Pickleball Pop-Ins & Humbling Moments | Daniella Simon w/ Serve for Strength

We're coming in hot with:

🔹 Our default setting right now is apparently not ready for humans.
 🔹 One of us just got humbled by a bicycle CAPTCHA.
 🔹 Remember worrying about your top eight? That drama might return.

Plus, Daniela Simon from Serve for Strength joins us with her daughters to share how two years of misdiagnosed injuries and multiple surgeries turned into a nonprofit built to make sure no family goes through that alone. What started as one family's fight is now funding surgeries and building community for young athletes everywhere.

🎧 Listen now before your doorbell rings unannounced.

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Transcript

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Stephanie 0:00

Ding dong, you're like, oh hell no. I I did not invite anybody over. I am not dressed, I am not ready, I have to do. Or is that just me? Like I'm projecting right now.

Guy 0:11

This is Big Dink Energy, the pickleball podcast that's half insight, half nonsense, and all entertainment. If you love pickleball, don't take your stuff too seriously and think a little trash talk makes the game better. Welcome home. This is the place where life and pickleball intersect. We celebrate the chaos, call out the nonsense, and put the fun back in dysfunction. You're either in or you're out. And if you're still listening, you're in. So let's go. Big Dink Energy starts now. Do me a favor, reach over to your radio and crank that mother up to 11. And if you don't have 11, keep going and just rip the knob off. This is the official podcast of Pickleball, Big Dink Energy. And listen up, we've got a sponsor. That's how professional we are. This episode is brought to you by We Play Pickleball. That's us, but it is also brand. If you think pickleball is more than just a game, you're gonna love their apparel. We do. We Play Pickleball creates lifestyle tees designed for

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Guy 1:07

the court but made for real life. They're the kind of shirts you'll wear during your match and still be wearing long after the last point. Sleeping in it, if you're like me. If you're looking to add some pickleball style to your everyday wardrobe, head over to We Play Pickleball and use code B D E. That's the B, the D, the E 10 to save 10% off. That's BDE 10 to save 10% off your order. Wear yours long after the match is over.

Stephanie 1:32

My favorite one is the pickleball that looks like the Metallica.

Guy 1:35

That's a good one.

Stephanie 1:36

That one is really cute. Yeah, super cute. I like that one too. You can go to our socials. I'm wearing it a couple times in there. I just love that one.

Guy 1:41

Yeah, and our son recognized it right away. So you know, hey, it's it's you know, you want to get some points with your teens. That's the one to get for sure. That's the ones to get.

Stephanie 1:49

All right, so I thought that I would bring this up because I think it's

Kitchen Talk - Hot takes, weird news, and what’s on our minds this week

Stephanie 1:54

very timely. When did dropping by become socially unacceptable? So I feel like when we were younger, our parents would have people just like stop by and then they're like, oh, come on in. And you're like, oh, you know, Susan's here from next door. Yeah. But I feel like now people feel like it's a home invasion. I agree. So when did that happen? Is it because like now we can text people? So people are like, Well, you should have texted me at least. But we didn't have to do that before. I think it's because so many people are so readily accessible. So we all have cell phones that are typically in front of our face at 90% of the day. And so if you need to get a hold of someone, if you need to chit chat with someone, you can chat, you can call, you can text, you can FaceTime them. Whereas back then it was like, hey, if I needed to go talk to my friend, I had to go to their house or call their landline and tie up their landline for hours.

Guy 2:53

Or hope I didn't interrupt their internet.

Stephanie 2:55

Right. But but is it is it rude now just to show up people's houses?

Guy 2:59

I oh, I don't know. Is it rude?

Stephanie 3:02

Is it rude? Because I feel like back then it was like, you know, that you say back then, what do you say? Like in the 90s, in the 80s and 90s, like your neighbor would just be like, Oh, hey, and you just invite them in and you, you know, you're cooking dinner and you're just having a conversation with them or whatever. Hey, Carl, let's have a couple brewski's as a kid. I would just go knock on someone's door. Now they text each other, you know. Or I would be like, Hey, can Susie come out to play? Like, but like as adults, are you pissed when someone's like ding dong? You're like, oh hell no. Like I feel like I do feel like that sometimes.

