Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - April 24, 2024


Ep 991 ｜ Bethany Hamilton on Women’s Sports, Faith & Motherhood


Episode Stats

Length

54 minutes

Words per Minute

167.35698

Word Count

9,051

Sentence Count

95

Misogynist Sentences

56

Hate Speech Sentences

29


Summary

Bethany Hamilton is more than just an amazing pro surfer with an incredible testimony. She is also a mom, a wife, a Christian, and an advocate for women and girls competing fairly in sports. And so today she joins us to talk about her story, what the Lord has taught her throughout her life, and how he continues to use her testimony for the good of others.


Transcript

00:00:00.760 Bethany Hamilton is more than just an amazing pro surfer with an incredible testimony.
00:00:07.300 She is also a mom, a wife, a Christian, and an advocate for women and girls competing
00:00:14.320 fairly in sports.
00:00:16.680 She is also a pro-life advocate.
00:00:19.180 And so today she joins us to talk about her story, what the Lord has taught her throughout
00:00:24.740 her life, and how he continues to use her testimony for the good of others.
00:00:30.000 And we will also, of course, talk about the changes to Title IX, why she decided last
00:00:34.960 year to speak up for the rights and for fairness for women and girls in surfing.
00:00:40.320 And we'll talk about so much more, too.
00:00:42.340 This episode of Relatable is brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers.
00:00:45.460 Go to GoodRanchers.com.
00:00:46.720 Use code Allie at checkout.
00:00:47.740 That's GoodRanchers.com, code Allie.
00:00:49.340 Bethany Hamilton, thanks so much for taking the time to join us.
00:01:02.980 My pleasure.
00:01:03.820 Glad to be here, Allie.
00:01:05.040 Yeah, it's so nice to meet you.
00:01:06.700 OK, so many people out there have been following you, have been asking me for so long, can you
00:01:11.460 please get Bethany on?
00:01:12.740 Which I am so excited because I have been wanting to and hoping to and planning to have
00:01:18.500 you on for a while.
00:01:19.420 So praise God that it worked out.
00:01:21.600 But for everyone who may not know your story, take us back to the beginning.
00:01:26.580 When did you start surfing and what cultivated your love for that?
00:01:30.340 So I was born and raised in Kauai, Hawaii, and both my parents surfed, and they're both God-fearing
00:01:37.580 people, and they just had my brothers and I and threw us in the water at a young age, you
00:01:44.420 know, probably on a surfboard before I could walk.
00:01:46.820 Yeah.
00:01:47.400 And I just, I think in my, like, young childhood, I grew a passion for the ocean and riding waves,
00:01:56.160 and I had a knack for it, and also just a strong drive.
00:02:00.680 And yeah, as I was getting older, I started competing, I'm very competitive, and it was
00:02:06.900 just a really cool childhood, like just amazing parents.
00:02:11.940 You know, we, my dad worked really hard, had like two to three jobs at a time, so we had
00:02:18.080 a very simple childhood, but they gave me so much.
00:02:21.480 They gave me so much time, and they gave me my faith in God, they encouraged me so much
00:02:27.440 in that area, and then they gave me surfing, which was just the dream playground.
00:02:34.160 And so when I lost my arm, it was almost like I was ready, because my mom had raised me in
00:02:41.740 my faith.
00:02:42.460 She would pray with me, she read the Bible to me at bedtime, we went to church, and they
00:02:48.240 were just very active, I would say, and so when chaos hit, I was ready.
00:02:54.340 Yeah.
00:02:54.980 And while it wasn't the plan that I had in mind for my life, God allowed me to survive
00:03:00.840 that day for a reason, and I very much so could have died, but I made it, and then from
00:03:09.200 there, things just continued to get really interesting.
00:03:12.160 Like, I didn't wake up in the hospital thinking like, wow, I'm gonna surf with one arm, you
00:03:18.180 know, I was more of like, oh my gosh, I lost my passion, like the thing that was more than
00:03:23.420 just a childhood sport, it's just a passion.
00:03:25.880 And remind me how old you were?
00:03:26.560 I was 13 when I lost my arm.
00:03:28.980 Gosh, so young.
00:03:30.220 Yeah, so super young, and to give you a little context, I had finished second in the national
00:03:38.260 titles that summer before, also with my competitive drive, but I was only 13, and I was 18 and
00:03:47.360 under, so very promising.
00:03:50.380 Yeah.
00:03:50.960 Kind of like, I don't know, compared to other sports, I feel like surfing, you can kind of
00:03:54.520 pinpoint if someone's gonna really succeed, whereas like soccer or baseball, like there
00:04:00.980 can be a lot of like really talented children, I would say, but you're not gonna be like, oh
00:04:05.700 yeah, my child's gonna be the best, the next best, I mean, maybe the odd parent might think
00:04:10.200 that, but with surfing, I feel like it's just a little different, because now being a parent
00:04:14.860 myself, I'm like, my parents really were all in, like almost too much, but I love that they
00:04:21.240 were super supportive.
00:04:22.860 Would you say that surfing, I've never surfed before, so I don't know that much about it,
00:04:28.400 would you say, based on what you just said, that you can kind of tell like who is going
00:04:32.600 to be really good from an early age, would you say it's more intuitive, like a more innate
00:04:38.100 skill than maybe some other sports?
00:04:41.080 I would say it's a mix.
00:04:43.060 There is innate ability, like my eight-year-old son, he innately reads the ocean so well, like
00:04:50.260 he can kind of like see a wave coming from forever away, and he's just in the spot.
00:04:55.600 That's so cool.
00:04:56.020 It's super natural, but it's also something you can work at and get better at, and nowadays
00:05:03.180 too, there's like wave pools, so there's some super talented surfers that have basically
00:05:08.680 like gotten themselves to a professional level by spending a lot of time in the wave pools,
00:05:15.880 and so yeah, it's a mix of both, I would say.
00:05:18.900 So at the end of the day, hard work, perseverance, pushing yourself, and like having the natural
00:05:24.980 talent as well.
00:05:26.560 So 13, you survive the attack, you wake up in the hospital, and you think, as you said,
00:05:33.380 wow, my dream is over.
00:05:34.760 You had had this super promising career already by the time you were 13, and you're thinking
00:05:39.700 it's all done.
00:05:41.660 Yeah, so I wake up, and I'm thinking, yeah, I don't know what my life is going to look like,
00:05:47.220 and I think like when chaos like that hits our life, you're just like, everything feels
00:05:52.500 upside down, like the future feels unknown, and so that aspect was really hard, but then
00:05:59.500 I had a friend come in and visit me.
00:06:01.880 His name was Mike Coots, and I had a lot of family support and friends coming in and encouraging
00:06:06.500 me in so many amazing ways, but Mike Coots in particular, he had lost his leg to a shark,
00:06:13.040 and he had learned how to surf with one leg, and so he came in, he's like, hey, I think
00:06:17.120 you can surf with one arm.
00:06:18.720 I was practicing paddling out there this morning, and so he was my first like light bulb of like,
00:06:25.640 okay, maybe I can surf, and then from there, I was just on a mission to get back in the
00:06:30.320 water, and I think most people can't get past the whole shark thing, like they don't want
00:06:36.600 to go back in the ocean after something like that happens.
00:06:39.360 Yeah.
00:06:39.900 But, I don't know, you want to compare it to say driving in a car, like you're going
00:06:47.960 to get back in your car and like still go to the grocery store for the most part, maybe
00:06:52.700 the odd one out of a million might really struggle and never want to get back in a car, but for
00:06:58.960 me, like I said, surfing was more than just my childhood hobby, like I feel like it was a
00:07:05.300 way of life, and culture, and art, and sport.
00:07:10.140 You lived and breathed it.
00:07:11.380 Yes, exactly.
00:07:13.100 So, yeah, 21 days later, as soon as the doctor said I could get in the water, I was out there
