Why Are You Like This? with Megan Rapinoe

Hi everyone from New York Magazine in the Vox Media Podcast Network.

“This is On with Kara Swisher and I'm Kara Swisher.”

Today we're bringing you an episode of a new podcast called "Why Are You Like This" with Meghan Repino from a Touch More and the Vox Media Podcast Network. In this episode, host Meghan Repino sits down with five-time WNBA All-Star Coach Cheryl Reeve, the winningous coach in WNBA History. The WNBA has exploded in popularity in recent years on top of the surge in viewership,

the league's 30th anniversary season tipped off on the heels of an historic collective bargaining

agreement that gave players a nearly 400% salary increase.

Cheryl Reeve has been head coach of the Minnesota Lynx since 2010.

“In addition to leading the team to four WNBA World Championships, Reeve supported the Lynx's 2016”

protest against police brutality and continues to advocate for social justice issues in Minneapolis and beyond, including as an outspoken supporter of transgender athletes. In this conversation recorded live during the WNBA All-Star Weekend, Meghan and Cheryl get into how she's evolved as a coach, the WNBA's legacy of activism and why she's proud of the league where, quote, "everyone is so authentically themselves, stick around."

Support for this show comes from Odu. Running a business shouldn't feel like surviving a software group project. One app for accounting and other for inventory and other for sales and somehow, none of them ever talk to each other. That's where Odu comes in and at all in one business management software that brings every part of your business together from sales and accounting to inventory and

marketing all in one powerful platform. No messy integrations, no bouncing between tabs and

best of all, no spreadsheets. Stop managing software and start managing your business with one unified system. Try it today for free at Odu.com/carah. That's Odu.com/carah. Hi, it's Kara Swisher. You know me as co-host of Pivot but for August, I'm flying solo and I've lined up some incredible guest hosts to join me. Mark Cuban, Chelsea Handler, Caitlyn Collins and a lot more, you won't want to miss. Already out, my conversation with Hillary Clinton, among many other things

we get into redistricting fights, reshaping state politics and what Trump's golden makeover of the presidency actually means. And it's not good. Trust me, you don't want to skip this one. Find Pivot on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Megan Repino here. This week on why are you like this? I am talking with W. Come out Bell and he is no stranger to creating his own lane. We dig into the wise behind some of his biggest decisions,

like holding space for Ted Danson to talk about his black face scandal. Come out as approached to dealing with trolls and what he would have changed when interviewing the KKK. We also wonder if Megan Kelly is flirting with us. Check out the latest episode of why are you like this, wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.

“My dad said, "Sure, are you a lesbian?" And I remember the word at that time, I was like,”

"God, no! Not one at a lesbian!" I was more a dyke than I was. A lesbian, right, at that age, I was. Please welcome the host of Why Are You Like This? Two-time World Cup Champion Megan Repino. [Cheering and Applause] Hello, everybody! Hi, hi, hi.

You know, you just like get a little nervous randomly. All of a sudden, I'm like, I knew what the call time was and I knew a time of show was starting. But then I got up here and I'm like, "Oh my God, this is me." Hello, everyone. Well, yeah, welcome to Why Are You Like This? I'm Megan Repino. We are live here in the Windy City, of course, Shad Out Shardone. Chicago, this is actually where I started my professional

like, it's actually warming up. It's spring. It's like, that's cute. Before we get the show started, I wanted to just kind of like run down what this new show was going to be like. Where you like this?

I want to be sitting down with disruptive people, athletes, of course. We have an amazing guest today.

But also like people across culture, artists, politicians, honestly, anybody else say yes, sitting down and having a different kind of conversation, I feel like I got this question all the time. I think I still do in a lot of ways. Like implicitly, explicitly, sometimes literally, like, why are you like this? What's going on? Sometimes my mom asked me that. Like,

“do you have to do it? Do you have to be the one to say it? And I'm like, I do mom. Remember those”

lessons. But I feel like I got this question all the time. Like, why do you say the things you do? Or why is your hair that color? Why isn't it that color? Why do you wear the things you do? Or not? I mean, not usually that. I feel like I'm not like a, you know, a skin boy or anything. But I think it's really easy to, like, flatten people out or things out. I think in our kind of, like, media landscape and culture right now, people are really, not really people. I think things are,

like, wanting it to be simple. And like, humans just really aren't that simple. We're way more complicated that. We're way messier than any sort of like one tagline thing. I think everybody knows that. There's a lot more nuance. So I feel like that's the conversation I want to have, just putting a little bit more space into why are people the way that they are? Like, why do they make the decisions? Where does that come from? Who are the people that shaped them? That was something

“that I feel like was always important to me to be able to have that space. I'm like, I don't know,”

sometimes I use humor when I'm sad and I'm like, what the fuck is that? Like, why do we do that? That's so weird. Like, I'm so sad and I'm going to make a joke about myself. Okay? Like, I'm interested in that for other people and also for myself. And I know, like, having this space to do that, is really important. So that's kind of the way that I want to have all of these conversations and talk to people. That's kind of like the impetus to the new show. So that's that.

Obviously, we're recording in the middle of WWE all star. Have you guys been taking in the

sights and the scenes in the sounds? Yeah. How is it? This is like people's first all star.

“Babies first all star. Okay. People's like 25th all star. Anybody? Somebody, somebody here has”

been here for a very long time. We have the winningist coach in the WWE joining us today. That's right. Yeah. She's a baller. You know where you'll love her. Five time, all star coach show, Reeve. Plus, you're going to get some reactions to my hot take. So I'm going to let you guys throw some shit out there and now you like to say stuff. I like to hear stuff. Welcome to why are you like this with Megan of you know? I'm, I'm Megan of you know? Let's get into it. I feel like

the, the first thing that I was excited about is the sidebutt, right? We have, we've got blue hair now and I'm like, I get it. I've been there. I like, let's change it up. I love it for them.