Guy 3:32

So I think it it depends on your lifestyle, right? So, you know, when we were single, living over on the street that we lived on, that starts with a Z, we had remember my friend Erica stopped by with her husband.

SPEAKER_04 3:45

Yeah.

Guy 3:45

And it was just it was like 11 o'clock at night, but we were single, no kids, also. And they had like a six-pack of beer in a Walmart bag, and they just showed up.

Stephanie 3:55

Right. That's fun. But I also remember being like, what the hell? kind of too. Then you know, so I don't know if it's like, I don't know. Does it is it more anxiety than it is company now? Like, do you get anxiety when you hear that doorbell and you're like, I I did not invite anybody over. I am not dressed, I am not ready, I have shit to do. Or is that just me? Like I'm I'm projecting right now. I don't like it. One if somebody shows up to my house and rings my doorbell and I don't know that they're coming, they're gonna be met with a gun because.

Guy 4:24

Well, yeah, you're way out there.

Stephanie 4:26

You are not invited. You're not okay.

Guy 4:28

So let's beaten path.

Stephanie 4:30

Let's take strangers off the table. Okay. If you just have a friend just stop by, would you be like, oh, come on in? But in your mind, you're thinking, why don't you at least give me a text? Like 100%. I'm coming over. Yes, because my at-home time is my time where I am completely non-social. I'm decompressed. I'm either doing something or I'm not doing anything on purpose. And that is my purposeful time to be doing that. And so when somebody just pops up, I'm like, well, one, now I have to dress appropriately because I'm more than likely not dressed for company. Are you are you in like a costume?

unknown 5:06

No.

Stephanie 5:08

No, but I'm and clothing that should not be worn out in public. And also the thing that's running through my mind is, oh my gosh, my is my house dirty? Have I vacuumed the floors? Is the bathroom clean? And I think a lot of that has to do with social media too, because people have put so much like expectations, quote unquote, on social media of what houses your house should look like at all times. And my house just doesn't. So that leads me to believe that, okay, people were busy before too. So having an unexpected guest didn't become anxiety. It be it was like a welcoming, like, oh, let me make you some coffee, we'll sit down and talk. So I'm I'm thinking that we have just stretched ourselves so damn thin. 100%. That when you hear a doorbell, it's like your nervous system is like, what the hell? I have other shit to do. Yes. Okay, that is how I feel. That's how I feel too. I don't like that feeling. Like I would rather go back where it's like, you know, somebody rings the doorbell and you're you're calm. You did your work. I mean, now work is all day long, it seems like especially in our jobs where it's like it never ends. So maybe before it was like they got off work, it's five o'clock, it's you know, family time, kids, it's like, oh sure, come on in. We're just you know sitting down to talk or we're just sitting down to have dinner, come join us. But I don't I don't think it's like that anymore.

Guy 6:29

No, no, our grandparents, I mean, not even our grandparents, my parents, we didn't lock the door. You know, the coffee was on, anybody that can stop by. But you gotta think, in like you said, though in those days you're working a nine to five. Right. Right. We're earlier done working at five. Yeah, maybe mom doesn't even work. Right. Right? So the house, it better be clean, number one. Right, it better be. Yeah, yeah. What else have you done on the road? That's right. But it it was, it was a welcoming thing. Um we just people came over. We were neighborly, neighborly, right.

Stephanie 7:02

And now it's like inconveniency. Right.

Guy 7:05

Yeah. And you pull into my driveway without texting. Now I have anxiety. We've done it because we've been ambushed.

Stephanie 7:10

Because we like where our home office is where we do the podcast and everything, like our window it behind me is literally our driveway. So like when I see someone drive in, I immediately am like, oh, you know, like I'm busy. But I don't, I don't want to be like that.

Guy 7:26

No, I think it's because we also because everybody works, they were different hours, longer hours, everybody in the household works that your your time off is a is a precious commodity.

Stephanie 7:38

Agreed.

