to Hermosa Avenue.

[00:10:49] And I was walking home like this because I was afraid my eyeball was going to fall out. I don't know if you ever saw that first pirates of the Caribbean movie. There was that one bad guy, antipirate that his wooden eyeball kept falling out the whole movie and he's chasing it down the ship deck and chasing it down the street. And for some reason that was going through my head.

[00:11:05] I'm like, "Oh my God. If this falls out and it's going to get sand all over it, they're not going to be able to put it back in. It's going to be closed. So I'm going like this, feel like I need to hold my eye in. And then all of a sudden I heard something, and I turn around. And it was the mean angry one that had come off the patio.

[00:11:21] And he was running at me with his fist up and his brass knuckles still on like he was going to Superman punch me. And I'm standing there like this, and I saw him come and I turn around and I put my left hand out and I go, "Dude, just stop. Just stop." And I did that for two reasons.

[00:11:34] One, I wanted to give him the sense of, okay, fine. You're in control. You don't have to hit me again. You don't have to prove anything. You've already proven it, whatever. Just stay over there. But even more so I did that, I put my left hand out like that because I have no depth perception. I got one eye.

[00:11:49] So I put my hand out because I figure at this point if he does come at me, I'm probably going to feel him move in closer to start swinging again before I'd register seeing him depth wise. Anyway, at that point, he did stop and he's standing there, and he's rocking side to side like he's anxious for this, and he says, "Fuck you, bitch. I'll fucking kill you where you stand. Do you think I give a shit? I just got out of prison, bitch. I don't care. I'll go back. I don't fucking care. I'll end you right now."

[00:12:14] And at that point I was just pissed. And so I'm standing there like this, and at that point when he said that, I dropped both hands, made fists, and I said, "Okay, then go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. I'm right here. Kill me. What are you waiting for?" And at that point, what went through my mind was, I don't care that you're a guy. I don't care that you're bigger than me. I don't care that you have a weapon. I hit for a living, and I know how to generate force. So you very well may kill me tonight, but I will hurt you on the way down, so let's go.

[00:12:50] And now I'm in a situation where I'm not just getting beaten, but I've literally been threatened with death. And again, I didn't scream. I didn't cry. Didn't run for help. Didn't fight back. I was sure shaking to defend myself this time, but I didn't initiate any of that. And again, he was by himself that time. He took off and ran in the other direction again.

[00:13:07] Kate: Rhonda.

[00:13:11] Rhonda: And again, I think it comes down to the cops telling me that I did not respond the way they expected, and all of those non-responsive reactions from me were not what they were expecting. And then the cops said that probably saved my life. And it was so weird because then I turn around and go home. Now I'm in my mind, I'm still holding my eye in my head, and I'm like, "Are we done now?"

[00:13:37] I get back upstairs to my place, and my girlfriend at the time and her friends were there just having some wine. It was her friend's birthday. They didn't blink when I walked in, but I remember walking in and immediately rummaging through-- I'm like, "God, I hope we have some Advil. This is going to be so sore in the morning."

[00:13:55] It never occurred to me that a felony had happened. It never occurred to me to call 911. It never occurred to me that I needed to go to the hospital. I'm just thinking, I took some punches to the face, and I just need some Advil. I'll be fine in the morning. Throw some frozen peas on it, couple of Advil, good to go.

[00:14:11] Did not occur to me to call 911 at all. Also, I have no idea what I look like. And then my girlfriend at the time came around the corner and she saw my face and, "Oh my God, what happened?" Literally, I remember shrugging and everything. I looked over at her and I'm like, "I got hit." And then I keep digging for the Advil.

[00:14:29] She's like, "Why? Who hit you?" I said, "I don't know. Two guys downstairs." "Why did they do this?" "I don't know. You want to go find them? They came back a second time. Maybe they're still down there. I don't know." And I didn't realize that her friend had called 911 right away. And man, it's like they got there in eight seconds.

[00:14:47] It seemed so fast from the time I realized she had called to the time the sirens pulled up. Then they take me to the hospital. They did a bunch of scans and x rays and CAT scans and all the things and had a specialist come in the middle of the night to check on my eyeball. And I remember laying there. And we didn't call anyone yet because we didn't know what to say other than I'm in the hospital. And everybody's going to have a thousand questions, so why don't we wait till we get some answers?

[00:15:13] This one doctor walks in one door to the ER and she's like, "Hi, are you Rhonda? Okay, here's the situation. You've got several facial fractures. You're going to need facial reconstruction surgery and one or both of your surgeons will be in to talk with you in a little bit." And she just kept walking. She never looked up from her clipboard.

[00:15:29] She walked in this door, breezed through that, and then walked right out, like she was saying, hey, don't forget the milk. I'm like, "I'm sorry. Can you run that back, please? Did you say my-- what? I need a surgery on what?" And she comes over and she was much more present and she's like, "You have several facial fractures. You're going to need a facial reconstructive surgery. Your surgeons will be in to discuss the protocol for all of that when they get here in a couple of hours."

[00:15:55] I'm like, "Okay. Now what?" So again, my girlfriend at the time goes down the hall to call my mother. And to me, this is the most agonizing part of the experience because even not physically being in my emergency room area, she was down the hall, I could hear my mother's shriek at the other end of the phone, and I can't unhear that.

[00:16:22] And to be honest, that is the thing that haunts me the most from this experience, is knowing-- I'm an only child. I'm the firstborn of all my cousins on both sides. I'm the only child from all my cousins on both sides, and I was my parents' life. I still am.