00:07:20.500 trying and going for it.
00:07:22.580 Yeah, and your parents were totally on board, no pun intended.
00:07:26.380 My mom was like a little apprehensive.
00:07:30.480 My dad was like, yes, let's go, and then I think once my mom saw me surfing though, and
00:07:38.220 she had that same love and passion for the ocean, so she came on board after a bit.
00:07:43.900 Yeah, and they just knew that it was part of who you were, and that it would have been impossible
00:07:49.220 for you probably to stay out of the water, or it felt like it would have been.
00:07:53.180 I think too, I was exploring the unknown.
00:07:56.200 And I didn't know anyone with one arm, let alone a surfer with one arm, and same for my
00:08:02.440 parents, and so we were, you know, just exploring what was possible, and I think it was hard to
00:08:10.320 wrap your head around surfing with one arm for most people, like just popping up and catching
00:08:15.560 waves, and just the whole, it's one of the hardest sports in the world, so yeah, it was
00:08:22.740 just really cool though, that moment I popped up on my board and rode a wave all the way
00:08:27.240 to the beach, it was just like a tiny little wave, like nothing like very special as far
00:08:32.940 as the wave goes, but it still feels like one of the most beautiful waves of my life.
00:08:38.780 I can just remember that emotion and tears of joy.
00:08:41.460 All right, quick pause from that amazing conversation to tell you about a new episode that I have
00:08:53.520 for Blaze TV Plus subscribers only.
00:08:56.820 It is a Q&A on relationships, so you guys asked me some very juicy relationship questions.
00:09:04.520 I had so much fun answering these, and this is going to be available at blazetv.com slash
00:09:11.960 Allie.
00:09:12.740 Use code Allie, you'll get $20 off your subscription, you'll have access to this, and all kinds of
00:09:20.160 subscriber-exclusive content.
00:09:23.240 Go to blazetv.com slash Allie, code Allie.
00:09:27.740 Was it a pretty straight line from A to B as far as recovery and getting better surfing
00:09:36.600 with one arm, or were there ever moments after that where you just felt yourself getting frustrated
00:09:43.420 or discouraged or even fearful of an attack like that happening again?
00:09:49.800 Yeah, so I would say it was a journey, of course, like any recovery, but it was a journey
00:09:57.740 The physical journey was actually pretty straightforward and easy, but there were definitely days
00:10:04.100 where I'd come in crying or I couldn't even make it out to the lineup because the waves
00:10:09.480 were so intense and I just didn't have the speed or the power and, like, the duck diving
00:10:15.640 abilities, so it took a while to regain my confidence in the ocean and adapt and figure out creative
00:10:24.520 ways to do things differently and so
00:10:26.900 as time went on, it started to feel more natural
00:10:30.740 and I just got used to it and I
00:10:32.640 became better at adapting and figuring out
00:10:35.400 Bethany's version of surfing and creativity
00:10:38.240 out there and how I can do it differently
00:10:40.740 and
00:10:42.500 I think outside of the water, too, is the same thing
00:10:46.600 like just trying to figure out how to do
00:10:48.460 life and there was
00:10:50.520 a lot of frustrating moments, though
00:10:52.320 a lot of tears and frustrations
00:10:54.340 and some down days, for sure
00:10:56.580 but I would say
00:10:58.660 that's where, like, my faith in God
00:11:00.220 really
00:11:01.000 propelled me forward through, like, the
00:11:04.500 hardship and just trusting
00:11:06.700 that God had a plan for my life
00:11:08.660 and knowing that
00:11:09.900 even at 13, I was like
00:11:12.580 well, maybe the Lord will use my story
00:11:14.740 and so I always had a
00:11:16.560 heart for other people, like
00:11:18.280 ever since I was little
00:11:20.240 I just could not wait to go on a mission trip
00:11:22.720 I wanted to go and serve people
00:11:24.320 and so
00:11:25.900 yeah, I think
00:11:27.700 I started getting letters to
00:11:30.040 once I started surfing again
00:11:32.240 from people, like, if you can surf with one arm
00:11:34.560 like, I can overcome my hardship
00:11:36.180 and that
00:11:37.920 as a 13-year-old was kind of weird
00:11:39.980 but also really cool and beautiful
00:11:41.860 yeah
00:11:42.600 and so
00:11:43.640 is that how you kind of dealt
00:11:45.460 with those moments
00:11:46.440 that I'm sure
00:11:47.300 that you had
00:11:48.320 of
00:11:48.760 why me?
00:11:50.620 why
00:11:51.140 why did this happen
00:11:52.380 to me?
00:11:53.960 of all people
00:11:54.960 is that how you kind of combated
00:11:57.140 those temptations
00:11:58.820 to have thoughts like that?
00:12:01.200 yeah
00:12:01.580 it's interesting
00:12:02.540 I think
00:12:03.560 my mindset
00:12:05.700 as a 13-year-old
00:12:07.400 inspires me
00:12:08.540 to this day
00:12:09.400 like, I don't feel like
00:12:10.960 I'm like the same person today
00:12:12.680 like, I mean
00:12:13.620 yes I am
00:12:14.600 and like, I carry a lot of that
00:12:16.180 but
00:12:16.460 I remember just waking up
00:12:19.060 in the hospital
00:12:19.700 and thinking
00:12:20.180 I'm so grateful
00:12:21.180 to be alive
00:12:21.980 like, I could have died
00:12:23.120 I knew
00:12:23.980 very clearly
00:12:25.400 that I could have died
00:12:26.860 and
00:12:27.540 I just think
00:12:29.140 having that gratitude
00:12:30.520 propelled me forward
00:12:32.100 and focusing on
00:12:33.540 what I could do
00:12:34.720 propelled me forward
00:12:36.280 instead of getting stuck
00:12:37.820 in a rut
00:12:38.480 of like, woe is me
00:12:39.760 I have felt that
00:12:41.640 woe is me
00:12:42.300 and that's really hard
00:12:43.780 to overcome
00:12:44.600 and
00:12:45.900 face in life
00:12:48.900 and
00:12:50.080 all I can say
00:12:51.280 is
00:12:52.140 just trying to figure out
00:12:53.480 what can you do
00:12:54.780 how can you move forward
00:12:56.200 what are you
00:12:57.200 what do you have
00:12:58.300 to be grateful for
00:12:59.440 instead of like
00:13:01.280 thinking what if
00:13:02.980 and
00:13:03.740 woe is me
00:13:04.980 because life's gonna
00:13:06.920 knock you down
00:13:07.700 and
00:13:08.300 as my favorite
00:13:09.260 Bible verse says
00:13:10.200 like, in this world
00:13:11.020 you will have trouble
00:13:11.840 John 16, 33
00:13:12.980 I've said these things
00:13:15.580 to you
00:13:15.900 that in me
00:13:16.520 you will have peace
00:13:17.420 in the world
00:13:17.920 you will have trouble
00:13:19.000 but take heart
00:13:19.760 I have overcome
00:13:20.460 the world
00:13:20.880 and I love that verse
00:13:22.360 because it reminds us
00:13:23.440 that
00:13:23.840 we're gonna have trouble
00:13:25.880 like
00:13:26.320 God didn't say
00:13:27.420 it's gonna be
00:13:28.140 all perfect and easy
00:13:29.420 like sin is
00:13:30.220 a part of the world
00:13:31.220 and we're gonna
00:13:31.720 have to face that
00:13:32.600 and it's gonna
00:13:33.140 jack things up
00:13:34.060 along the way
00:13:34.780 but to have
00:13:36.560 our hope in God
00:13:37.500 and to know
00:13:38.360 that he will
00:13:39.700 be there for us
00:13:41.120 through it all
00:13:41.840 and I think that
00:13:43.380 throughout my life
00:13:44.720 like no doubt
00:13:45.700 that's been my
00:13:46.740 sure and steady
00:13:47.640 foundation
00:13:48.340 to carry me
00:13:49.340 carry me on
00:13:50.880 yeah it is a shift
00:13:52.260 in thinking
00:13:52.940 from
00:13:54.080 I'm entitled
00:13:55.500 to everything
00:13:57.260 going well
00:13:58.140 I'm entitled
00:13:58.920 to my dreams
00:13:59.800 coming true
00:14:00.320 exactly how I
00:14:01.400 envision them
00:14:02.040 I'm entitled
00:14:03.060 to reap the rewards
00:14:04.360 of everything
00:14:04.980 that I have worked
00:14:05.860 for exactly
00:14:06.680 like I want
00:14:07.480 to reap them
00:14:08.240 going back
00:14:09.540 to the promise
00:14:10.240 that you just
00:14:11.800 repeated
00:14:12.440 that actually
00:14:13.260 what we can expect
00:14:14.480 is trouble
00:14:15.420 what we can expect
00:14:16.820 is trials
00:14:17.320 what we can expect
00:14:18.280 is for things