Guy 7:38

And so I'm not gonna interrupt your time off without texting and making sure it's okay. And and, you know, I'm gonna submit my application 48 hours in advance. Right. Right. And I need you to do the same thing if you're coming over to visit. Because I need to get my kids engaged and doing dishes and stuff.

Stephanie 7:52

Yeah, and I think maybe it's also who it is, because Paddle Princess comes over almost every day.

Guy 7:58

She comes right in the back door.

Stephanie 7:59

Right.

Guy 7:59

So I don't come out right. I don't know.

Stephanie 8:02

I don't think I've ever looked out the window and be like, oh, she's here. Like, I mean, my kids do every day. But maybe it's also who it is.

Guy 8:11

Yes. Oh, for sure, for sure.

Stephanie 8:13

Like if it's an acquaintance, you're kind of like, well, what the hell? Why are you here? Why are you here? You haven't earned that come and go spot in my life. Right. I definitely see that. But otherwise, it's like, you know, you want to have that life of, you know, engaging with your friends, spending time with your friends and family. And I don't want to look at them as an inconvenience. I don't, if someone, you know, arbitrarily just stops by, I want to be able to say, okay, this is more important than some work that I have going on because the work can wait. Which I understand, but like going back to the 90s and early 2000s, like laptops weren't as prevalent. Like I remember we had one computer. Right. And it was in the computer room in our house. Right. And everybody shared it. So my parents didn't come home and work all hours into the night. They didn't work before they went to work. And now we all have our laptops open constantly. And so I think if somebody were to stop by, it's more of an inconvenience because if I'm in the middle of like a work project or if I'm in the middle of something, I want to be present with the person that's in front of me. I'm not going to be because all I can think about is what I need to get finished. So for me, it's like I would just prefer the courtesy of being able to pre-plan when somebody's coming over so that I can give them my full intention. That's a that's a good point. Because I definitely feel like that. But I also feel like I can't remember the actual name of it. But it's where the span of time you'll you your your work will fill the span of time that you have. Yeah. I I don't know why I cannot think of it. Somebody needs to look.

Guy 9:48

We'll get our producer on that.

Stephanie 9:51

So I I feel like the work is never ending. Right. So it doesn't really matter what time you stop by, even if you text me, like I have stuff to do. And I don't want to be like that. I'd rather be like, oh, random stop by, great. Pause and go spin the time because time is so important. And I feel like so many times I've, you know, either told people I can't go do something or I'm busy or I'm working. And in retrospect, I look back and I'm like, I don't even remember what I was working on. Right. You know, so I don't know. I just kind of I'm trying to be a little bit less worky. Oh if that's the right way. Okay. Okay. But it's very difficult. This is a new era for you. Didn't you just create two more apps? It's very difficult for me. But I mean, I love spending time with my parents and I love spending time with my friends and my sister. And I just want to make sure that I I make that time. And so I've made a promise. Like if somebody randomly stops by, not a stranger, but I'm gonna just be like, okay, pause. I can come back to this because I might not always be able to come back to you. That's right. And so I just really thought I I liked how it was in the past. And obviously, we're not going back that way. We have the laptops and the socials and the all the crap. So we have to be intentional and we have to really think about why we are making this work more important than the humans in the relationships. No, I completely agree. I think I might have a different perspective on it because I live so far out. So it takes about 30 minutes for anyone to get to the city. They could have texted you. Yeah, they could have texted, they could have called, and it's just it's not going to be, I don't think it's ever happened where someone has just randomly showed up at my house because they had to intentionally, it's not like, oh, I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd stop by and see if you wanted to have a cup of coffee.

Guy 11:41

You did have that, but you had you had them introduced to the sheriff as well, though.

Stephanie 11:46

Yeah. But you could if somebody texted you, like, hey, I'm I'm over in your area. Can I stop by? Hey, we can chat for a little bit. You then have that opportunity to be like, no, I'm working. Or stop and pause. Then I can be intentional with my time. Yeah. I like that. I can put on appropriate clothing. Right. Take off your maid's dress.

unknown 12:05

Yeah.

Guy 12:06

Your furry costume. Put the swing away from the bedroom.