Never got paid to change my hair, but I'm like, that was stupid of me.

Hey, AT&T. I have a clean talent for you. No, you got your girls. I get it. I'm loving it. Are you guys following in on their content? We're just reviving. Have we had any like favorite moments so far? You can just like holler them out if you want or not. The one you went on their live stream. Wow. What were you doing? You don't even, you're like, we don't know. We, we were just there. I love it. I, I got to go to the, uh, President Joe Bama Center this morning. Is anybody

then? Wow. It was kind of shocking. I feel like we've gotten used to some stuff at a different

did you say play a day? Yeah, we can, right? We can. Yes, we can. It was absolutely beautiful.

“I also saw all of the footage of them practicing. Like, at the, I feel like it was just so cute. They were like,”

he loves them and they love him. And it was just like, oh, that's amazing. That was so cool. Like,

there's some, just, I do believe in film, oh, and I get it. And I'm trying to work on it. But I'm like, I want to play in the W MBA. At the all-star game. I don't even need to do the whole season moment. And I want to play the all-star game. I want to dribble around and like have President Obama be amazing all the time. Um, I hope all the fewer players were reading the plaques and stuff, but no. Okay. I too am wondering where my three point contest invitation was just if those were

getting lost up, like, did, did mine? They were sending them out late. I don't know. What happened there,

“though? You know what I love about the W MBA players, they will just like, never, ever, not call out shade.”

They're like, no, you didn't ask me. They're like, um, excuse me in a press conference. I didn't receive the text message. Nor did I receive the official invite. Don't come for me. Came back, I feel like, and, um, Sabrina, especially they were like, mm, we love to shoot a three. We would have shot, we would have shot that thing. But anyways, that's all the jokes I have for now. Let's get to our guests. Um, sure we've spiyo is like, just kind of ridiculous. Um, but I'm

going to do it. Um, so that's actually the bulk of the show. So I'm just going to be here for the next 46 minutes or so. Um, she's the wing is coach of all time in the W MBA. She's been inducted in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She's led the Minnesota Lynx 2, not 1, 2, 3, but 4, W MBA championships, won commissioners cup win. Uh, she's got a gold medal to her name, uh, the 20, 24 pair of Olympics, incredible. Um, I was in the stands for that. Everybody saw it. That was a two. Sorry,

Gabby, we love you, but absolutely not when you're playing for the blue and we're in America. Okay, no. Uh, she's been the coach of the year four times. Nathan named in all star coach five times. Please welcome to the show New Jersey and Minnesota's finest show ring. All right, do this and a fellow gay, obviously. You don't say, um, welcome to the show. Thank you so much. So exciting. Yes, this could not be more fitting. Um, I heard the same

don't thing, uh, from my mom. Why are you like that? Yeah, yeah. This is what they're doing. Why like that? Um, how, like, how are you? How are your sleep levels? W meal star is a totally different beast. How does it feel to be coaching in the all star game again for the fifth time, but just in

general, how does this experience been so far? Uh, it's always really special. You know, it's a celebration

and, you know, I said, this is one of the few times that, you know, all these great competitors and all the things that you see in the moments in the games that might be difficult and competitive. It looks like we don't like each other. When you're at all star, you see there's actually lots of love for everyone, right? The coaches, the executives and the players themselves. And so, it's really refreshing to be in that moment. Obviously, it's a great honor. Uh, it's never lost

“on me although there's sometimes when I think maybe just going to sleep for a few days would be great,”

but, uh, but it's always an honor. And, uh, obviously, it all now, uh, have a son who's 11,

how much he enjoys being in the around the DLB MBA players as one of his favorite events, uh, to come to, uh, he was an Indianapolis last year, had a great time. And he was really excited way to chance to come back. I love it. All of a sudden the crowd there. Shout out over Harrison. Um, your coaching team spoon this year. I'm curious. Maybe like, didn't envision

to you? I'm like, I'm just like, I don't honestly people ask me all the time if I'm in a coach. And I'm like, are you fucking serious? Do you know what it means to be a coach? Do you know the levels of stress? We were talking just backstage. You lost eight or nine of your players. Um, fee had not one but two ankles done in the off season. Like, she's recovering from that. You,

“had a high draft pick. So you drafted Olivia. I mean, you have to like put the ball in a rookie's hands.”

I'm in who knows how that's going to go. That's crazy. Like, it turns out it's fine.

But you're here. Your team is in first place. You're the only 20 team, uh, 20 game win team.

20 win team. Jesus. 20 win team. Yeah. I'm like, I can't even do this. Wow. How am I going to coach? You know, what? You only 20 win team in the league. What does this one mean to you? Well, um, it was, it's been a lot when I think about, uh, CBN negotiations. A lot of uncertainty. And then boom, you know, we got the word. It's on, uh, and, you know, we've been preparing and, we sort of knew, uh, some of the changes we were going to go through as a team,

that were inevitable, uh, with the increased money and roles that people could have. I felt really incredibly proud about the team that we had in 24 and 25 really, really special. And we created a lot of opportunities for, for these players. And, um, but then when it was all said and done, I was kind of pissed, uh, you know, where I'm going, I just just great, you know, like we did all this and they chose other teams and we're supposed to celebrate them. And now, you know, outwardly, it was really great.