00:14:18.960 not to go our way
00:14:20.340 for things
00:14:21.260 not to always
00:14:22.240 just be a smooth road
00:14:24.000 and I love
00:14:25.220 that you brought up
00:14:26.040 that verse
00:14:26.600 because the comfort
00:14:27.540 is not that
00:14:28.680 but it'll all work out
00:14:30.000 in the end
00:14:30.460 how you want it to
00:14:31.440 the comfort is
00:14:32.680 but take heart
00:14:33.620 Christ has already
00:14:34.860 overcome the world
00:14:36.360 so it's in him
00:14:37.460 and it's not about us
00:14:38.900 and our abilities
00:14:39.860 but in his promise
00:14:41.900 and his gift
00:14:42.880 right
00:14:43.420 so after this
00:14:44.860 you didn't just
00:14:45.500 continue surfing
00:14:46.720 and riding some
00:14:47.760 little waves
00:14:48.560 you continued
00:14:49.460 competing right
00:14:50.320 yeah
00:14:51.280 so I went on
00:14:53.100 to win a national
00:14:53.900 title two years
00:14:55.140 later
00:14:55.480 and then
00:14:57.860 that kind of
00:14:59.220 projected me
00:14:59.920 towards a professional
00:15:00.880 career
00:15:01.520 and so
00:15:02.220 that was super fun
00:15:03.260 like I
00:15:03.980 am just a surfer
00:15:05.500 and mermaid
00:15:06.340 at heart
00:15:07.020 and so that's
00:15:07.960 my happy place
00:15:08.820 and my element
00:15:09.520 like yeah
00:15:10.960 it was really fun
00:15:11.880 to push myself
00:15:12.660 and really like
00:15:13.820 push female surfing
00:15:15.300 and so
00:15:16.300 I had an awesome time
00:15:17.840 I wouldn't say
00:15:18.540 I wouldn't say my
00:15:18.760 competitive career
00:15:20.400 was as successful
00:15:21.600 as I maybe
00:15:22.580 could have been
00:15:23.300 but there was a lot
00:15:24.880 of rad moments
00:15:25.580 along the way
00:15:26.200 and I would say
00:15:26.660 the highlight
00:15:27.220 of my surfing career
00:15:28.440 was probably
00:15:28.940 creating my documentary
00:15:30.120 Unstoppable
00:15:30.800 which we started
00:15:32.260 to create that
00:15:33.100 as a 10 minute
00:15:34.060 short film
00:15:34.840 just me pushing
00:15:35.820 it in the ocean
00:15:36.460 and then it kind of
00:15:37.300 turned into a bigger
00:15:38.180 project
00:15:38.820 but there is the
00:15:40.340 10 minute short film
00:15:41.440 within the documentary
00:15:43.080 capturing me
00:15:44.120 pushing female
00:15:45.060 surfing
00:15:45.640 and pushing myself
00:15:47.300 in big waves
00:15:48.360 little waves
00:15:48.940 competitive
00:15:49.620 progressive
00:15:52.300 female surfing
00:15:53.380 and so
00:15:54.080 it was just
00:15:54.740 so fun
00:15:55.760 to
00:15:56.560 push myself
00:15:58.180 and I had a baby
00:15:59.480 along the way
00:16:00.100 so I share like
00:16:01.040 the entering
00:16:01.880 in the motherhood
00:16:02.960 journey
00:16:03.480 and then we just
00:16:04.820 bring our little guy
00:16:05.660 along for the ride
00:16:06.540 he has more
00:16:07.220 passport stamps
00:16:08.560 in his passport
00:16:09.640 than most humans
00:16:11.460 which is pretty cool
00:16:12.440 for him
00:16:12.820 and it was just
00:16:14.160 such an amazing
00:16:15.140 adventure
00:16:15.600 with the support
00:16:16.660 of my husband
00:16:17.120 of course
00:16:17.700 he was like
00:16:18.940 hey you only have
00:16:19.700 so much more time
00:16:20.640 to like really
00:16:21.220 push it with surfing
00:16:22.140 so let's just
00:16:23.380 like kind of go
00:16:24.100 all in the next
00:16:24.960 few years
00:16:25.600 and then we'll
00:16:26.540 start a family
00:16:27.260 but the first
00:16:28.580 little guy
00:16:29.000 came a little
00:16:29.520 earlier than planned
00:16:30.560 and then
00:16:31.100 but yeah
00:16:32.620 it was just
00:16:33.220 an awesome adventure
00:16:34.300 and I loved
00:16:35.420 every second of it
00:16:36.360 and then
00:16:36.780 four days later
00:16:37.540 I'm still surfing
00:16:38.520 pretty world class
00:16:40.160 level
00:16:40.540 like you know
00:16:41.440 I can make a heat
00:16:42.320 and still shine
00:16:44.180 out there
00:16:44.680 but just kind of
00:16:45.860 focusing on motherhood
00:16:47.080 and having fun
00:16:48.220 and getting my children
00:16:49.140 to the beach
00:16:49.820 and yeah
00:16:50.500 yeah
00:16:50.860 well I have lots
00:16:51.680 of questions
00:16:52.080 about motherhood
00:16:53.080 and all of that
00:16:53.820 but I'm curious
00:16:54.580 how you felt
00:16:56.000 as a teenager
00:16:58.960 when your story
00:17:01.260 became basically
00:17:02.720 international news
00:17:04.620 because I knew
00:17:05.420 who you were
00:17:06.100 when I was
00:17:07.040 you know
00:17:07.360 when I was young
00:17:07.980 when I was a teenager
00:17:08.840 everyone knew
00:17:09.680 what had happened
00:17:11.560 to you
00:17:12.160 and even
00:17:13.140 your testimony
00:17:13.780 of faith
00:17:14.800 and I grew up
00:17:15.700 in the evangelical
00:17:16.420 world
00:17:17.040 and so we loved
00:17:18.080 those testimonies
00:17:19.020 I think for great
00:17:19.860 reason
00:17:20.300 and so I knew
00:17:21.620 your story
00:17:22.200 and your name
00:17:23.020 and have for a long
00:17:23.860 time
00:17:24.240 what did you think
00:17:25.480 about that
00:17:26.040 when it became
00:17:26.960 this you know
00:17:28.700 the testimony
00:17:29.400 that was heard
00:17:30.140 around the world
00:17:30.840 it was crazy
00:17:32.660 because that was
00:17:33.840 right when social
00:17:34.720 media was just
00:17:35.540 kind of barely
00:17:36.180 getting off the ground
00:17:37.000 it might have been
00:17:37.580 MySpace days
00:17:38.620 or like early
00:17:39.540 Facebook days
00:17:40.620 but my story
00:17:42.200 went viral
00:17:42.920 without the social
00:17:44.200 media
00:17:44.560 it was crazy
00:17:45.280 like literally
00:17:46.000 worldwide
00:17:46.720 and I actually
00:17:49.280 like hated it
00:17:50.240 like I hated
00:17:51.520 being in the public
00:17:52.560 eye
00:17:52.900 I was like more
00:17:53.660 reserved
00:17:54.080 like just happy
00:17:55.020 to be surfing
00:17:55.720 like just wanted
00:17:56.660 to be with my
00:17:57.320 friends
00:17:57.820 you know
00:17:58.180 teenager vibes
00:17:59.380 but like a good
00:18:01.040 teenager vibe
00:18:01.700 too though
00:18:02.120 like we were
00:18:02.840 just rambling
00:18:03.460 and adventuring
00:18:04.300 in nature
00:18:04.840 so that was
00:18:07.880 super hard
00:18:08.620 for me
00:18:09.200 but I also
00:18:10.440 had that like
00:18:11.200 heart to
00:18:12.080 encourage
00:18:12.480 and inspire
00:18:13.360 others
00:18:13.740 so I kind
00:18:14.380 of like
00:18:14.840 fought it
00:18:16.760 fought the nature
00:18:17.980 to want to like
00:18:18.860 hide
00:18:19.340 and was still
00:18:20.340 willing to share
00:18:21.080 my story
00:18:21.740 and I think
00:18:22.200 my mom
00:18:22.640 mom and dad
00:18:23.420 kind of pushed
00:18:23.940 me along too
00:18:24.620 you know
00:18:25.000 but they were
00:18:26.340 also awesome
00:18:27.020 in the way
00:18:27.700 that they did
00:18:28.380 it I would say
00:18:29.180 though they also
00:18:30.620 probably didn't
00:18:31.340 fully comprehend
00:18:32.120 what was going
00:18:32.860 on but
00:18:33.460 and then I
00:18:38.560 remember we
00:18:39.300 went to write
00:18:39.880 my book
00:18:40.360 Soul Surfer
00:18:41.160 and I was like
00:18:42.400 okay let's do
00:18:43.220 this
00:18:43.700 literally my
00:18:44.660 teenage brain
00:18:45.300 was like
00:18:45.740 I'm going to
00:18:46.380 write this book
00:18:47.040 so I'd never
00:18:47.640 have to tell
00:18:48.120 my story again
00:18:49.120 so we write
00:18:51.460 the book
00:18:51.940 I would sit
00:18:53.400 with the pastor
00:18:54.160 friend who's
00:18:54.940 an author
00:18:55.400 Rick Bunchy
00:18:56.100 he would sit
00:18:57.160 with me for
00:18:57.600 like 10 minutes
00:18:58.400 and then I'm
00:18:59.020 like I'm done
00:18:59.720 like 10 minutes
00:19:00.960 at a time
00:19:01.540 so we like
00:19:02.140 slowly inched
00:19:03.000 along and
00:19:03.480 wrote this
00:19:03.940 book
00:19:04.320 and then
00:19:07.000 it came out
00:19:07.700 and I didn't
00:19:08.400 realize I had
00:19:08.960 to do like
00:19:09.440 a media tour
00:19:10.400 so they're
00:19:10.880 like I
00:19:11.220 won't go
00:19:11.520 to New York