[00:16:40] And so I know that anything happening to me just crippled them very deeply, and I feel horrible for that. But I can't unhear that shriek. And when she came in and brought me the phone, I just hear my mother wailing on the other end. I'm like, "Mom, it's okay. It's all right." She's hysterical. She doesn't even remember being able to have that phone call.

[00:17:05] I said "Mom, it's all right. At the end of the day, I just took some shots to the face. They didn't rape me. They didn't rob me. They didn't kill me. I'm going to be fine." And when I said that, I thought I was saying it to try to give her some ease to try to give her some relief, but as it was coming out of my mouth, I realized that is actually literally exactly how I felt. At the end of the day, I just took some shots to the face. No big deal.

[00:17:32] Got jumped on June 1st, had to wait until June 11th for the reconstructive surgery because the swelling was so bad. My surgery was supposed to take between four and five hours and it took over 12 because they couldn't actually accurately see the extent of the damage from the scans, and there was so many more fragments that they had to remove before they could begin reconstruction. That's why it took so long.

[00:17:57] I can't imagine what my parents went through. And my parents got divorced when I was five, so my mom being the first one who knew, the first thing she did was make arrangements to get on the most immediate flight from Phoenix to LA as possible. She did that and by the time she got to LA, the news had already spread like wildfire and my dad didn't hear it from my mom.

[00:18:21] In fact, I don't even know where my dad heard it at all. I think somebody reached out to him and said, "Oh my God, are you okay? Please let me know if you need anything." He's like, "What are you talking about?" Remember that game Operator?

[00:18:33] Kate: Yeah.

[00:18:34] Rhonda: But it's kids sit in a circle and say something and by the time it gets back to the first person it's mutated into something all the way-- yeah. That's what happened with this story. The way that my father heard it was that I got jumped and beaten with baseball bats and I was dead.

[00:18:50] Kate: Oh my god.

[00:18:51] Rhonda: So my poor father was frantic trying to find out information. And I think what happened was he-- I was unconscious at this time, but I remember my mom telling me that my father called my hospital and she answered, and he was hysterical. And then he hopped on the first flight and I had both my parents with me for about those first two weeks. And ended up having that reconstruction and they were there and then I was in the hospital two different times actually within the next couple of weeks.

[00:19:25] After the surgery, I stayed there for a few days and then I think I went home for a couple of days. But they took the mirrors out of my hospital bathroom, and I wasn't supposed to look. There was a towel draped over the mirror for some period of time while I was at home until I could facially function again.

[00:19:44] I actually looked like a reverse joker. This side of my face was paralyzed. So if I smiled, this side didn't move at all. This side would go up. This side would do nothing. And I couldn't brush my teeth, couldn't eat solid food for five or six months. I could not sleep laying down for the first two months.

[00:20:03] I had to go two or three days a week to one of my surgeons who is qualified in this specific neural maneuver to reset my equilibrium, to recalibrate my equilibrium. There's a series of movements that we had to do over and over and over again to try to re reset that. And looking at the medical reports, two years later, I found out my eyeball could have fallen out. So I thought I was just being overdramatic doing this. I said I was just thinking of the movie, but it turns out it's a good thing I did.

[00:20:37] Kate: Where does this sheer bravery come from?

[00:20:43] Rhonda: It didn't feel brave. I wasn't trying to prove any point. There was no element of intentional bravery to it for me. It was just reading and reacting.

[00:20:52] Kate: How are you this strong, this tough?

[00:20:57] Rhonda: I could have died then. Probably should have. I had a fever between 108 and 109. I was born with an internal deformity near my kidneys that was completely unknown until I had that fever spike and I was convulsing and throwing up uncontrollably and my parents took me to the hospital.

[00:21:16] I happen to be fortunate enough that my godfather happened to be the director of osteopathic medicine at that hospital, and he was like, "You don't stop testing till you figure out what's wrong with my goddaughter." And it took a while to figure it out, but once they did it was something that was so rare, and so they didn't really know what to do with it.

[00:21:36] They tried to correct it with medicine over the course of a year. That didn't work. But one of the obstacles that they had while they were trying to fix it with medicine was that no surgeon in the country wanted to touch it because it was such a low percentage procedure.

[00:21:53] So they finally found someone to do it. I flew out to the Texas children's hospital. Now I'm about between four and five. I think it started when I was around three. Now I'm between four and five, flew out to Texas. They said, "All right. Just so you know, there's a one in a something million chance that she'll live. And on top of that, there's a one in a something million chance that this procedure will be a success. And if she lives and it's unsuccessful, she's going to have to have surgery after surgery, after surgery for at least the next 20 years of her life."

[00:22:28] So it very much seemed like a no-win situation, but here I am, and one procedure worked the first time, and so I'll go ahead and take the one in a billion something baby odds.

[00:22:42] Kate: What I'm hearing from your story, and even just these two stories, is not only do you not let things kill you, literally, that are supposed to or designed to, it's so much deeper than what doesn't kill you makes you stronger because that didn't make you stronger. You were born a champion. You were born strong. But you even said to me a few weeks ago that this attack was one of the best things or the best thing that ever happened to you. Why? How?

[00:23:12] Rhonda: Yeah. So there's a lot of things that I have learned and continue to learn from this experience. For starters, I know my fight or flight response, at least in that situation. I also know how many punches I can take with brass knuckles. Not that I need to know that in the future, but I do. And I've always believed that sports is a mirror for life and life is a mirror for sport.