But when I was home, I was like this sucks. Uh, and, uh, you know, we have to start over, you know, kind of, uh, obviously it's not starting over when you have feed, Courtney, and, and McBride, it's not starting over. But as you mentioned, you know, starting the season with such uncertainty,

“you know, we didn't know. And I think about training camp, which feels like a year ago at this point.”

But the training camp, there was a lot of uncertainty, even who was going to make the final roster. Those are not necessarily your best seasons. Uh, and I think what happened in maybe all of our, sort of granular thinking about who was going to make the roster, something special was actually brewing, but the starting five that we had, um, with obviously Olivia Miles, it was week two, after we had a preseason game in Kansas City, uh, that I had this sort of moment where I thought,

okay, we can go forward with Courtney as the sometime point guard and sometimes live, you're the point guard, or we can just get right to it. Let's just get right to it. And in week two, I just, I brought Courtney in and I said, hey, uh, I think we want to, you know, turn the, turn the reins over to live and let her just go, you know, and, you know, she stood up,

“but she said, let's, you know, and the only way Courtney can, you know, let's go all height,”

and, and I think it's a right thing, and I can go back to my natural spot. Uh, and so,

that last week that third week, boom, we just sort of took off near coffee, having, uh, her best,

best season in her career. It's about opportunity as we're seeing around the league, whether it's expansion or team like ours, maybe some delusion, uh, in our team and so new opportunities around the league, and, um, in an oven at Natasha Howard coming back and, everybody just sort of fitting those, that starting five really fitting, really, really special through the first half of the season, their net rating was darn near plus 20. Uh, and I've got

a bench that we're, you know, they're still trying to figure me out, uh, my impatience and how to fit into that impatience and, um, you know, uh, yeah, it's, it's hard to believe that we're sitting

here, uh, first and league and, you know, 20 plus wins, you know, uh, I feel grateful.

Support for the show comes from Odu, running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder with a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other? One for sales and other for inventory a separate one for accounting. Before you know it, you're drowning in software instead of growing your business, this is where Odu comes in. Odu is the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all in one fully integrated platform that handles everything, CRM accounting inventory,

e-commerce, HR, and more. No more app overload, no more juggling logins, just one seamless system that makes work easier. And the best part, Odu, replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. It's built to grow with your business, whether you're just starting out or already scaling up plus its easy to use, customizable, and designed to streamline every process, so you can focus on what really matters, running your business. Thousands of businesses

Support for the show comes from Odu. Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder

with a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other? Introducing Odu, it's the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all-in-one fully integrated platform that makes your work easier. CRM accounting inventory, e-commerce, and more. And the best part, Odu, replaces multiple

“expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. That's why over thousands of businesses have made”

the switch. So why not you? Try Odu for free at Odu.com. That's Odu.com. That's it Rock and Roll. Why Fleetwood Mac fell apart? What it was like at Motown in the early years? Well, do I have a podcast for you? My name is Will Anderson. I'm a songwriter, a musician, and a huge music history book. I'm so excited to announce my new podcast, the Monday Music Club. I teamed up to make this podcast with a box media podcast network because ever since I was a kid,

I loved hearing and reading stories about classic artists, recording sessions in music history. And I wanted to have a place to be able to take what I've learned and share some of those favorites with you. Every Monday, I'll be releasing a new episode and deep diving into a new story with experts and special guests and it's going to be a blast. So if you're a music history geek like me or even just a casual music fan, jump in because I promise the Monday Music Club

is going to be the podcast for you. The perfect segue of why are you like this? Coach Cheryl, I don't know if you heard me talking backstage, but the question I really want to get to in the show is that and I feel like I've

“had this question a million times and a million different ways. And I think there's so much,”

especially you've had such a long career you've been in the game. What did you say it like that? Yeah, it's a long and accomplished. Yeah, but still young and bright and a long road ahead of you. But you have like an established who you are in this league and I'm so interested, I feel this for me of like, I feel like there's two of me. I'm like there's Megan Rpino and everybody knows that, you know, that's kind of like who's in front of the mic and then like

Megan's like inside of Megan Pino right now and she's like, "Whoa, this is crazy!" So there's two, I wonder if you ever feel that that's sort of like divergence of personality were like, "Yes, you're Cheryl Reeve the coach, Olympic coach, all star coach, coach of the Minnesota Lynx, like all-time coach in this league and then there's also just you do you feel those two things and how do you feel them?" The first one you describe, I don't think of myself as

and that's that's hard for me. I don't see that I am such a sort of grinder in the moment and then I come to places like these and then the gravity of the moment and then maybe your impact, you start to, you know, to feel that. But for me it's just kind of where I am and what I'm doing that day and, you know, that practice and I only know one way and that's to kind of pour in to what I'm doing there so I don't feel like I have that. I'm the same, I mean it's kind of

scary for my family that what you see I'm actually like kind of home, you know, and that can be hard,

I know for that, you know, for those two in my life but I'm by nature a very critical person,

very critical of myself, critical of those around me. I've tried to evolve in that space and be less critical, you know, and that's that's been an evolution, you know, I'm still evolving as they say. Who shaped that part of you, do you think? The critical? Just like the, I mean part of it is the critical but also just like the share, all the coach, the, you know, the wife, the mom, the like person that you are in the world. I'm not sure because I've kind of gone through that like I'm

more like my mom or my dad and you know, what is it from? I have those questions when you get

“older, right? Like where does this come from? Who do I? Oh, you know, like who do I think? You know,”

and so recently, so my mom's 87 and, you know, recently, you know, people are asking her things and so she's doing a little more storytelling and they asked, you know, somebody asked about sort of

my stronger voice or willingness to, you know, to speak on things. She was always like that,

such a smart mouth, you know, when she was, you know, just a youngster, just always had something to say. And I was like, okay, so I guess it's always been the case. I have felt confident, but they're,