00:19:12.040 City
00:19:12.480 I'm doing
00:19:13.020 all these
00:19:13.380 interviews
00:19:13.980 I hated
00:19:15.200 interviews
00:19:15.860 it was just
00:19:17.180 not my
00:19:18.420 forte
00:19:19.660 but
00:19:20.440 God was
00:19:23.220 doing his
00:19:23.680 thing and
00:19:24.200 sharing my
00:19:24.780 story and
00:19:25.560 doing it
00:19:26.380 for a good
00:19:26.800 reason and
00:19:27.660 it was just
00:19:28.180 so cool to
00:19:28.940 hear so many
00:19:30.160 people from
00:19:30.840 so many different
00:19:31.660 walks of life
00:19:32.420 from all over
00:19:33.200 the world
00:19:33.600 just so
00:19:34.300 inspired by
00:19:34.900 my story
00:19:35.500 and like
00:19:36.080 just so many
00:19:36.740 children would
00:19:37.500 pick up Soul
00:19:38.140 Surfer and
00:19:38.720 read that
00:19:39.480 when they had
00:19:40.360 never read a
00:19:41.020 book before
00:19:41.660 or just
00:19:43.220 people going
00:19:43.860 through immense
00:19:45.880 hardship and
00:19:47.100 remembering that
00:19:47.920 they can keep
00:19:48.520 going and so
00:19:49.500 it's just so
00:19:50.780 amazing to see
00:19:52.960 how even that
00:19:54.540 dysfunctional
00:19:55.740 teenager that
00:19:56.580 wanted nothing to
00:19:57.540 do with being in
00:19:58.320 front of a camera
00:19:59.000 or doing any
00:19:59.940 sort of interviews
00:20:00.660 or writing any
00:20:01.480 sort of books
00:20:02.180 still God
00:20:04.780 still worked
00:20:05.280 through her
00:20:05.760 God used
00:20:06.300 that totally
00:20:07.380 how'd you meet
00:20:20.100 your husband
00:20:20.480 so Adam and
00:20:22.540 I he finished
00:20:24.460 college he had a
00:20:26.400 teaching degree and
00:20:28.160 then he ended
00:20:28.620 up out in
00:20:29.120 Hawaii to help
00:20:30.560 a friend start
00:20:31.180 a young life
00:20:31.760 chapter he was
00:20:32.840 like I'm done
00:20:33.440 with college like
00:20:34.160 a little free
00:20:34.820 season and then
00:20:36.400 our friends just
00:20:38.280 loved him so much
00:20:39.120 they wanted to
00:20:39.760 keep him out
00:20:40.400 there and find
00:20:41.700 him a wife and
00:20:43.480 they set us up and
00:20:44.760 then we kind of
00:20:45.960 hit it off pretty
00:20:46.960 quick he just gave
00:20:48.100 me a call and we
00:20:49.280 met up at the
00:20:49.880 beach and we
00:20:51.980 we jumped off a
00:20:53.160 cliff into the
00:20:54.260 ocean and he's
00:20:55.840 from Kansas
00:20:56.440 he's a ball
00:20:57.520 guy not an
00:20:58.560 ocean guy yeah
00:20:59.560 there's a big
00:21:00.340 difference like a
00:21:01.380 lot of like muscle
00:21:02.560 heads from the
00:21:03.380 gyms or like
00:21:04.660 ball guys who
00:21:05.760 are like super
00:21:06.480 athletic like you
00:21:07.480 get them in the
00:21:08.040 ocean and they're
00:21:08.820 just kind of like
00:21:09.980 barely making it
00:21:11.060 so it was so
00:21:12.560 funny because I
00:21:13.200 was like just
00:21:13.820 such a mermaid and
00:21:14.880 we're like really
00:21:16.560 different backgrounds
00:21:17.440 but also like
00:21:18.820 similar in
00:21:19.780 upbringing and
00:21:21.440 yeah we hit it
00:21:22.580 off and kind of
00:21:23.840 from there got
00:21:25.660 married about a
00:21:26.860 year later and
00:21:27.820 yeah how long
00:21:28.660 have you been
00:21:28.960 married now
00:21:29.500 10 years
00:21:30.420 10 years
00:21:31.520 four babies
00:21:32.660 yeah and doing
00:21:33.920 life together he
00:21:34.920 helps kind of like
00:21:36.420 keep everything
00:21:37.140 going and we
00:21:38.200 just kind of
00:21:38.740 teamwork all
00:21:39.740 aspects of life
00:21:40.720 so okay how
00:21:43.040 do you surf
00:21:44.360 while pregnant
00:21:44.980 yeah so how I
00:21:48.440 like to say for
00:21:49.600 me surfing is
00:21:50.580 kind of like
00:21:51.360 walking like you
00:21:53.380 know you're
00:21:53.780 gonna walk when
00:21:54.360 you're pregnant
00:21:54.840 and for me I
00:21:55.880 kind of just
00:21:56.340 surf while I'm
00:21:56.980 pregnant yeah
00:21:57.800 like I would say
00:21:58.640 towards once I
00:21:59.660 start getting a
00:22:00.380 bit bigger I put
00:22:01.440 more weight up on
00:22:02.540 my upper chest
00:22:03.620 got it and kind
00:22:04.900 of like perch and
00:22:06.100 and then there's
00:22:06.820 certain types of
00:22:07.520 waves that are
00:22:08.200 better for surfing
00:22:09.240 when I'm pregnant
00:22:10.120 so I pick my
00:22:10.900 waves a little more
00:22:11.840 strategically yes
00:22:13.380 and I don't know I
00:22:14.460 surf till seven
00:22:15.660 months with my
00:22:16.760 first couple yeah
00:22:18.080 and then six and a
00:22:19.380 half months with my
00:22:20.260 second too okay so
00:22:22.460 and there was
00:22:23.740 never like a
00:22:24.940 moment of like
00:22:25.800 worry for baby
00:22:27.080 yeah and yeah
00:22:29.700 in Hawaii too I
00:22:31.600 will say a lot of
00:22:32.760 women surf till
00:22:33.820 literally the day
00:22:34.820 they're giving
00:22:35.260 birth like it's
00:22:36.340 it's a cultural
00:22:37.220 thing part of what
00:22:37.960 they do so then
00:22:38.540 you get on social
00:22:39.380 media and you like
00:22:40.180 post stuff like
00:22:40.860 that and people
00:22:41.300 are like what are
00:22:42.080 you doing like
00:22:43.220 yeah be careful
00:22:44.320 I'm like of course
00:22:45.620 be careful like
00:22:46.520 yeah like thanks
00:22:48.380 for reiterating what
00:22:49.540 we all already
00:22:50.440 women can do a
00:22:52.480 lot more just in
00:22:53.280 general while
00:22:53.920 pregnant than
00:22:54.660 people think
00:22:56.520 especially like
00:22:57.420 for I you know
00:22:58.440 I had like had a
00:22:59.120 friend who was a
00:23:00.360 crossfitter and she
00:23:02.080 was really into
00:23:02.620 crossfit and then
00:23:03.440 when she got
00:23:03.880 pregnant she
00:23:04.520 continued to do
00:23:05.260 crossfit like all
00:23:06.200 through her
00:23:06.480 pregnancy and of
00:23:07.260 course like you
00:23:08.100 said there are
00:23:08.680 precautions that you
00:23:09.420 take modifications
00:23:10.280 and things like
00:23:10.980 that but pregnancy
00:23:12.260 isn't like a
00:23:13.020 disease that you
00:23:14.020 necessarily have to
00:23:14.900 stop doing
00:23:15.580 everything for
00:23:16.500 and I will say
00:23:17.420 there was moments
00:23:18.160 in certain
00:23:18.740 pregnancies where
00:23:19.800 I had to slow
00:23:20.580 down and ease
00:23:21.660 up like I had
00:23:22.560 pubic symphosis
00:23:23.540 disorder at one
00:23:24.440 point and had to
00:23:25.420 do some rehabilitation
00:23:26.320 after and so like
00:23:27.880 there's some element
00:23:29.140 of like I do
00:23:30.160 respect like what
00:23:31.520 the body is going
00:23:32.500 through like I
00:23:33.540 think there is an
00:23:34.880 element like I
00:23:36.000 personally am not
00:23:36.920 going to go on a
00:23:37.580 run when I'm eight
00:23:38.680 nine months pregnant
00:23:39.580 like I think for me
00:23:41.380 it just wouldn't be
00:23:42.400 good I try to be
00:23:43.580 really in tune with
00:23:44.760 what's going on but
00:23:45.740 surfing is actually
00:23:46.520 more gentle than you
00:23:47.580 would think and
00:23:48.980 so and like also
00:23:50.800 someone who runs
00:23:52.260 all the time like
00:23:53.360 maybe their body is
00:23:54.340 more used to that
00:23:55.520 and can handle it
00:23:56.280 though I think there
00:23:56.940 is something to be
00:23:57.600 said about the
00:23:58.200 relaxing going
00:23:59.080 through the body
00:23:59.600 I'm really into
00:24:00.160 health so I do
00:24:00.980 dive deep on a lot
00:24:02.100 of this stuff and
00:24:02.820 try to problem
00:24:03.840 solve any issues I
00:24:05.200 might be having so
00:24:07.320 there is an element
00:24:08.560 of like your body
00:24:10.040 is going through a
00:24:11.260 lot of transitions so
00:24:12.800 I kind of like try to
00:24:14.020 balance that out and
00:24:15.480 with my fourth baby I
00:24:17.100 was way less active
00:24:18.280 but I feel like my
00:24:20.660 recovery was amazing
00:24:22.380 after so it's just a
00:24:24.580 balancing act and I
00:24:25.680 do think listening to
00:24:27.560 your body and just
