- I'm back, y'all, with NBA analyst, Chiney Ogwimuke!
Give it up!
(audience cheering)
All right, all hour we're talking with inspiring women
who have scored big in the world of sports.
Our next trailblazer is a mama of two,
a hall of fame softball player
and an Olympic gold medalist,
so she's super lazy, all those things.
She's also the first woman to serve as an analyst
for nationally televised major league baseball games.
Jeez.
Please welcome ESPN's Jessica Mendoza!
(audience cheering)
Hello!
Well, say hi to your friend. - Hi.
- [Kelly] I didn't know y'all knew each other.
- [Jessica] I know Chiney! - What's up, Jess?
- I was so excited.
And you had Erin Andrews on too
and I was like these are my girls!
I wanna come hang out. - I know.
And Stanford is all over the place today right now.
I know, she says you both went there.
- [Jessica] We're taking over the world.
- Yes, I love it.
Well, you should, if you're going there.
So have you always been into sports,
even when you were little?
- Oh yeah.
I mean, Kelly, my dad was a baseball,
football coach growing up.
I mean, I was in the dugout, I was in the sidelines,
two years old, three years old.
It was sports all the time for me.
And I was like super hyper tomboy, had the pigtails.
I mean, I had dirt on my face, skinned knees,
all the things.
- Well, how did you get into broadcasting?
Cause I feel like it's--
I have friends that actually have
broadcast journalism degrees
and it's just a hard thing to get into, I feel like,
how did you get in?
- It's so hard.
I mean, I graduated from Stanford,
I got my Master's to get into politics.
I mean, it was not on my radar.
I did not have a journalism background,
no communication background,
but as an Olympic athlete,
they asked me to start with our softball coverage
and that started to transition into football.
And then all of a sudden I really pushed because we had men
that were baseball players doing softball coverage.
I'm like, why can't we have women doing the opposite?
And so I got a huge break with an employee,
kind of messed up,
and so they needed a replacement, last minute,
on Sunday Night Baseball, which is our biggest show
for ESPN.
And I was able to fill in and oh my gosh, Kelly,
I was just so nervous.
I mean, it's one thing to be like okay,
I wanna do major league baseball games
and it's another thing okay, in two days,
you're gonna be on our biggest show ever.
The rest is history after that.
- This is my favorite part of the story
is because I think that you probably tell this story,
it's like man, I lucked out cause somebody wasn't there
and I filled in and I'm like the coolest part of the story
is that not everyone is that prepared for that moment.
You were prepared for that moment.
Even if you were nervous
or even if you felt like you weren't,
you wanted that moment.
And when it counted, you stepped up and you did it
and that's that--
So it is a little bit of luck, for all of us,
in whatever industry you're in,
but it's also doing the ground work and the hard work too.
When that moment, when you're given it,
you take it and you run with it.
I think that's the difference.
But Jessica, what would you say
to the young girls watching you today?
- Stand out by not trying to fit in.
I feel like there's such a pressure, Kelly,
to look a certain way, to act a certain way,
and that's changing.
I mean, I'm so glad that that's changing.
I mean the Serena Williams of the world weren't out there,
the Chiney Ogwumikes were not out there.
That ripped, buff, awesome, beautiful women
that are strong, with muscles, going out and killing it.
When I was growing up, I was embarrassed to stand out.
I would hide my arms cause I hated my muscles.
The things that make us who we are,
my biggest advice is own those.
Cause once I realized like, hey, you know what?
Yes, I'm Hispanic.
Yes, I've got muscles.
Yes, I'm not afraid to shout it from the rooftops
the things that I'm passionate about,
that changed the course of my life.
But it took some time
for me to be able to realize that standing out
means that maybe you're not following the crowd,
but you are trying to be different.
- Yeah, do you feel the same way?
- Absolutely.
I think luck is where, you've heard the phrase,
where preparation meets opportunity
and, as women, we have to work twice as hard
to get half as far.
And I think sometimes we step into these spaces.
I'm an NBA analyst, right?
People say you don't play in the NBA,
but basketball is basketball.
We step into these spaces
and we have a little bit of imposter syndrome.
Like why am I here?
Why did they choose me?
Why does my voice matter? - Why not?
- But why do we question ourselves
when we know we put in the work?
And I know it takes a whole different level of confidence
to step into that space, but that's why I love women.
There's this movement of solidarity.
It's like we're not alone anymore.
We can link together.
- And there's room, there's room for everyone.
I think everybody thinks, oh, if I help her get there,
then my chance, my seat, is gone.
And it's like there's more chairs.
- No, let's knock down the door and hold it open.
- [Kelly] Build a bigger table.
- Yes - Yeah, yeah.