I remember in my freshman year when I went to Licela University and we were doing our fall workouts

and I've just always had a way of sort of speaking, you know, whatever I was thinking, you know,

what, it's not always good. I don't mean to say this is like complimenting myself at all. It's not always good. Having a filter would be much better. Yeah, now I've been there. I'm like, but I remember we were playing pick-up and I'm mad, we're just playing pick-up and but I just, I wanted to win that possession and, you know, and I'm yelling at my teammates that don't even know me yet, I'm telling them, you know, get back on deed, don't rest, don't rest on defense, you know,

like, let's write away, I'm just kind of, and I think if you just take that and just put that everywhere, you know, like as a teammate, you know, as a partner, you know, probably as a mom, I think I'm a little softer as a mom. But I think the, you know, the idea of, you know, saying, you're saying what you think there's value in the truth, right? I think that's, but that I've really kind of learned is not everybody really wants to hear the truth, you know,

and sort of finding that balance of, I think you sit around yourself with people that are going

“to be honest with you. I think that's really important. I've shared that with Oliver when he didn't”

get the report, Grady, they didn't want it. I see you should thank your teacher for that and he thought I lost my mind. But it's true, you know, there's somebody, like, you're not, nobody's perfect,

there's always room to grow. Go back to what the original question was going to start and go on my

tangents. I like it. I'm like, I'm locked in. Yeah, does who shaped you? Yeah, there's a shape in that part of the game. So, so, so when I first got the WMBA as an assistant coach, again, I, you know, I work for, you know, some people that maybe my directness as an assistant coach wasn't always appreciated. It was coming from a space of wanting to, wanting to win, but I thought everyone was confident, you know, in what they were doing and when I started to recognize it, maybe that wasn't

the case. It was when I went to work for Bill Lambeer that he embodied the Beer self, how important is everybody to show up and be yourself? And he wanted me to be myself. And so, for me, it was, you know, I could be hard-hitting and I could speak my mind, and that was okay. And that was sort of the first time that I thought how good that felt like to be able to be yourself. And then, you know, just, you know, when I went from there right into head coaching,

I feel like that gave me the confidence that everyone needs to be able to be themselves every player and their personalities or everyone that's working for you. So you can bring your authentic self to the workplace and how what, you know, great height you can reach and doing that. So, I've just been able to do that. Players let me be me. I'm so every, every season, I thank the

players. Thank you for letting me be me because it's not always easy. But they know that I'm

coming from a place of care and love and wanting the best for everyone involved. That's such an interesting thing. I feel that so much of like, if everybody's allowed to bring their phones, it's not, it's going to be less comfortable, but it's going to be better

“for everyone. Certainly Bill was wanting to bring his full self. I mean, I think you have,”

at least on the outside, from, from, I'm sort of like half in half out, but from my view, you have a real reputation of allowing players to be themselves in a really wide spectrum. I mean, I, I think back to, I feel like my real first, like, in on-tray into the Minnesota Links is 2016 and, you know, the player's protesting, police brutality, Flando Castile has just been murdered in Minneapolis. Your players are standing up there. You're standing with them all the way to,

like, you know, my amore and her activism that, you know, eventually let her away from your team, have some regrets. Yeah. Yeah. You're like, you know what? Good for you, my, uh, love that for you, you know, to the stud buds. Like, they were too, you know, really outspoken and they were like, doing the stream. And for such kind of like a hard-ass coach, or someone who says what they think and what they feel, you really, like, let them do that. And I'm curious about the,

I always feel like doing the right thing isn't 100% altruistic. Like, there's, you know, at the end of the day, like, you're judged on your wins and losses. Yeah. And I'm curious how you think about that in, in terms of letting your players be who they are, in terms of your,

“like, coaching style and your strategy in trying to be the best coach that you can. Yeah, I think it's”

really simple, exactly what you said. Um, another recent one was, was obviously the stud buds. And we were in Dallas. And I guess they, I'm not real up on this. And so it's probably for the

I was really unaware. This was Dallas in, I guess, would have been 25. And we had just had our

“film session. And we were breaking. We were going to go do our pre-game meal. We're going to go”

out that game that night. And I get a message from Courtney and T saying they wanted to meet. And I thought, oh, that's kind of annoying. We'll have our routines. And like, while we're meeting now, like, what are we doing? And so they bring me in and they sit me down and they're go, we're worried. You know, we're worried. What do you worried about? Well, we're worried because I might have put a battery on Deejney Carrington's back who was playing for Dallas at this time,

which means that maybe she said something on the stream that might have gotten her motivated, little extra motivated that night. Apparently she was maybe disparaging the lack of success that Dallas was having at that time. And she's like, I'm worried you're going to be upset with us. I'm worried you're not going to be okay with this. And so I said, well, tell me exactly what happened here, you know, and Courtney, I like, you know, we have we have some good banter. And there's a fine

line. And I told her 10 years ago, maybe I wouldn't be able to be in the space that I am. So we

always said the timing of us being together has really been important. And I don't know that Courtney

could handle me 10 years ago. And me them, right? Because it really has stretched my boundaries. And it's fun, right? It's really fun to kind of do that. But all of it, while the team is successful,