[00:23:34] And I'm grateful for the greatest life lesson that I got from this experience, is that nothing happens to you,; it happens for you. And if you are able to look at any scenario, any possible event with that perspective in mind, to use that lens for any occurrence no matter how big or small, no matter how horrific, there's got to be something. And even if you never find out what that something is, but you just have faith in the fact that there is some reason for that to take place for you to gleam something from it.

[00:24:12] It's really a perspective shift that everyone is capable of-- it's just really hard to do when you're feeling the pain from whatever the event may be. It could be as innocuous as being late to work and getting yelled at by your boss, but you may never know that you actually avoided an accident that you could have been t-boned in had you made that red light and your timing was nine seconds different.

[00:24:33] You may never know what that reason was. But getting chewed out by your boss versus, you getting t-boned and maybe not walking away from it or being involved in something that somebody else didn't walk away from, we just can't be so arrogant as to feel like we have control over everything that surrounds us.

[00:24:51] Kate: I just want to acknowledge the bravery, the courage, and also the heaviness for me, for you, for anyone who's listening or watching this, and the deep trauma. And I want to weep because it's a miracle that you're alive, even times two, even the two stories that you shared.

[00:25:07] Rhonda: There's a few more.

[00:25:08] Kate: There's a few more. Yeah, all cats need to move over with their nine lives. The cats can take several--

[00:25:15] Rhonda: I've been accused of being part feline sometimes for [Inaudible].

[00:25:18] Kate: Yeah, we've got a lion here, truly. But just the sheer resilience, and I'm even having a hard time, literally. And I'm so empathetic. I'm right there with you in these stories, and you're taking my breath away. And this is so much deeper than the world champion mentality in sport. It's really the world champion mentality in life and humanity. And the fact that you're not filled with full-time rage and bitterness and resentment, and that you haven't hung up the racket and thrown in the towel and all that would be like, I get it. And again, you're like, that's just how I am. It's in me.

[00:25:55] Rhonda: You know what else I find interesting? Obviously, I had a tremendous amount of support and really surrounded with such incredible people around me and even total strangers that I may have never met before that heard about it and responded in some way.

[00:26:12] But beyond that, one thing that I got quite a lot of was people offering to-- you just point them out to me, I'll take care of them. Again, this wasn't intentional. This is something that I'm just observing as it's happening in real time at the time, was I had absolutely no designs of vengeance on them.

[00:26:29] I actually realized how much I forgave them almost instantaneously as a very strange conclusion to come to. But anytime anyone offered to dole out their own brand of justice on them, I'm like, "Not worried about that." To my knowledge, they've never been caught for it. I've never been contacted by the police saying, "Hey, you're open case. Somebody has been arrested for it."

[00:26:50] Nothing like that has ever transpired, but I don't give them a second thought. I will admit though, that when I am in the South Bay, when I am in the Manhattan, Hermosa Redondo area, I do automatically scan every face that I see to see if I recognize anyone as one of those two guys with the brass knuckles that night.

[00:27:12] Not in fear, more curiosity. Like, I wonder if they're still around here. I wonder if they've been arrested for something else. I wonder if they're still alive. I wonder if they moved somewhere else. I've even tried to imagine, like, if I did feel like I recognized one of them, would I even call the cops or would I just be like, "Look at that, he's still here?"

[00:27:30] I'm really not sure. I have no intention of harming them or hiring anyone to harm them or any of such idea, but it was a weird realization to have, realizing that I don't hate him. I'm not mad at him. This whole thing sucks. And my daily pain, even now, all these years later, is a 10 out of 10 or worse on my best day.

[00:27:51] I'm in about a 27 today. But like I said, I know I need another surgery, and I haven't had one. Because the most recent one I had was in March of 2021, and I don't like not being able to eat solid food for five months. It's annoying. But I do have to give you the best part though. There's a good part to this story.

[00:28:09] Kate: Save that for a minute because I wonder if this relates to my question that I'm thinking. I don't know if what you have in spades can be taught, but I'd like you to try. And I don't know if that's what you're getting to because what's coming to mind is this woman, Doris Dalton, who hired me to be her TV presenter in Europe.

[00:28:26] And she said, "You can teach anyone to be a product expert, but you can't teach personality. You can't teach sparkle. You have the personality. You have the sparkle that can't be taught." And so for you, I'm like, all right, you've got the resilience, strength. Again, we need to figure out a word for it.

[00:28:42] I don't have the word for it besides super hero. God willing none of us ever go through a fraction of what you've endured, but what can you teach us in terms of strength, resilience, overcoming fear, overcome literally life's greatest shit, if you will?

[00:29:03] Rhonda: This is not a cop out answer because these are things that I work with people on but I don't teach it. I help them uncover it because I truly believe one million percent that every single human being that comes into this world is born with these innate gifts. They are born with the resilience. They are born with the fortitude. They are born with the perseverance. They are born with the bravery.

[00:29:28] Go watch any alien movie. Us puny weak ass little, little humans win every time against the aliens that are far superior and advanced in technology and evolution and all the things. But we are a species that has a certain set of gifts that no other species has. I believe it's five or six gifts, and I'll get into those another time. That's more of my coaching stuff.

[00:29:50] But as far as what we are capable of as beings in general, every single one of us has, all those qualities you just listed about me, I believe everyone is innately born with them and it's just a matter of knowing that you have them, accepting that you have them, discovering where they are at deep within you. If you don't feel like you have them, you do. You just haven't looked hard enough or you haven't had a situation that put you in a place where you needed to summon them.