00:24:28.440 paying attention but
00:24:29.720 yeah being a surfer
00:24:30.960 like to me it's like
00:24:32.080 walking on the
00:24:32.840 sidewalk so yeah just
00:24:34.680 kind of get out there
00:24:35.580 and do it.
00:24:35.660 It didn't feel like a
00:24:36.300 workout to you.
00:24:37.220 I am like major
00:24:39.320 waddler in pregnancy
00:24:41.300 like after halfway I
00:24:43.040 personally can't imagine
00:24:44.340 running even though I've
00:24:45.880 never surfed and
00:24:46.660 surfing would be like
00:24:47.920 it would be probably
00:24:48.940 really really hard for
00:24:50.100 me but I can imagine
00:24:52.420 if I did have
00:24:53.740 surfing skills that
00:24:54.940 being easier while
00:24:56.300 pregnant than running
00:24:57.540 because run like you
00:24:59.660 said the relaxing it
00:25:01.040 just makes every like
00:25:02.480 your hips and your
00:25:03.380 pelvis are so
00:25:04.200 different.
00:25:05.060 I can't imagine being
00:25:06.240 able to run without
00:25:07.360 waddling but you do
00:25:08.500 see the women who are
00:25:09.600 you know they're track
00:25:10.380 stars and that's just
00:25:11.320 what they do it's like
00:25:12.460 surfing for you like
00:25:13.680 they can do it I
00:25:15.340 can't imagine.
00:25:16.460 I'm curious too though
00:25:17.960 is because you do see
00:25:19.000 a lot of these stories
00:25:19.800 like I want to hear the
00:25:20.900 ins and outs like was
00:25:22.440 there any issues that
00:25:23.780 five ten years following
00:25:25.460 yeah like me I think I
00:25:27.720 maybe pushed it a little
00:25:29.020 too much and so I've had
00:25:31.640 to do some rehabilitation
00:25:32.840 at times like with the
00:25:35.460 pelvic floor and but for
00:25:38.320 the most part I would say I
00:25:39.820 took really good care of
00:25:40.860 my body always focus on
00:25:42.100 alignment because of
00:25:43.460 having one arm and so I
00:25:44.980 can nerd out on that I
00:25:46.000 probably won't do that
00:25:46.960 with you today Allie.
00:25:48.100 That's okay you can we
00:25:49.380 like talking about
00:25:50.340 pregnancy and all those
00:25:52.060 things a lot so you're
00:25:53.500 welcome to.
00:25:54.980 Thanks.
00:25:56.420 So okay so you met your
00:25:58.220 husband about and y'all
00:25:59.860 you said that you dated
00:26:00.900 like a year or so.
00:26:03.420 Yeah it was just over a
00:26:04.920 year we were met in May
00:26:06.680 and then married the next
00:26:07.640 August but I was
00:26:09.080 traveling a lot in
00:26:09.940 between that time so it
00:26:11.700 felt like you know I'm
00:26:12.780 probably like nine months
00:26:14.180 but yeah yeah and then
00:26:15.960 now you have four kids and
00:26:18.200 your youngest is how old?
00:26:20.120 My youngest as of today
00:26:21.700 she's ten months and then
00:26:23.740 we have three boys my
00:26:25.020 oldest is eight and it's
00:26:26.740 awesome.
00:26:27.160 You have three boys and a
00:26:28.460 girl?
00:26:28.940 Yeah.
00:26:29.320 Oh my goodness that's
00:26:30.840 amazing and they help take
00:26:32.500 do they help take care of
00:26:33.520 their sister and protect
00:26:34.560 their sister?
00:26:35.260 My boys are so sweet
00:26:37.820 it's so beautiful to see
00:26:39.760 their like brotherly love
00:26:41.820 and I look at it as
00:26:43.000 paternal instinct as well
00:26:44.740 like one day hopefully
00:26:45.840 God willing mama can have
00:26:48.440 some grandma
00:26:49.140 grandchildren.
00:26:50.900 Yeah.
00:26:51.820 But yeah it's been really
00:26:54.080 fun.
00:26:54.580 I definitely think having
00:26:55.700 like four
00:26:56.580 my fourth was definitely the
00:26:58.980 easiest because I had the
00:27:01.400 helpers.
00:27:02.040 Yeah so true.
00:27:03.740 Yeah they're there to help
00:27:05.340 support you know if
00:27:06.580 Aaliyah's fussing in the
00:27:07.620 car while we're driving
00:27:08.740 I'm like hand her toys
00:27:10.340 give her snacks
00:27:11.020 make her smile
00:27:12.220 and they're super helpful.
00:27:14.220 Yeah.
00:27:14.560 How soon do you get your
00:27:15.860 babies on the water?
00:27:17.460 Aaliyah I haven't gotten
00:27:18.680 her on a surfboard or in
00:27:20.360 the ocean even that much
00:27:21.680 it's just been life's been
00:27:23.380 kind of hectic and in the
00:27:25.680 winter it gets more
00:27:26.620 blustery and kind of just
00:27:27.900 like less desirable but this
00:27:30.100 this summer we'll get out
00:27:32.120 there and get her in like
00:27:33.480 little splash pools along
00:27:36.840 the ocean and yeah.
00:27:38.800 Yeah.
00:27:39.720 Just as soon as possible
00:27:40.740 you kind of get them like
00:27:41.820 used to the water.
00:27:43.020 Yes but like my three year
00:27:44.820 old he doesn't really surf
00:27:46.760 but he'll surf on daddy's
00:27:48.340 shoulders so dad will take
00:27:50.380 him out and he'll ride on
00:27:51.600 his shoulders or they like
00:27:53.340 tandeming my six year old
00:27:54.900 loves tandeming and
00:27:56.400 boogie boarding.
00:27:57.700 Yeah.
00:27:57.920 Yeah.
00:27:58.180 That's so fun.
00:28:00.100 Let's talk a little bit
00:28:12.840 about a subject that you
00:28:14.660 started speaking up about
00:28:16.000 in the past couple of
00:28:17.460 years that I'm sure that
00:28:19.000 you got a lot of support
00:28:19.940 for on social media and
00:28:21.460 then a lot of detractors of
00:28:23.880 course because it can be a
00:28:25.260 polarizing subject and that
00:28:26.880 is the protection of women's
00:28:29.180 sports and my audience
00:28:31.060 doesn't need an explanation
00:28:32.140 for that.
00:28:33.100 We've seen changes with
00:28:34.160 Title IX of course this is
00:28:36.120 something that unfortunately
00:28:37.080 has been pushed for quite a
00:28:38.820 few years now but allowing
00:28:40.660 males to compete against
00:28:43.100 women in the name of
00:28:44.520 accepting gender identity.
00:28:46.740 You decided to speak out
00:28:48.140 about this and so I just I
00:28:50.860 want to hear why you
00:28:52.280 decided to make a stand
00:28:54.420 because you could have
00:28:55.900 decided not to.
00:28:57.180 Yes.
00:28:58.060 So it's super interesting
00:28:59.480 the World Surf League
00:29:00.880 I was competing in a
00:29:03.980 women's pipe event
00:29:05.160 that was just before the
00:29:09.620 World Surf League which is
00:29:10.800 like kind of like our main
00:29:12.160 competitive tour and they
00:29:16.300 emailed the entire tour
00:29:18.760 hey like this is a new rule
00:29:20.880 just giving you a heads up
00:29:22.500 so and the new rule was
00:29:24.520 they were allowing males to
00:29:25.820 compete against females
00:29:26.840 and nobody got any
00:29:30.000 precursor or pre-warning
00:29:31.720 it was just in an email
00:29:33.220 boom and I was I had heard
00:29:35.700 whispers and I told a couple
00:29:37.100 of the girls that were on the
00:29:38.640 main tour and I was like hey
00:29:39.720 did you hear about this like
00:29:40.900 I'm hearing whispers like this
00:29:42.220 is crazy and they're like no
00:29:45.740 way it's gonna happen like kind
00:29:47.580 of doubting and they said the
00:29:49.560 the new rule was did they
00:29:51.500 say transgender women or did
00:29:53.300 they just say it's gonna be
00:29:54.360 co-ed?
00:29:55.820 I don't remember the exact
00:29:57.700 wording but basically males
00:29:59.340 could not compete in the
00:30:00.520 female division of trans males.
00:30:02.640 Got it.
00:30:03.960 And so I was just like oh my
00:30:07.340 goodness this is horrible like
00:30:09.100 I've seen what's going on in
00:30:10.740 other sports and I just knew
00:30:15.200 that my like first of all I'm
00:30:18.240 very much so against that and
00:30:20.340 so you know I kind of hold to
00:30:24.100 my values and I stand firm with
00:30:27.120 what I believe and try not you
00:30:29.860 know I don't really deviate much
00:30:31.840 you know in my life I guess that
00:30:34.540 sounds weird I am very like kind
00:30:36.660 of like more black and white I
00:30:38.340 guess yeah but what really upset
00:30:41.300 me about what was going on was the
00:30:43.820 World Surf League in January prior
00:30:46.340 to telling the girls what was
00:30:48.180 going to go on and the guys they