“that's why I told that as long as the main thing is the main thing. And that's been stretched,”

you know, and I'm a big believer in you get what you accept. And so I want to know how important it is that they are mindful of their teammates and how they feel. And it may be there very comfortable in this very loud space, this very, you know, revealing, et cetera, but not everybody is. And so always considering your teammates and your organization, you know, make sure that, you know, you're representing

yourself, your family, your organization, all the things. So, you know, I do that spiel. And then they

assured me that, you know, it was all about winning and doing that. And so, you know, you mentioned the, you know, the activism and, you know, the same thing, you know, when we went through, you know, in 2016, I don't know if you have time for this. If you're interested in this, in this part of this, but you are. Okay. Sure, Nancy, yes. And, you know, it was a really difficult time. You know, 2016 wasn't new. In terms of what was happening with police officer involved,

shootings or, you know, the racial profiling, et cetera, Simone Augustus had experienced being racially profiled a couple of years before. I had some conversations with players and coaches. And, you know, we just talked about their experiences, you know, going, going shopping, going through a store and being followed. And, and just different things that sort of accumulated over time. And this particular one was hard. Simone Augustus, you know, in Baton Rouge,

“Alton Sterling had been murdered at the hands of the police. And, and I remember thinking, you know,”

you know, like how difficult that was for Simone. Simone had frequented that store that had occurred in front of. And so that was on our minds, you know, having those conversations and talking about their feelings. And then just a couple of days later, we were in Connecticut at the Mojigat son getting ready for a game with the Connecticut son. And we woke up to the news of Philando Castile on his awful murder in the hands of police in St. Paul, Minnesota. So it was really, it was really

hitting close to home for us. And, you know, I learned a long time ago that when the unaffected are affected, that's when change can happen. I'm the unaffected. I'm white, I'm with privilege. And I was affected. And so I remember waking up and not really given a shit about the game that night. I thought, how can I give a shit? How can I go into shoot around? And, and, you know, you know, demand, you know, this focus, this, you know, this preparation. And we went and before shoot around,

we gathered the captains, Lindsay Simone, Maya, and Rebecca. And I told them how I was feeling. I said I can't imagine how you all are feeling. And so we gave them a space to talk. And I said, let's do something. Let's use our voice for good. Let's use our voice for change. What do you guys want to do? And, and they, um, thoughtfully, I said, I'll give them the space and they thoughtfully came up with the idea of wearing t-shirts that represented, you know, some names that were just

recently involved in the police officer involved shootings, um, you know, the, the phrase Black Lives Matter in 2016's very different than the phrase in 2016. Um, and in between, it was a Thursday night, we had a game Thursday night, and then Saturday, we were going to be playing Dallas at home. And Friday, uh, my job was to get on the phone, uh, and alert, um, those key stakeholders to let

to be thoughtful, and change starts with us was what was on the front. I was saying the back,

the names of those that were involved. And by Friday evening, there was a, um, ambush of police officers in Dallas. And so they quickly said, we need to have that Dallas police department shield on that shirt and representing trying to represent everyone that, you know, we have to come together for some solutions. Uh, by Saturday night, there was a plan press conference by Saturday night. I was already on the phone with a president of, of the league at that time. And my phone calls were

calling to say, this is what we're doing. This wasn't asking for their permission, their forgiveness, or anything like that. This was important that they understand that their support was so important at this time. Uh, the president of the league at that time, um, there was, there were two hats as she was wearing. She was wearing the hat of a commissioner, and she was wearing the hat of a black woman. And, and so I understood, uh, and I told her I understood, but I told her I was going to take it out

of her hands completely. Uh, and we're doing this. Um, and, and by that night, we had a press conference,

uh, as our four powerful, um, captains stood in front. Uh, I was visited an hour before the game

with a director of security, uh, at the target center. And I was told to the police officers walked out. And we did not have, uh, a secure facility. And they walked out because we had black lives matter on our t-shirt. And I said, they're making the very point of what we're talking about. They're making the very point of what we're saying that in that change that we all have to be a part of this solution. And, uh, it was a lot to go through. I told them that it takes courage to stand in this

because there's a lot of, that's going to come from this. That's not going to be favorable.

“Uh, and I said, oh, by the way, and you have to win tonight. And you have to win tonight,”

because when the main thing, the main thing, the main thing. When you don't win, even the main thing, because when you don't win, then people say, see if you're stuck to basketball and focus on the right things. So we want to make sure we could silence. And we won by 30 that night is heaviest things were. We won by 30 that night. Thanks for letting me tell this to her. Yeah, being on the right side of things is good business.

We always say that. That's exactly right. Um, I want to talk a little bit about your

your personal style of activism. You, you know, take, you took this opportunity. You take every opportunity, uh, whether it's in media, to press conference, um, you, you have an unprecedented, slogan shirt collection. It's, it's well-documented. It will be an enthusiasm and Minneapolis. At some point after your retirement, it's accepted. I can't even imagine how big your, uh, closeness. Just with the shirts, obviously. Um, it just would be perfectly reasonable for you.

“And most people do to just like wear a suit. Why don't you?”

Well, this was post-COVID. You know, the meta part of it. Right. And so, you know, post-COVID, who wanted to go back to wearing suits? I look at some of the pictures and how silly I looked, wearing suits and heels. And, you know, and I thought, what a time that was. And, um, and so, you know, it was actually that decision of post-COVID of what we're going to do, what we're going to, we weren't wearing those things anymore. And, and so, how could I rock my new style?