[00:30:17] I wasn't planning on getting my ass kicked that night. I'm used to overcoming numbers on a scorecard if I'm behind in a match. But standing face to face with someone who's literally telling me they're going to end my life that night, it's not like I rehearsed that. I was as authentic as I could possibly be through that entire experience because that was my reflex.

[00:30:38] That was my read and react. Again, for example, I already said I learned my fight or flight response, but I also learned, and I didn't recognize this until my lawyer pointed it out about three or four years ago when he and I were chatting about the whole story unedited over lunch one day. And he's like, "So it sounds like you were okay with dying that night."

[00:30:59] And I never considered that. I never considered that. But at the same time, everything that went through my head, I guess I was. I will accept that compliment because to me that shows me that I have lived a very good life by my own standards to accept the possibility that that might have been my last night on earth. But it wasn't.

[00:31:22] Kate: Do you think some of it was a little bit of reverse psychology? Again, I don't want us to have to get inside the brain of a psycho wannabe killer, but I just feel like in that moment you talk about authenticity, and this is what you see especially from women in movies or what I would feel like I would want to do in the moment, like, please don't kill me. I love my life, or I have kids, or I have this. But you were just, bring it on.

[00:31:46] But I'm just psychologically trying to even think of what went on. Again, from a deeper perspective, I'm like, "Wow, you are so protected and guided by a higher power. And that kept you alive that night as well." What do you make of that moment?

[00:31:59] Rhonda: I don't make anything out of it other than-- I didn't process thoughts. I didn't process what am I supposed to do, what am I not supposed to do. Well, if I do this, then what if he-- I didn't have that. I didn't have that time. All I did was read the situation and react to it in the most natural way that I knew how. I can look back on it now, and I do look back on it now and I'm like, "What the fuck? Who says that?"

[00:32:26] But I never had a, "Okay, well, I'm going to try this and if that doesn't work, then I'm going to try this, and maybe then I'll run if I have to." There was no time to think about any of that. You're literally just in the heat of the moment, and your goal every nanosecond that you're in that moment is survival.

[00:32:43] And that's truly where I believe all those gifts that you rattled off and you're like, how do you teach that? I'm like, I don't. I just try to be a flashlight to help people find it within themselves because it's already there. I'm not teaching anything. I'm just helping you reveal it. I'm just showing you what you're capable of because either you've never summoned it or you've been afraid to because we are infinitely powerful beings if we accept that about ourselves.

[00:33:06] Kate: We all have fears. So if I called you up frantic with this huge fear or someone's breaking into the house. I'm freaked out. What do I do? People are scared of death or being attacked or assaulted, what would you say to them?

[00:33:25] Rhonda: Survive, by any means necessary. I had a friend tell me how he worked with a woman who had PTSD from a home invasion. She was home alone. She lived by herself. He made it up the staircase and basically she fought him back. He ended up having more severe injuries than she did when they both got to the hospital.

[00:33:48] But she was very traumatized from that event and spent a couple of years in therapy and then had a conversation with my buddy and in his very raw delivery, he's like, "What the hell do you have to be afraid of? You beat the shit out of the intruder. He should be afraid of you. What are you scared about? You can walk the streets, girl. You know how to take care of yourself. People need to be watching out for you, not the other way around."

[00:34:13] And it was like this switch went off in her mind, like, oh, yeah, that's right. I did kick his ass. Like, okay, yeah, I'm good. She always had that strength, and when she needed it, it came out. Now, was the event harrowing? Of course, it was. Is it understandable having lingering trauma after that and having a fear and a timidity about existing in the world? Of course.

[00:34:37] But recognizing the power that she did have, that's what he helped her do. You're like, you, "Girl, you're good. You're set. You can fight your way out of that. You can fight your way out of anything. You're good." And that just reignited her belief in herself because she's already proven that. She's already proven that. It's just the fear and wishing and hoping for that to never happen again.

[00:35:01] But just existing in life as fearful as she was from the previous event, I am not fearful of walking down my city streets. And I do think that it's weird that I didn't have that reaction, even over some initial period of time, but it just didn't happen. And that's not like, oh, look at me. I'm big, tough guy. I'm fine. I just genuinely don't feel like that's something that's going to happen twice. And if it does, I'm somewhat familiar with the situation.

[00:35:28] I have some experience to fall back on, if I ever needed to draw upon it, which I hope I never do. I'm not putting myself into dangerous situations on purpose, nor was I doing so that night. But I'm not terrified of that ever happening again.

[00:35:40] Kate: Yeah, and it really is that notion of not giving our power away and remembering how powerful we are. I love that. The intruder should be scared of you. Or even I think of situations I've been in where some guy even like a cab driver in Boston and is getting forceful with me and I remember that moment and I even learned it in high school about self-defense and that you stand your ground and you [Inaudible] back and you fight back and show them your power because no one wants a powerful survivor.

[00:36:08] They want a weak victim. And I remember saying like, "Fuck you. I'm from New York. Don't fuck with me." And it was like, changed everything. That moment of like, don't fuck with me. And that's our generation, the fuck around and find out. I keep saying fuck, but I'm like, don't fuck with us. So it's embodying that energy.

[00:36:26] Rhonda: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it  definitely is. But you know what though? Like I said, I do 100% believe that all human beings are with that innate strength. I do believe that we all have that. I do believe that we all carry that with us in everything we do, and it's just a matter of acknowledging and accepting it and harnessing it, and calling upon it when we need to as you did in that example.