00:30:51.060 had all the athletes sign no
00:30:53.300 disparaging agreement you cannot
00:30:56.580 say anything against the World
00:30:58.400 Surf League and so here you have
00:31:00.700 all the girls on tour I would say
00:31:03.620 at least 70% of them for sure were
00:31:06.380 against it and they've all signed a
00:31:09.460 nine non-disparaging agreement you'll
00:31:11.560 get kicked off and you'll be fined if
00:31:13.340 if you speak out well and so I'm
00:31:16.620 like oh my goodness like none of
00:31:18.380 the girls you know they could have
00:31:20.360 spoke out they make enough money to
00:31:21.940 receive the fine but they would be
00:31:23.660 throwing their careers in the trash
00:31:25.600 so you know all of them decided not
00:31:30.520 to speak out yeah it wasn't like I
00:31:33.800 was really having conversations with
00:31:35.580 them but you know you can just go on
00:31:37.360 social media and find out real quick
00:31:39.000 and so I just decided it was my time
00:31:43.880 to shine yeah not very excited about
00:31:48.120 it though because I knew it was just
00:31:50.040 going to be gnarly out there and yeah
00:31:55.040 it just I mean my way my approach was
00:31:57.420 very much just asking questions I'd
00:31:59.700 even state my opinion in the public I
00:32:03.220 just asked a bunch of questions like
00:32:05.300 because in the rule it talked about you
00:32:08.180 know must be on a hormone replacement
00:32:10.920 for like nine or twelve months and must
00:32:13.560 reach a certain number on the hormone
00:32:17.000 levels see even still to this day I can
00:32:19.900 barely even talk about it in like a
00:32:21.660 political fashion like I'm not very
00:32:23.820 political I just think of it from more
00:32:25.860 of like everyday Joe perspective so
00:32:29.340 still I'm like are you kidding me like
00:32:31.720 we're not just a hormone level yeah here
00:32:34.620 and yeah so yeah it was crazy but I'm
00:32:39.580 really happy I did it like I just and
00:32:42.640 that was before I found out I was
00:32:44.240 pregnant with my daughter but I was
00:32:46.220 like if I ever have a daughter and I
00:32:48.340 don't stand up for her and like somehow
00:32:50.740 she's one day competing and a super
00:32:53.520 talent in surfing or whatever sport she
00:32:55.580 might choose like I want her to have the
00:32:59.060 opportunity to win a world title without
00:33:01.220 competing against males yeah and so when I
00:33:06.280 had my daughter I was like oh my gosh
00:33:08.200 this is emotional like thinking about
00:33:10.760 like her future and all the young girls
00:33:14.700 that are up-and-comers and just thinking
00:33:17.940 you know as of now there haven't been
00:33:20.180 any males competing on the main world
00:33:23.380 surf league that I know of there was one
00:33:27.200 male that won a men's event and then he
00:33:30.100 went and won the women's event like a year
00:33:32.160 or two later and so that was just crazy to
00:33:38.060 me that people are accepting that I'm like
00:33:40.540 this doesn't really equal up to me to have
00:33:43.680 someone compete in the men's win and then
00:33:45.900 compete in the women's and win and
00:33:47.520 everyone's like just whispers and chip
00:33:49.820 chips but I would say people out of the
00:33:52.720 woodworks were thanking me like I would
00:33:55.560 say the majority of people are in agreement
00:33:58.240 with with my viewpoints or with me standing
00:34:01.860 up against it I would say I am pretty
00:34:06.440 disappointed that not more women spoke up
00:34:09.220 like none of the former world title women
00:34:11.920 spoke up women who have had amazing
00:34:15.980 opportunities to compete in an equal playing
00:34:20.480 field so that was super disappointing and
00:34:25.500 none of the men really spoke up either I'm
00:34:28.340 like where's the men out just because it's
00:34:30.640 not your issue it is in a sense especially if
00:34:33.940 you guys have daughters someday or something
00:34:36.300 so that to me was pretty disappointing as
00:34:39.760 well and so you said you're not going to
00:34:54.560 compete so I said I'm not competing in any
00:34:57.680 world surf league events I did cheat a
00:34:59.940 little because I surfed in this one event
00:35:01.680 that was like sanctioned world surf league but
00:35:03.740 the only reason why they sanctioned it was
00:35:05.720 because they wanted to have the the world
00:35:08.260 tour surfers be able to be a part of the
00:35:10.400 event but I checked in advance to see if
00:35:13.260 any guys were going to be in the girls
00:35:15.660 division and there weren't and so I was
00:35:17.600 like I'm gonna bend my own rules for this
00:35:20.240 one because it was that pipeline too which
00:35:22.220 is just a world-renowned wave and it's
00:35:25.000 really hard to have a moment out there
00:35:26.620 without any other surfers but and the
00:35:29.200 company who puts on that event they didn't
00:35:31.660 even want the world surf league a part of
00:35:34.020 it they just did the sanctioning so they
00:35:36.320 could have a few of the athletes from there
00:35:38.380 into their event okay and so did they
00:35:43.600 respond to you at the time because this
00:35:45.480 was February of last year yeah February
00:35:47.860 last year I don't think I ever got a
00:35:52.780 response I think I just got silencing yeah
00:35:56.440 I don't know if you know this part but so
00:36:00.080 fast forward a little bit they have they do
00:36:02.820 this special event where all the athletes
00:36:05.600 can put a woman who they admire on their
00:36:09.400 jersey so their last name on their jersey
00:36:11.600 and then they can like give kudos to that
00:36:15.740 if in their post interviews if they win
00:36:18.500 their heats and I think there was like a
00:36:22.240 large number of athletes I mean maybe not
00:36:24.500 large maybe at least five five or more
00:36:27.040 athletes who wanted Bethany on their jersey
00:36:30.020 they're applauding me they're like she is you
00:36:32.700 know I don't know what they're saying
00:36:34.480 about me but anyway the world surf league
00:36:37.400 did not allow them to have Bethany on their
00:36:40.300 jersey and they just either put some name
00:36:45.480 they just change the name for them or they
00:36:48.100 ask them for another name I'm not even sure
00:36:50.360 all the details I didn't talk firsthand I'm
00:36:53.260 not really one to like go and like you know
00:36:56.140 dig out the juicy details like I just do my
00:36:58.940 thing and I live my life and I move on and
00:37:02.040 so but that was just like embarrassing to
00:37:05.020 me for the world surf league to silence me
00:37:07.040 and then this year they didn't even do
00:37:09.200 that jersey
00:37:10.500 oh day so that was interesting they were
00:37:14.360 afraid that more people yeah they got a
00:37:16.680 lot of backlash and whatnot I think I think
00:37:19.280 there was I mean I don't know how much
00:37:21.140 backlash I saw a little bit of backlash
00:37:22.820 online
00:37:23.220 um but I'm literally one of the most I'm
00:37:27.620 probably the most world-renowned female
00:37:29.760 surfer ever known in all of history and
00:37:32.440 maybe the most renowned surfer in all of
00:37:35.340 history and the world surf league was like
00:37:37.880 nope not having her on your jersey
00:37:40.320 wow
00:37:41.220 so whatever whatever I just laugh about it
00:37:45.100 you know you can't get too upset about all
00:37:47.320 this political drama and like well I think
00:37:50.820 you we do need to be upset to a certain
00:37:53.500 extent yeah but like don't let it like eat
00:37:55.900 away at your life like I feel like I had a
00:37:59.520 learning season where things were eating
00:38:01.400 away at me and I'm like I don't want to
00:38:03.360 live my life with that like just being
00:38:06.460 annoyed with the world around me like I
00:38:08.240 just want to be like a happy mom and a
00:38:11.340 happy wife and like a good friend to the
00:38:13.860 people around me and like a good example
00:38:15.820 to those around me and so it's definitely a
00:38:19.260 balance because on the one hand you see
00:38:21.320 things like the changes to title nine and