And so, I just wanted to, I want people to be seeing, feel seen, heard, and there's just so many things that we could really champion for women and, uh, more other marginalized groups. And, um, I just started, um, doing that. And I just, uh, heard from so many people what it meant to them. And so, we've, we've continued that. No, it really is, I mean, it's kind of like your signature now. And it seems like such a small thing. But it's, it's really not. It's taking the opportunity

every time to say like, we, I'm going to wear this orange shirt because, you know, we care about gun violence, or I'm going to wear a shirt about abortion, right? So, our Black Lives Matter, or whatever it is, or you're wearing your players, like you're supporting your players. Do you, do you feel, I mean, Minneapolis has such a long history of protest? I mean, right, just protest. We're not good, Alex, pretty victims of ice this year. It's, it's just, like, it feels like it's

“always the first place that it really pops off. Do you feel like being in Minnesota so long?”

Like, do you own Minnesota something? Have you been shaped by it? Like, tell me about that relationship with the city in particular? Yeah, but I think there's, you know, George Floyd, which was, you know, worldwide, you know, influence. I think that we've just been so good for each other.

be them and die together. We've been really, really good, and I feel, you know, you mentioned the ice protest, and I feel so proud to be a part of the community. One of the decisions I made when I was hired to be the Minnesota Links Head Coach was I was, I wanted to live in Minnesota. That was at a time when coaches were living somewhere else for six months and then coming into market, you know, or flying in occasionally, and it was a really conscious decision that we wanted to be a

part of the community. Best decision that I made and obviously now raising, you know, a beautiful child into, you know, the community and what he's learned and how he's been impacted. So incredibly proud of how we show up for each other and it was on full display worldwide in what Minnesota did to support. And so I get energized and I feel empowered by, by living in the community. No, it's a really special, I mean, Prince, like performing at one of her guys' after parties,

after he was incredible. So incredible. Yeah, incredible. I want to transition a little bit to you're upbringing you're from Jezzy. Yeah. Is that a decent access? Yeah, jezzy. I mean, first and foremost, do you hate pumping your own gas? Yeah, you know, that's actually, do you guys know what she's talking about? Yeah. I feel like I have no one I'm talking about. Shout out to my producer, Courtney.

“She's like, you have to ask your question. It's really funny. And it's annoying when you go somewhere, right?”

You go, you know, when you, when you just roll up and you put your winded down and hand the card, right? In Jersey, man, when you come to Minnesota in the winter and I'm like, God, I wish it was in Jersey right now. When I pump the gas just like the probably the only time that I kind of have that moment of like, I wonder how we could get this, you know. Are you stuck in a job, working hard, but feel like no matter what you do, you just can't

seem to get ahead financially, or maybe you've always felt like sales is something other people do.

Not you? Well, this week on Network In Chill, I'm chatting with Shelby Sap, the internet's queen of sales, who teaches women how to pitch, close, and get paid. Whether you're getting for a promotion, building your own business, or just trying to get a seat at

“the table, Shelby breaks down everything you need to know. The rich, closer mindset,”

the biggest sales myths holding you back, and why learning how to sell is actually the fastest path to financial freedom. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch on YouTube.com/yourrichbff. I always say that Little Megan had lots of wisdom, she was wild, but she had lots of wisdom. I want to talk about Little Cheryl for a bit. What do you remember of how you saw the world

at that time? Like, what are you saying your mom was always asking this question of you?

You were born in Nebraska, but raised in New Jersey, not far from Philly. LeBron is going to Philly if people were interested in that. I don't know. Oh, he was supposed to be a timber wolf. You know, it's tough. What do you remember about that little girl on how you saw the world way back then? I just remember loving sports. I started at a young age. Softball was my first love. I was actually pretty decent in that sport, and

“remember playing with the boys. So it was interesting that girls can play boy sports”

at that time because we didn't have the opportunity to have her own teams. And so I didn't think anything of it. I just wanted to play. I had two brothers, one older,

one younger. We were always doing something playing 500 in the backyard, you know, baseball,

emulating Chuck Foreman. You know, it was kind of wild that I end up, you know, being in Minnesota when the Vikings were, you know, a team that I really loved. Mostly, it was the helmet, the purple and that little yellow thing. But then I became to love, you know, some of the players. And I just always wanted to, you know, be in sports and play. I don't remember, you know, obviously the things that you learn when you're older, how the real, how the world really works.

I don't remember being aware. I remember my dad. I don't know if it was intentional. I'm still, you know, trying to figure that out whether he was being intentional to empower his daughter or if this was just him being him. But he treated me the same as my brothers. I was right there with him when he was working on home improvement projects. He was very much a DIY guy. We didn't have a lot of money, so we did everything. I was right there with them.

And I don't remember, I don't remember much. I remember, you know, a little bit further in life,

Then I realized that I knew when I was younger, younger, but that really wasn't necessarily what you did, right? So there's just so much, and it was high school, you know, you went through kind of learning who you are and kind of go, and I don't really know what this means. I don't really care.

I'm just me. I still did this day, I haven't come out anywhere. But it's isn't obvious. I always was

like, and it's obvious, right? You know, my dad actually asked me one time I was 16 and I had gotten maybe a note from a friend that maybe we were feeling a little extra, whatever. I was very long notes and I must have left it out and dad found it and it was a comeback to the bedroom kind of conversation and, you know, and he asked me, it was just him, you know, my mom wasn't there. And they said, my dad said, "Sure, are you a lesbian?" And I remember the word at that time,

“I was like, "God, no! Not one at a lesbian." I was more a dyke than I was a lesbian, right?”

At that age, right? I was my dad growing up. I was a dyke. But I was going through, you know, I was in high school, and I tell my son this because this upset him, but I tell him it's okay. We were, I was changing classes. Or I was in between, like it wasn't a change of class. It was just a couple of people on the hallway. And I remember walking down the hall and from a distance, I hear someone yell, "Dike! Down the hall!" And it really hurt my feelings, you know?