[00:36:50] But all of that also stems very much from in my opinion, knowing who you are. Know thyself. Be authentic. And when you can do that, it becomes a whole lot easier to defend yourself because you know exactly who and what you're defending. Now, I heard it described this way. Between self-image, self-esteem, and identity, your identity is who you are. Your self-esteem is how you feel about who you are. Your self-image should be who you think you are, but instead it is who you think other people think you are most of the time.

[00:37:31] And until we take that power back for ourselves where we know who we are at our core, where we know our strengths, weaknesses, our power, and accept all of them for what they are, work on the things that you can work on, embrace the things that are where you want them to be, that authenticity is what I think allows people to step into their power most easily, most readily, with the most acceptance and grace for themselves for who they are. The way that you did it in that example you just shared.

[00:38:01] Kate: Yeah, so it can be a big or small example. It could be a small or a large threat. But I love that notion of standing your ground, and you've been such a champion in that, which is way more impressive. But you've been literally the best in the world in your sport, and I'd like to talk about that a bit and even how this situation really lent itself to making you even better if that was possible in racquetball.

[00:38:28] But you know you mentioned after the attack that you had a month or so six weeks before Worlds, which sounds like that didn't happen, but what happened from that incident and then moving forward with your career? Oh my gosh. I can't wait to hear.

[00:38:43] Rhonda: Yeah, this was the happy ending to the assault story. So yeah, I did get a call from the US team coach at the time, and he wanted an update on how I was feeling, how I was doing, how's my progress, what's next, what do the doctors say, all the things. And I remember at the end of that conversation-- now again, keep in mind, Worlds is the reason I didn't hit back.

[00:39:02] Worlds was at the forefront of my mind while I was getting my ass kicked. And it was never a possibility in my mind that I would not be going to Worlds. So when we finished up that conversation and he started to sign off with, well, heal up quick, kid. We love you. We're all going to be thinking about you and playing our asses off for you.

[00:39:21] And I'm like, "Huh?" He goes, "In Ireland, we're going to be playing our asses off for you. You're going to be with us in spirit." I'm like, "Yeah, I'm going to be playing my ass off for you, too." And he goes, "What do you mean?" I said, "In Ireland." He laughed. He goes, "You're not going." And that was like bomb dropped on my soul.

[00:39:43] I couldn't believe he said that. I'm like, "What? World is the reason I didn't hit back. Don't you dare take this away from me. This is the thing that's keeping me going. This is the thing that mattered more than anything to me that night. And ever since that night." Again, never crossed my mind that I couldn't be going.

[00:40:00] And I fell into a very deep dark depression for, I don't know. I was heavily medicated. Time is warped in that. I'm guessing about three or four days. But through those three or four days, I knew that I couldn't exist like that. That it didn't feel right. It didn't feel good. I couldn't handle that by just crawling into a hole and curling up in a ball. I tried that. It didn't work for me

[00:40:24] So I just decided I'm going to go ahead and get ready for Worlds anyway. And I wrote him an email and I copied everybody in some position of authority that I had an email address for as well, but I addressed it to him because he's the one who said that in that conversation that we had. This is almost word for word.

[00:40:41] Although I admit I did look it up a few years ago before one of my speeches, just to make sure that I'm like, I should double check my verbiage, and I did actually find that email from 2008 laying around, and I read it. It was pretty spot on, except that I forgot the very last sentence that I had written him. And then when I read it, when I looked it up a few years ago, I was like, "Oh my God, who does that?"

[00:41:04] Kate: What'd you say?

[00:41:06] Rhonda: I said, "Dear Dave, apparently whether or not I go to the world championships next month is not up to me, but whether or not I'm ready to be the world champion is entirely up to me. So please do what you need to do, have your meetings and your phone calls, and do whatever you truly believe is in the best interest of team USA, but just so you know, I will be ready to be the world champion by July 29th."

[00:41:30] That was the day our flights left. That was the day my flight left. I think we were all going to meet there around the same day. I said, "But just so you know, I will be ready to be the world champion by July 29th." And then this is the sentence I forgot. I said, "So if I don't go and you don't win, that's on you."

[00:41:48] Kate: Yes, drop all the mics.

[00:41:50] Rhonda: Dude, that is like Babe Ruth calling his next home run from the hospital bed. What the fuck? But anyway, on that note, I just went about my business as if I was going. And there was a few more conversations after the fact, and I came back to Phoenix and started working with my trainer.

[00:42:08] And again, at no point did I think I wouldn't be ready. I did have a moment of doubt, two moments of doubt. I had one when I came back to Phoenix and the very first workout that my trainer put me through was single leg step ups, one set of 10. And that was it. That was the whole workout.

[00:42:27] He's like, "That's enough. You're done." I'm like, "What? What do you mean that's it?" He's like, "You're done. Go home and rest." I remember I went home and started crying in my pillow because I'm like, "Yeah, I'm going to go play Worlds when I can't do more than 10 sets of one step ups? Fuck am I thinking? But I came back the next day and we did a different workout and the workouts did keep building.

[00:42:50] And he kept asking me, "How are you doing? How are you feeling?" I'm like, "Let's go. I got another round. Let's go. Give me the next thing." And we just continued to build, and he's really good at throttling me when I want to do too much. He's very wise in that way. And whatever we were doing program wise, I felt like I was making daily gains in some way.

