One of the main themes that run through many of my conversations on Sparta Chicks Radio is around the concept that “you can’t be what you can’t see”.
This week’s guest is on a mission to change what you can see - and by extension, be.
Mary Konstantopoulos is a lawyer who, in her “spare time”, is the force behind the “Ladies Who” media company - or dare I say growing empire - that advocates for, and shares stories of, women in sport here in Australia.
She hosts two podcasts on the ABC Grandstand radio network; Ladies Who League (about rugby league) and Ladies Who Legspin (about cricket).
Mary’s passion for sport developed as a result of her desire to spend more time with her Dad who was (and remains) a passionate Parramatta Eels supporter in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition.
Yet she describes in this conversation a sense of shame she sometimes feels because it never occurred to her to ask if women also played the sport.
In this conversation, we discuss:
- how her life has revolved around sport since she was a young child growing up with her two brothers,
- why she was motivated to throw herself into all sports as a kid (despite not being very good at any of them),
- what prompted her to launch the ‘Ladies Who League’ blog (which at the time was about the men’s competition),
- the evolution of the ‘Ladies Who’ media company,
- her experience with the Imposter Complex,
- why it’s important to give yourself credit for your hard work and success, rather than attributing it to luck, and
- how she deals with online trolling and public criticism.
Get the full show notes for the episode here.
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Visit the Sparta Chicks Radio website here
Follow Sparta Chicks Radio on Facebook: facebook.com/SpartaChicks
Follow Mary on Instagram: instagram.com/ladieswholegspin_
Stacey De Bono grew up in country Victoria and, by her own admission, hated riding bikes as a kid and used to wag the school cross country carnival.
Fast forward a few years and she discovered triathlon quite by accident.
A friend convinced her to sign up for a race. She did, but without checking the details and couldn’t work out why the race was so expensive.
It turns out the first triathlon she signed up for was Ironman Melbourne, just 10 months later.
A few years (and several triathlon seasons) later, a broken finger from a bike accident forced Stacey to step back from her training and work.
This gave her time to reflect on her lifestyle, her health and her goals - and it was during this difficult period she heard about Epic 5, an iconic race consisting of 5 Ironman-distance triathlons over 5 days on 5 different Hawaiian islands.
The seed was planted, Stacey eventually voiced the idea out loud to her coach and the goal was set to participate in Epic 5 in 2020, some 3 years later.
That race date has been pushed back to 2021, meaning she will have been working towards this race for 4 years by the time she stands on the start line.
What is unique about Stacey’s approach to Epic 5 is that she has decided not read or listen to anything about Epic 5 for the next 2 years until her race in 2020 (which is the complete opposite to what most of us do!).
Get the full show notes for the episode here.
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Visit the Sparta Chicks Radio website here
Follow Sparta Chicks Radio on Facebook: facebook.com/SpartaChicks
Follow Stacey on Instagram: instagram.com/epic_5_adventure/