And I thought, like, my gosh, like, what's like, why are we doing this? Years later, I found out, right? It was a teammate. And you know what I'm about to say? They're a dyke, right? They were the one.

And so, that was my journey. And I always was able to, you know, sort of live my, like,

my truth. And even maybe when it wasn't supported in my up-up ringing, it wasn't, you know, like, "Hey, we love you no matter what." It wasn't necessarily that. I just, it was just, that's who she is, like, but don't tell anybody else, you know? Don't, let's not tell the family, you know, that sort of thing. But I've always been, fortunately, what I now know on apologetically myself. And I don't know where that came from, but I'm very thankful

that's who I've been. Did you have a, like, a come-to-Jesus moment in coaching where,

“I mean, I think it's like no secret in the WMBA. They really tried to push this, like,”

femme kind of, like, feminine, straight vibe. I think they tried to push it on players, and coaches, like, when did you become comfortable? We were just like, "I'm the motherfucker who throws the jacket on the floor." And is, like, not lady-like. You know, it's so coded, but it really are one of the the most prominent in, like, first cut. Maybe it was Bill Lambere, you know? He's more like a lesbian than we think. I don't know. But that moment where you're just, like,

you know what? Like, I'm going to just, I'm just going to be me in this. Well, I, and I've said this recently as I've reflected more on my career in the WMBA. I was coming out of college coaching, and college coaching in the 90s was absolutely brutal for those of us that knew who we were. You couldn't really be out, which was just all really silly. It's still silly,

“anybody that is. It's just, it's unfortunate. But that's what it was at that time, societal norms.”

That's what we were dealing with at that time. And then there was all the code of, you know, like, use against you and recruiting, you know, family atmosphere was the thing in the 90s. And then, I, I, I, I, Anne Donovan, given me the opportunity to coach in the WMBA in 2001, you know, I don't know if you guys heard this story, but she offered me $5,000 to be an assistant coach. And I was absolutely total in total. And that was my salary. She's like, sure, I don't have much,

you know, my full-time position is filled. And this is what I have. And it was $5,000. And, you know, my, my family, I had, I had two degrees. And I have an older brother who was, you know, very logical, you know, for him is like, everything is planned. And, and he was kind of like, you know,

you do have two degrees, you know, and, and, but I was like, I really wanted it. I never thought twice

about it and did it. And the WMBA has been so home for me. And that ability, when I got to the WMBA,

a player and I wasn't forward facing. And the time that Megan is speaking to is when we were,

you know, opportunities for commercials and, and promoting the league. And go back and look at those photos of Sue and Diana and, you know, they look, maybe Diana more like, and drag. But, you know, it was like, it's not who they are, right? And you can kind of see it. It's like, what are we doing? You know, and they were still talking about changing the uniforms, right? So that they fit better. Right? All this code, you know, stuff that we were dealing with,

it's so exciting that the league, you know, now we have stud buds. I mean, come on, like now we have

“stud buds. And everyone loves it. And everyone loves it. And that's what I was like, it was really cool”

societal norms of change, right? Megan, you know, like, you've been such a big part of pushing, you know, that forward and being ourselves an important and your bravery and your time isn't athlete. And being able to show that you can, you can, you can have both and that you, that you are valuable, you know, and it's, I think that that when that floodgate opened, and now we have a league that everyone is so authentically themselves and how beautiful it is,

whether you are a fam, girl, go ahead, right? Whether you're in a STEM game. I mean, like fam, fam games, that's our baby. You know, and so it's such an incredible time. And so to see it go from where it was in 2001 to where it is in 2020, six makes me really, really proud. Yeah. Yeah, you see, you've seen this span. Yeah. Where did, was there ever a moment

“where you're just like, what am I doing? This is like, I feel like for the early builders of”

leagues, whether it's players or coaches, like, I feel like there always just comes that moment

where you're like, yeah, I've got two degrees. And I'm making five dollars. This is, this is tough. Like, did you ever doubt that moment or like, you just knew, I'm in the dubbing. This is where I'm supposed to be. Well, not until 2003. So 2001, I was in Charlotte. And then 2002, we had a team that picked up in the middle of the night in the left, the Charlotte Hornets left, right, and left the WMBA team behind. And so we lost the team. And then, so as after 2002, so 2003, I go to Cleveland. The Cleveland

Rockers with Dan Hughes at the end of that season. So LeBron James was coming in to the NBA. And Gordon Gunn was the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and rockers at that time. And he wanted to sell the team. And so therefore that meant. And I still don't understand, it meant getting the

books in order. And so that meant getting rid of the WMBA team first. And then they could then sell

the, you know, sell the the NBA franchise. And so in 2003, when that happened, that was the second second team, you know, sort of in short order. And I remember kind of going, all right, this is, this is kind of rough. And every year was, is the league going to be here, not just the team that I'm working for, but is the league going to be here. And when I was in Charlotte, not only, you know, was it sort of, you know, difficult in terms of support from the NBA franchise. But it went so far as

you couldn't be in the facility, the practice facility at the same time as the NBA team. So just marginalized to the end degree. And it just, you know, felt kind of, you know, it was demoralizing at times. And it could be hard to believe in. But in 2003, when we lost to Cleveland Rockers, I remember having a conversation with my older brother kind of going, okay, here we are again. I'll be collecting

“unemployment for a little while. And that's what we did, you know, in the WMBA, you lost the team,”

collect unemployment for a little while, get your next top, you don't know what's next. And I remember kind of feeling like I didn't want to keep calling, you know, sort of with the same concerns that was like, I wanted to be the last call. It's kind of like when, you know, you guys are hearing out when you're good friends, there's in a relationship that keep, they keep calling, you and telling you the things and you're like, well, yeah, maybe you should do something different.