[00:43:09] Also very hard to do when you're on a liquid diet and still can't sleep laying down. Even during Worlds, I couldn't sleep laying down. So spoiler alert, I did get to go to the World Championships. The second time I had doubt, I played in a tournament days before we left for Worlds, and I actually played one of my US team teammates in the singles final, and she's more of a double specialist, but she beat me 11-10 tiebreaker. And I had her 10-9, and I had a great serve, and she got a super lucky return, whatever.

[00:43:41] Anyway, I lost  11-10 tiebreaker. She's also one of the most no-nonsense people I've ever known in my life. And I asked her-- I said, "Tell me the truth. Do you feel like I am going to be the weak link for Team USA?" And she looked at me like she wanted to punch me in the other side of my face. She's like, "Are you fucking kidding me? No, I just barely beat you, and I know I got lucky on that bounce. So no, I don't have a problem with you going. You almost beat me, and you should have beat me. Yeah, you're fine."

[00:44:08] I'm like, "Okay, then I'm good." Because if that was her endorsement, then that's definitely one that I can believe. And 64 days after getting jumped, 53 days after facial reconstructive surgery, and 29 days after abandoning all pain medication against medical advice, I won my first world title without losing a single game.

[00:44:28] Kate: I'm going to cry.

[00:44:30] Rhonda: This is the part that I get emotional about. Not even just about me, but I played the other US singles player. So there was two singles players and two doubles players. So there was four men and four women. And I played my US team teammate in the finals. So it was an all USA final.

[00:44:50] The men's singles had an all USA final. Both of our singles men were in that final. And then both our men's and women's doubles teams also won. So that is the last year that I can recall. And I've been on the US team for about 179 [Inaudible]. So that's the last one I can recall where Team USA swept every division, had an all USA final in both singles and USA doubles won both of their matches against the other countries. And we swept all the individual awards, the men's overall, the women's overall, and the team overall. And it was amazing.

[00:45:20] Kate: So this needs to be a movie.  This needs to be a movie. Anywhere I live, I would like you to live next door, please.

[00:45:30] Rhonda: You got it. You got it.

[00:45:33] Kate: Everywhere I go, I would like you to be there.

[00:45:34] Rhonda: I got you.

[00:45:37] Kate: You've caught me in such an authentic moment of emotion. Your story is so heroic and authentic, and all the words and themes that I love so much. I know you're going through a challenging time right now, something unrelated, although everything's related, and I almost want to call into God or whatever you believe in and what everyone believes in and just say, "You know what? Okay. She's had enough. She's overcome enough. She's moved enough." I want to just put you on a float on a lazy river and gently push you down. Give you a cocktail and be like, enjoy.

[00:46:22] Rhonda: You know what? When I get through this growth period, let's celebrate with exactly that.

[00:46:27] Kate: Doesn't that sound lovely?

[00:46:29] Rhonda: That sounds delightful. Sign me up. I'd say put it on --

[00:46:33] Kate: I'm just seeing us in our little swimsuits floating around without a care of our own.

[00:46:37] Rhonda: If the lazy river could end at a delta of massage tables, that'd be ideal.

[00:46:42] Kate: I will look that up.

[00:46:44] Rhonda: You're in charge. You're in charge.

[00:46:47] Kate: Oh my gosh. But do you ever just feel like, I need a break. That's enough. I've done so much?

[00:46:56] Rhonda: No. Only because I don't look in the rearview mirror very often. I believe there's a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. And that has been to my own detriment sometimes. I understand that the rearview mirror still does have its purpose. And I don't actually acknowledge a lot of things that I should, good and bad, ways that I've grown, things I've done, and also ways that I can still improve.

[00:47:22] So it never feels like, can I please just get a fucking break? I might have a fleeting feeling of that when the hits just keep on coming, like they are right now. But of the things that may be feeling overwhelming, how much of it is within my control? And if it's not in my control, I'd have to surrender it to someone or something bigger than myself because there's nothing I can do with it anyway, at least lately. By lately, I mean just in the last few days.

[00:47:58] This has been taking a tremendous toll on my life and others around me. It's been taking a tremendous toll on the trajectory of my life, but I can't spend energy that I don't have trying to control something that is not mine. It's not my car to drive.

[00:48:20] So I think that whatever energy I do have needs to be spent on my own healing, my own self-exploration, my own finding answers for things, my own deep dives into a lot of dark places that maybe I haven't dealt with certain things as well as I have, or maybe I have dealt with them, but at some point I stopped because it was comfortable to stop there, but there was still other layers that needed to be digested and dug up.

[00:48:49] And I'm willing to do the work. I have been doing the work. It's like just when you think you're rounding the last turn, you look up and you realize, "oh, I thought I had one lap to go. I've got 749 more laps to go. Okay, cool." But life is a journey, and the only time that journey ends is when we die. So I don't think feeling like I need to hop off the train just yet, and that's not up to me either.

[00:49:16] Kate: How can we tap into our inner power a bit more? So be like Rhonda, that Michael Jordan when we were younger, or be like Mike. I want to be like Rhonda.

[00:49:26] Rhonda: All right, we get a Gatorade deal, and a Wheaties box deal, and Nike, and I am in.

[00:49:32] Kate:  We'll get all that and then the lengthy river awaits. Let's do it. My lips, not yours.

[00:49:36] Rhonda: Perfect, perfect. It really starts with know thyself. You really have to start with knowing who you are. The one thing that I had-- I will admit this. The one thing that I had that no one else could possibly understand when I was trying to vie for my spot on the US team to be able to go to Worlds that year was that I knew what I was capable of and they didn't.