00:38:23.560 like as a mom of daughters is a lot of
00:38:26.000 people who are mothers with daughters but
00:38:28.000 sons too because it affects everyone yeah
00:38:30.660 it's like of course you're upset about this
00:38:32.940 and of course you're thinking about the
00:38:34.400 future and you're like well like you have
00:38:37.340 to think well girls even have girls sports
00:38:39.120 or will it just be basically you've got
00:38:41.360 boys sports and then you've got co-ed
00:38:43.000 sports you've got boys bathrooms and then
00:38:45.300 you have co-ed bathrooms boys locker rooms
00:38:47.320 co-ed locker rooms and the same thing with
00:38:48.960 prisons with rape shelters with domestic
00:38:50.680 abuse shelters like all of these places
00:38:53.380 where vulnerable women or girl and girls
00:38:56.900 are being forced to be with men and boys
00:38:58.840 and they're put in danger and so I think
00:39:01.680 there is a level of frustration and anger
00:39:05.500 and angst that someone should have because
00:39:07.780 it motivates them like it motivated you to
00:39:09.920 say something yeah but you're absolutely
00:39:12.580 right it can't dominate your whole life
00:39:15.120 because frankly there's not something that
00:39:17.620 we can do about it every second of every
00:39:19.720 day and most of our day is filled with the
00:39:22.960 mundane quote-unquote of being a mom and
00:39:27.520 being a friend and being a church member
00:39:29.620 and being a wife and all those things
00:39:31.640 matter too yeah and they can't just be
00:39:34.020 shrouded by our frustration and anger so
00:39:36.680 there is such a balance I agree yeah it's
00:39:39.340 like the best mundane ever too and I really
00:39:42.600 feel like if you are stressing out about
00:39:45.020 everything going on in the world all the
00:39:47.180 time it affects the most beautiful god-given
00:39:51.640 gifts and rules that you've been given and
00:39:54.820 so for me like I just try to find that
00:39:58.300 balance of like I stand you know I stand
00:40:02.280 where I stand and then I'm I try not to
00:40:05.840 like let it eat away at me but I'm also
00:40:08.380 not gonna just sit on the sidelines
00:40:10.560 and right
00:40:11.860 I feel like to a lot of like it's just
00:40:26.720 such an interesting thing because I feel
00:40:28.760 like if women just said no like this
00:40:31.020 wouldn't be an issue like if all the
00:40:33.100 female surfers if the 70% that disagreed
00:40:36.360 with that if they all said no then the
00:40:39.460 world surf league would not have an
00:40:42.080 option but to disregard the rule yeah I
00:40:46.220 mean they could try to disregard it and
00:40:48.560 see what happens I mean there are some
00:40:50.540 other girls that maybe would qualify and
00:40:52.400 like make a new tour but I feel like if
00:40:55.440 70% of the women just said no like it
00:40:58.020 literally wouldn't be an issue and so
00:41:00.140 that's also kind of frustrating to see
00:41:03.360 what do you say to people who say well
00:41:06.360 why does it really matter in surfing you
00:41:08.880 know someone could say I could see how
00:41:10.720 it matters in a sport where teams are
00:41:13.340 interacting like contact sports but how
00:41:16.860 does it really make a difference male
00:41:18.820 female and surfing yeah I mean the
00:41:22.760 strength of men in general is just
00:41:26.080 substantially stronger like for example
00:41:29.540 my husband he's two years older than me
00:41:33.120 but he's quite a bit bigger than me
00:41:34.700 I literally work out probably for a
00:41:38.960 while I worked out way more than him
00:41:40.640 especially when I was like training a lot
00:41:42.240 for surfing and there's just no way I
00:41:45.380 could like keep up with his strength
00:41:47.480 levels like it's just not humanly
00:41:49.200 possible and I know there's some women
00:41:51.360 that like get crazy nuts and like push it
00:41:54.600 with weightlifting and like in CrossFit
00:41:56.920 like you see these like beastly women I
00:41:59.860 don't know what other word to use but
00:42:01.360 like they're just super strong and
00:42:02.940 they're incredible and they're like
00:42:04.220 lifting I don't know if it's all natural
00:42:06.460 or what but like you see these women
00:42:08.320 doing these crazy things but in surfing
00:42:10.980 there is quite a big gap like there's a
00:42:14.740 lot of women absolutely shredding
00:42:17.140 absolutely ripping but for example big
00:42:19.240 wave surfing
00:42:19.860 men just paddle way faster and way
00:42:25.900 stronger yeah there's the odd girl but
00:42:28.920 like if you're gonna be put into like a
00:42:31.740 speed race like men are just ways faster
00:42:34.780 and way stronger and so you get into a
00:42:37.220 big wave situation and you have men and
00:42:39.540 women competing against each other for
00:42:41.060 example there's a Eddie I Kao it's the
00:42:43.100 biggest one of the most respectable big
00:42:47.860 wave events in Hawaii in memory of Eddie I Kao
00:42:52.400 who is just an incredible Hawaiian surfer who
00:42:55.600 dedicated his life to the people around
00:42:58.600 him to his culture and he died trying to
00:43:02.100 save people and he was the first Hawaiian
00:43:05.160 Olympian but they had this event and they
00:43:08.560 just put a girl in each heat to make it
00:43:10.540 like fair because Hawaii has some rules that
00:43:14.280 if you do a men's event you have to have a
00:43:16.260 woman's opportunity as well but I'm like the
00:43:20.200 girls aren't making heats like they're getting
00:43:22.600 smoked by the guys like it's just not we're
00:43:25.840 just not probably ever gonna fully bridge that
00:43:29.860 gap and while I think it's actually really
00:43:32.220 fun to try to bridge that gap and like you
00:43:35.040 have some of these up-and-coming girl
00:43:36.940 shredders that are doing like crazy airs and
00:43:39.280 pushing it in big wave surfing but the truth
00:43:43.180 is I just I don't see that gap fully being
00:43:46.100 bridged and there's just the strength
00:43:48.140 difference in particular is just it's
00:43:50.700 different and it's like the bone structure
00:43:53.460 too is different and so there's elements of
00:43:56.600 like the female body and me personally like
00:43:59.180 having bared children like I just feel the
00:44:03.080 difference I don't know yeah definitely I'm
00:44:05.880 sure it's just like you know almost any other
00:44:09.000 sport the fact that their hearts are bigger
00:44:11.060 they've got more muscle mass they've got
00:44:12.900 greater lung capacity and I didn't even think
00:44:15.640 about just like the speed of paddling but of
00:44:18.120 course I mean I don't know all of the ins and
00:44:20.140 outs of surfing but that makes sense if you're
00:44:23.760 faster and have longer arms it's gonna give you
00:44:26.320 an advantage and then I often think about when
00:44:28.700 I was a little girl I would compete in all the
00:44:31.320 boys divisions because I wanted to like push
00:44:33.520 myself and try to beat the boys but then once
00:44:36.580 they hit puberty puberty things change like the
00:44:41.640 guys that I was beating when I was little I'm
00:44:44.480 not beating now like they're surfing quite a bit
00:44:47.480 better than me and I'm still inspired by them and
00:44:52.860 I'm still like pushed by them in my own way like I
00:44:56.180 love like I think most of the best of the best
00:44:58.900 female surfers are watching the guys to glean
00:45:01.280 off of inspiration you know yeah but yeah that's
00:45:04.820 of course that's why title nine has existed
00:45:06.780 because especially in puberty when boys testosterone
00:45:10.200 skyrockets and women's don't that's what makes all
00:45:14.660 the difference and that's really irreversible and
00:45:17.220 you know like the questions that you asked in your
00:45:19.600 original Instagram post like are women really just
00:45:23.240 levels of hormones of course we're not because even
00:45:26.620 a man who gets cross-sex hormones and gets estrogen he
00:45:30.520 still went through male puberty period and so he's got all
00:45:33.800 the advantages of that yeah and it's interesting there's