Or, you know, it was kind of like that. I don't want to be the one to keep calling my brother saying, geez, here I am again. And so I remember kind of going, this is a crossroads. And I have, it's, it's still very, you know, vivid for me. And I feel it that I love the WMBA. And I thought, if it's going down, I'm going down with it. And I'm so glad that I had that moment and I had my brother gone, she's just correct, you know, can you go coach college again or something and all.

And so in my dad for many years, you know, wandered aloud when I was going to get a real job,

and my relationship that would be strained by it is like, what are you doing, you know,

“and, you know, he he passed in 2008, so I never really kind of got to see this real job worked out,”

you know, pretty good for us. Oh, he would be incredibly proud and it is an incredible time for

the WM certainly different from when you first started. You've had some all-time quotes over the course of your work career. Like truly all-timeers, I'm going to read you some of these quotes just in a little rapid fire section and you're just going to tell me if you would change anything. Or not, which I'm guessing I'm going to get some more knots. Okay. We should have done it for the gaze. I would absolutely not change anything. What was funny? What was funny was that was my attempt.

I don't handle losses very well and, you know, we lost and I have been, I've been really, really

focused on trying to be more graceful after losses and that's not going. Really good. I do better.

Okay, so that was my one line or that was my attempt at levity, bringing levity to the situation. And it really didn't think much about it when I said it because when you're in media sessions, I'm with media people that I see all the time. I still haven't grasped the viral nature of maybe that something like that could, you know, it could happen. So yeah, I don't have any regrets.

“And then like I think it was two days later, he said, we got our look back for the gaze.”

So he did bring it back. I did. I did conflating a couple of things there, I guess, but moving on, passing my T-boat for all the time wins in the WMBA. Sorry Mike, we've had a lot of great battles. Well, same thing was very genuine, very genuine. You're like we have and I won most of them. Yeah, no. I mean, he was such a big part of my career in our relationship through the years and learned a lot from Mike and he was such a supporter of mine. And so I don't know what else do you say.

I mean, like he was happy for me and I said, I'll be happy for the next person.

I love that. I do always appreciate your willingness and ability, really, to mostly keep up with the

times, quote, I ate all the way down all the time. Oh, Lord, you're with it. I mean, I've had, you know, whether it's Oliver didn't teach me that he'd all the way down. He gets embarrassed sometimes he's like, Mom, oh, God, Mom, but he had learned about the clock at thing with Oliver, you know, clock at a clock down to you. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah. So he's told me a lot which I really appreciate. He helps me keep me current. He's being raised by the W also. Yes, he is. Yes, he's a big demand.

Okay. I'm going to try out a new segment game thing. We're going to see how it goes. It's called Mommy Daddy Baby. Oh, forgive me, but we're just going to be sticking strictly to heteronormativity for the sake of the game. You guys will get it. What percentage of the below makes up Cheryl? And I'm going to give the definitions of each. Mommy is like emotional caretaker, mental load carrier, and nurture like she's doing it all. Daddy, protector, enforcer,

self-insured, carrying heavy things. Like, what's he actually doing though, you know? Like, sometimes you're like, what's going on? And then baby, baby is just carefree, pampered, not lifting a finger, having an absolute ball. I'm 40% daddy, 40% baby, sometimes 90. And 20% Mommy. So, you know, I'm like, well, really, really baby daddy is, is where I'm at to give reference. What was Mommy again? Mommy is emotional caretaker, mental load carrier, and nurture. Like,

she's she's doing it all. She's got the ticker in her head. My wife is here. So, I'm kind of looking

“what's the answer? I think baby, like, zero. Yeah, well, no curly say no, but it's not the right answer.”

Maybe 10. A little bit, baby. Maybe 30, 60, 90. Or 30, 60, 10? 30, 60, 10. 30% baby, 60% daddy. 30 Mommy. 30 Mommy. No, curly, that's wrong. And it's, oh god, this is so hard. This is so hard. Who am I? It is a funny, you're definitely some daddy. I am some daddy. I'm just kind of a 60. Yeah, that's what I was thinking

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Everybody's got to get the baby up. I feel like the baby is the best part of it.

“I'm like, well, I'm just here. Yeah. Okay, one final question, who should I ask? Why are you”

like this, too? Next. Oh, wow. Why are you like this next? Well, I need some time. Well, that one,

geez. Okay. Anybody want to help phone a friend? Yeah. Maybe Courtney. Who? Courtney, my

“be a good one. That's, she's actually really, I live my, Olivia, my be a good one,”

Olivia, yeah. Yeah, those are those are good ones, you know, in my, in my orbit.

Courtney's really an interesting one. Yeah. I would love to know what she's like this. Hey,

“when, and when, if you, if you choose to, to go there, well, back here, you need to have the picture of”

her in high school. Actually, even her, when she was attractive, like it's going to be very confusing. Very confusing. She did not know who she wasn't. Yeah. We've all been there and they are tough, pull back photos, indeed. Cheryl, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Thank you, everyone, for being here. Don't forget to listen to why are you like this. Thank you, everybody, for coming. Appreciate it. That's it for this episode. Everybody, our show is

produced by Nashakaoa, Archon, Courtney's death. Christine Williams, Brandon McFarlane, McKenzie-Fifth Patrick, and Jessica Dolan. Why are you like this? Is produced in partnership with Box Media? Thanks for listening to this special episode of Why Are You Like This With Megan Repino. We'll be back with a new episode of On With Careous Wisher on Monday.