[00:50:02] That is why I was so adamant about going. It wasn't about ego. It wasn't about, no, that's my spot. I earned that spot. I should go no matter what. Trust me, the last thing I wanted to be was the weak link for Team USA. But I knew that I was capable of delivery on what I set out to do that year. And way before I got jumped, I was committed to winning Worlds.

[00:50:23] It's a really big deal to me. I hadn't won Worlds yet, and I really wanted to. And through the attack and the surgery and the healing and not eating solid food and not sleeping, laying down and a myriad of other things, I still knew what I was capable of. And by the grace of God and Team USA and the coach and the US team committee and the governing board of USA racquetball, they allowed me the opportunity to do exactly that. And I was able to deliver.

[00:50:58] But again, that was just because I knew that. And it wasn't about proving them wrong. It was about proving me right. It wasn't about anyone else. It wasn't any about anyone else's opinions. It wasn't about anyone else saying you shouldn't be here. It wasn't about a watch this, I'll show you. None of that. None of that was external. It was very internal. So I guess there's one way of articulating it. How do you tap into that? What do you want for yourself, and can you prove yourself right? And what steps are you taking to prove yourself right?

[00:51:29] I knew what that looked like for me. It was very easy. Get as much rest as I can. Visualize as much as I can because I couldn't physically work out for a really long time. I couldn't get on the court for a really long time. Couldn't sleep laying down, so I had to maximize-- if I needed to take a nap, take a nap.

[00:51:43] If I took seven naps a day plus trying to sleep for more than three hours a night, that's what I did. It was getting the protein shakes in. It was getting the supplements in. It was watching matches of myself and my opponents and taking notes. It was doing all the things I could possibly do that didn't involve picking up weights, running or chasing the ball, hitting the ball on the court for practice because I couldn't.

[00:52:02] So I knew exactly what all of that looked like for me, going forward, to prepare for a tournament in a way that I never had to prepare for a tournament before. And I think that, honestly, that probably helped me even more than if I had trained traditionally as I normally would have, if that didn't happen.

[00:52:18] So again, this whole experience really has given me so much more than it's taken from me. And that includes knowing what I am capable of, which I will caution you, is also a double-edged sword because when you fail to live up to your own expectations, it's the biggest stick you can find to beat yourself up with. And I am a master at that. I am a master at that. But being aware of that makes it easier to put the stick down in fewer hits.

[00:52:48] Kate: What we think about ourselves matters most. I want everyone to just stop, take a deep breath, and take that in because I want to do it again. What we think about ourselves matters most. What we know we are capable of matters most. And I think a lot of us understand this intellectually, but we don't put it into practice.

[00:53:14] Even I think that sometimes I'm like, "No, I believe it. I believe I should be a household name in this. I believe I can do this. I believe I can create this media empire." But I'm like, "Well, I need someone to give me an opportunity and I'm like, "You can give yourself an opportunity and build it and make it good enough where then that's just the result."

[00:53:34] Rhonda: The most important part of success is never giving up. As long as you're in the fight, you have a fighting chance. Period.

[00:53:43] Kate: I'm just taking it in. Yeah. So you're like Mike. We're going to be like Rhonda. And then at 46 years old, you're still at the world champion level in sport and racquetball. So you've even outlasted Tom Brady. He's our age too. How are you doing this? And I guess, why are you still doing this and still achieving and competing at this level?

[00:54:11] Rhonda: So I have actually taken the last year and a half away from the courts competing specifically to focus on building my businesses up, which is speaking, coaching. I do some training on the side, and I am writing a book that will be out eventually.

[00:54:26] But I've been speaking for over 19 years. I've been coaching for a little over eight now, and it's something that I've always wanted to do, but now it's more like I'm closer to the end of my playing days than I am to starting another huge run. But I do still intend to start that run at the beginning of next season.

[00:54:48] In the meantime, I've given myself this time to get my businesses where I want them to be because I know how I am. I'm very dedicated to my craft, and if I try to split my time between the court and the businesses, the competitive side of me is going to eat the businesses alive and they're going to suffer. And I don't want to do that. I want to get the businesses at the benchmarks that I have set for myself to hit in order to allow myself, give myself permission to go back to competing full-time.

[00:55:14] In the meantime, I'm still training. I'm still playing. I'm still hitting. I'm still practicing. I'm still in the gym. I was up at 5:00 AM running sprints this morning. Dragged the neighborhood with me. I got witnesses. So I still enjoy the competition. I know that I still feel like I'm improving parts of my game, and I can't wait to get back out on the court with my tour mates because I miss them.

[00:55:36] That was my life for 24 years straight, and now taking this little hiatus, this little off ramp for a pit stop getting these businesses where I want them to be, once I do that I'll have the freedom not just of time and dedication, but I'll have the freedom of not feeling like I should have done this before I left. I should have maybe skipped this tournament and go play the next one so that I could have gone over here and done this. I don't want to have those conflicts going forward.

[00:56:01] Kate: How can people get in touch with you, work with you, and what do you most want to accomplish in this next chapter of your life?

[00:56:14] Rhonda: Pretty much everything that I have chosen to work on in this last year falls under the umbrella of trying to help people. And in that regard, speaking appearances, I've spoken to groups of 60 people. I've spoken to groups of 6,000 people and all in between. So if anyone needs a speaker for their events, I have a very pliable skillset in being able to connect with audiences and deliver something that can help move their needle in the right direction somewhere or another, whether that's personally, professionally or otherwise.