00:45:36.280 that one trans um guy um Caitlyn Jenner's
00:45:41.660 is it Caitlyn or the Jenner's the runner yeah yeah he like I've
00:45:47.540 heard rumors that he he or they or whatever they um are just
00:45:53.560 as strong and even though he's been on hormone like he's
00:45:57.620 super duper strong and super duper fast it's just weird
00:46:01.420 yeah it's weird that this isn't even a conversation that's my
00:46:04.920 that's where I always end up I'm like why am I even talking
00:46:07.600 about this talking about this but I mean it's you know it's
00:46:10.900 like throughout history there's always been that two plus
00:46:14.440 two equals five question that tyrants want you to want to be
00:46:19.960 able to control your thoughts and detach you from reality I
00:46:23.400 think this is the question of the time but there's also I
00:46:26.280 mean there's other issues too I think of the denial of
00:46:29.340 morality and reality and abortion like denying that it's a baby
00:46:33.180 inside the womb and that it's a human being with value and that's
00:46:37.800 also something that you have advocated for on behalf of the
00:46:40.800 dignity of babies right yeah I'm so honored to have partnered
00:46:45.660 with every life I love what the company is doing um not only are
00:46:50.080 they creating great diapers but they're fighting for life they're
00:46:54.340 the only um pro-life or life-affirming diaper brand on the
00:47:01.120 market which is so weird to me so weird that I know of at least you
00:47:04.960 know but it's like why but it's so true a lot of these big diaper
00:47:09.400 companies they advocate for killing their future customers you would
00:47:14.520 think that they would all be pro-life but they're really not yeah and I
00:47:18.200 think when you think of pro-choice or pro-abortion
00:47:24.900 the movement to me it's founded under founded with selfishness like it's just
00:47:32.140 all about the woman and what she wants versus like
00:47:36.800 acknowledging that there's a human life um I finally just watched this movie uh
00:47:43.440 what was it called unplanned yeah so good it was really great it was a little
00:47:47.900 corny for me I'll be honest but like some of the points hit in the film are
00:47:53.120 just pretty heart-wrenching and I don't know now being a mom too and like
00:47:58.580 feeling my baby wiggling in me at like 13 weeks 14 weeks um it's just hard to deny
00:48:06.640 that and um I just think that society has normalized convenience and they just
00:48:14.680 don't want to be a mom or dad and so they'll just kill the baby and I just want
00:48:21.260 to inspire our next generation that to me motherhood's the greatest gift I've ever
00:48:25.400 been given and I'd like to think that if I was in a worst case scenario and
00:48:30.620 happened to conceive a baby and you know I don't need to divulge what the
00:48:35.720 worst case scenarios are but I hope and pray that I would choose life and that
00:48:42.100 I would allow that beautiful baby to enter into the world and I would hope you
00:48:48.620 know I have a friend who she's a single mom and she's one of the most inspiring
00:48:54.120 moms I know like every conversation I have with her inspires me to be a better
00:48:58.280 mom and it hasn't been easy for her but she's rocked it and her son is doing
00:49:04.680 amazing and so yeah I just think it needs to be more of an open conversation
00:49:10.760 too for our young people to hear because our young people are constantly being
00:49:15.060 told like pro-choice like kill your baby like it's fine like it's not that big of
00:49:19.760 a deal but there are a lot of repercussions that come with it um on top
00:49:24.300 of being guilty you're killing a human life and like God calls us to not kill and
00:49:29.160 so to me that alone is like the greatest reason just thou shall not kill yeah
00:49:34.700 thou shall not murder definitely and I mean organizations like um every life and
00:49:42.520 pro-life pregnancy centers which I've visited so many and talked to so many I
00:49:47.460 mean they're doing amazing work like those desperate situations that you were
00:49:52.760 referencing are real of course there are moms in crisis moms and abuse
00:49:56.980 situations moms in poverty all kinds of situations in which a woman might get
00:50:01.420 pregnant and say like I just can't do this right now and of course Planned
00:50:05.400 Parenthood is going to say sure just pay us your 800 bucks or however much and we'll
00:50:09.860 kill your baby you'll never regret it it'll never be a problem but it's not true
00:50:14.460 it's a lie they never show them the truth of what an abortion is or what is
00:50:18.040 happening inside their womb but these pro-life pregnancy centers and pro-life
00:50:21.740 organizations truly are just like the hands and feet of Jesus in the most
00:50:27.360 non-judgmental loving and embracing way they take these women in they not only
00:50:32.520 share the gospel with them but they provide them with so many resources help
00:50:37.200 material needs they help connect them to adoptive families if they want to put
00:50:44.020 their child up for adoption and so like there are ways for anyone out there who's
00:50:48.980 like well I don't want to be pro-life because or I don't want to vote pro-life
00:50:52.360 or whatever it is because these moms are in desperate situations well be a part of
00:50:56.740 the solution rather than just talking about the problem because there are a lot of
00:51:00.820 institutions already working to serve these women and we can be a part of like
00:51:06.600 that life-saving effort we don't just have to advocate for killing babies because
00:51:11.660 that's the easier thing to do I love I just did a speaking event for uh the organization
00:51:17.580 save the storks yeah and I love what they're doing because they're trying to create or they're
00:51:23.720 buying and making mobile um pregnancy crisis trucks or vans so they're going to areas where
00:51:32.480 they know it's a crisis area and they're coming alongside of the women and supporting them to
00:51:38.920 just have the full scope what's it called um the full not scope but like are you talking about
00:51:46.240 prenatal care yeah or to know have all the knowledge of what's actually going on if you
00:51:51.220 abort your baby and the full uh array of your options right so to say and but they're even helping
00:51:59.540 the women like find jobs and figure out a place to live like they're going the extra mile they're
00:52:06.380 really coming alongside of these women and supporting them and sometimes the fathers if
00:52:10.980 the father's a part of the situation and I think of adoption a lot and I think it's just so beautiful
00:52:18.020 and there's so many couples that are having a hard time conceiving now and so I feel like that's an
00:52:23.800 area where we could like kind of dig into and figure out a better way of doing it because it seems like
00:52:28.740 every couple I've talked to who uh adopts has it's a really hard process so I almost feel like maybe
00:52:35.560 that's an area we tackle as a nation whoever's out there who's a mover and shaker and has nothing to do
00:52:41.620 maybe this can be your thing um but yeah there's options and I just think saving life is so important
00:52:50.840 and our god-given duty um to put human life at the utmost value yeah amen well thank you so much just
00:52:59.700 for your courage and sharing your story and I know that the lord has given you that courage and giving
00:53:04.180 you that strength but even as you've just like the different stages of your life have evolved and now
00:53:09.740 you're a mom still surfing but you are I don't know embodying like a new kind of strength and courage
00:53:17.520 with every stage that you're in and I just appreciate it as a woman and I look up to you
00:53:22.920 and I know I speak for so many in my audience when I say that so I just appreciate you so much keep
00:53:29.440 standing up for these things that matter because all of us appreciate when someone with a platform
00:53:34.840 uses their voice thanks Sally glad to be here
00:53:47.520 thank you
00:53:50.920 you
00:53:52.920 you
00:53:54.920 you
00:53:56.920 you
00:53:58.920 you
00:54:00.920 you
00:54:02.920 you