[00:56:47] Also, coaching. I really enjoy the one-on-one coaching. However, I have recently unveiled a corporate model that is anywhere from one to five years of engagement, and that is getting communication and effort from me daily. And I've got a whole framework that can suit pretty much any large company, team, what have you, over that period of time.

[00:57:13] And the training, I don't ask for it, but people see pro athlete and they want to come train with a pro athlete. And I'm like, "Okay, jump in. Here's what I'm doing." But I do work with training clients, having completely customized training schedules and systems for each person that I work with. And it's completely their program customized specifically to them.

[00:57:34] Kate: Okay. Well, I'll put it all in the show notes. You're undoubtedly inspirational to everybody who hears your story. Who or what inspires you?

[00:57:48] Rhonda: My father was the oldest of five boys. All five of them played professional something somewhere or another. My father played semi pro basketball and two years of pro baseball. His next brother also played a couple of years of pro baseball. My uncle Dave and my uncle Gary both have World Series rings.

[00:58:04] And my uncle Robbie still holds the record for the longest punt at the University of Miami, and then I think he kicked for the Chargers for a minute, and then he became a professional golfer. So I came out of the womb with excellence was expected.

[00:58:16] And my father was also in the army for almost 40 years. He retired a lieutenant colonel. He passed away in 2016, but I think just the people who surrounded me as a child really set that standard for me. They set that bar. And a lot of people, when I rattle off my family lineage, they're like, "Wow, you must have been under so much pressure."

[00:58:37] First of all, pressure is a privilege. But no, I never felt under pressure because I didn't know anything else. That scope that I grew up under was what was normal for my family. That was familiar for my family. That's just how it was. So I didn't feel any pressure. I just wanted to, I guess, continue that legacy of everything that my family had done before me.

[00:58:59] And my mother, she was also a tremendous athlete. She probably could have played pro tennis if she would have had the support. She was in a family situation where girls didn't play sports, but she did anyway. She had the talent. She had the athleticism. I don't think she had the support behind her.

[00:59:13] Her two brothers, my uncles, they were both in the Navy, and they both became very successful in business after. So I was just always surrounded with greatness. So I just wanted to contribute and do my part to hold up our line.

[00:59:28] Kate: Thank you for that. When you were getting your facial reconstruction, you weren't allowed or they didn't allow you, permit you you look at yourself in the mirror. But I'm just curious, these days or tonight or after this conversation when you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you want to say? What gratitude do you want to express?

[00:59:49] I want to just say I'm so proud of you and so honored to know you and call you a sister and friend now, but what do you want to say to yourself, or what do you say when you look at your beautiful, perfectly reconstructed face?

[01:00:03] Rhonda: My reconstructed face? Keep going. Not done yet. Not done yet. Got a lot more to do, a lot more to live, a lot more to experience, a lot more to learn, a lot more to do, a lot more to give.

[01:00:19] Kate: When you think of that woman back in 2008 who went through that attack and then went on to have the career that you have, what do you want to say to her?

[01:00:30] Rhonda: Keep it up. Don't put your foot on the brake, put on the gas. Let's go.

[01:00:36] Kate: Yeah. Any final thoughts today? This has been such an incredible interview that I will just savor and hold so close to my heart every minute of every day. When I'm feeling great, when I'm feeling not so great, just keeping you in the back of my mind and here in my heart. Any final thoughts that you have for me, for you, or the audience?

[01:00:57] Rhonda: Just thank you. So grateful to be here. So grateful to get the word out. And I really do what I do for the love of helping people. I consider myself in the category of a servant CEO. I want to change lives for the better. I want to show people that they don't have to settle. I want to show people how strong they really fucking are.

[01:01:19] I want to help people reach their dreams and their goals because they're not as far away and untenable as you think they are. Sometimes it's literally like, yeah, go up to the next corner, make a left, two doors down on the right and you're already there. But we're so mired in the negativity of all the bad what ifs, all the catastrophizing, the negative thoughts, the worst-case scenarios that we fail to prepare for the best-case scenarios.

[01:01:41] My phrase for that is stop what if-ing yourself to death and start what if-ing yourself to life. So I hope that I can touch some lives and get some people some joy, some love, some satisfaction, some promotions, whatever it is, whatever development they're looking for. If there's any way that I can serve in that regard, that's what I want to do.

[01:02:02] Kate: What's your biggest hope, dream, wish, goal for 2025?

[01:02:07] Rhonda: Nike sponsorship.

[01:02:09] Kate: Let's go Nike.

[01:02:11] Rhonda: I don't know. I don't know. I would like to get those businesses where I want them because I did give myself a timeline of if I don't start sooner, then I want to kick off the beginning of next season at the end of the summer. So being able to pull that off and get those things where I want, get the automations where they need to be, get the systems thriving the way that I know that they're on their way, that's what I want for 2025. And then I want to go start playing again full-time and winning again.

[01:02:37] Kate: Awesome. Let's do it. Nike, let's go. Let's do it. I started without even trying.

[01:02:42] Rhonda: There we go. There we go.

[01:02:45] Kate: That's just fine. Rhonda Rajsich, thank you so much for being here today. You are a true inspiration to the world, and I'm just so delighted to share your story on Rawish. And, oh, girl, you touched my heart. You touched my soul. I was even speaking in a southern accent. I'm so inspired.

[01:03:03] Rhonda: Love that.

[01:03:04] Kate: Thank you so much, and thank you so much for being here. We appreciate you watching to the end. We'll see you right back here same time, same place next week. Happy new year. Have a beautiful week and 2025. You've got this. We'll do next time. Bye, everybody.