Stephanie 12:10

Oh my gosh.

Guy 12:10

Yeah, I I think uh it's the same we the thing that died with the phone call out of the blue without texting first. Yeah, I will always text first. Yeah, do not you can text me and say, hey, am I available for a call and I'll let you know.

Stephanie 12:23

Right.

Guy 12:23

But I mean, our default setting is right now is not ready for humans. Yeah. That's our default setting now.

Stephanie 12:29

But I want to be better.

Guy 12:30

That's good.

Stephanie 12:31

I like that.

Guy 12:32

If you're listening to this and you're a friend of ours, consider popping by.

Stephanie 12:36

Yeah, let's let's see how that works.

Fan Mail (Shout Outs, Comments, Love)

Guy 12:42

Oh, from the middle of the mailbag, we've got this. We've got this actually from our electronic mail. That's email for you guys out there. That's a 24-hour service you can get to us. Uh, girls, where would they get uh our email address? Do you know what that is?

Stephanie 12:55

BDepodcast.com.

Guy 12:57

Is where they can go to engage with us for sure. This one comes from email sent via the website. Love your podcast and look forward to it every week. There's an exclamation point there, so they really mean it. Thanks for the laughs and the pickleball tips. Well, we're glad we can entertain. That's what we are here to do.

Stephanie 13:12

Yes, that's from Danielle from Paddle Battles.

Guy 13:14

Ooh, Danielle Paddle Battles.

Stephanie 13:16

Love her.

Just The Tip - Pickleball Wisdom

Stephanie 13:19

Just a tip.

Guy 13:20

Oh, yeah. Just a tip. Quick pickleball wisdom in and out before you know it. This tip comes from Kanan Kimball. Great alliteration there, Kanan, from Deal and Dink. He says, use the Deal and Dink cards as a warm-up so it calms you down and helps you realize pickleball is for fun. Then you play better in actual serious play. Hey, if you know me, Kanan, I don't have anything serious about when I play. But thanks for the tip. It's

Pickle Pals - Deep Dive with a Pickleball Court, Club or Influencer

Guy 13:55

time for pickleback. Today's guest was in fashion, then she was in law, then she became something harder than both. The mom of a top-ranked junior tennis player whose career was derailed by two major bone surgeries less than a year apart. Now that would stop most families, it would crush them almost. But no, not Daniela. Daniela and her three daughters and one son turned it into a 501c3 that's raised money for the very surgeons who put her daughter back together. This here is a story about what a family does with pain. Daniela, thanks so much for being on the Big Dink Energy Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Thank you for having us.

Guy 14:30

So let's let's I love origin stories, right? So let's do the origin story. We've got fashion, we've got law, and those things are it could be you know worlds apart, but they're they're part of your story. So tell us about both of those.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Well, I think that what makes them similar is that you have to I guess what makes it similar is the fact that everything I've done is a challenge, rising to the occasion, figuring out ways to manage challenges and to adapt. And I think that that's what has helped me to grow surf or strength is the fact that in fashion I was constantly being creative and I was constantly getting my new product out there and seeing what the need in the market and what people wanted. It's similar for surf or strength. You know, you have the need in the market to bring the community together, finding that niche and holding in on it, and in law. Although I apply my law degree every day to do contracts on my own. Basically, I'm able to negotiate and to read things pretty accurately because of that background in law. And working in New York City at a big bad law firm prepares you for anything. You can make it in New York City, you can really make it anywhere.

Guy 16:21

Yeah, yeah. I think Frank Sinatra really summed that up for us. And just drive driving in New York City alone is enough to toughen anybody.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

For sure. I love driving in New York City. I love the challenge. I love the parallel park. Do you know that they don't even have parallel parking on the driver's test anymore? Like kids who took a driver's test and they're yeah.

unknown 16:41

No.

Guy 16:43

I I'm sure it's all about double parking and triple parking and figuring that out. How you can block this car in but not block that car in, and how do you don't you don't get yelled at the whole time?

SPEAKER_01 16:51

And how close you should park to get to the pickleball courts in case you're in Florida and it rains, you know?

Guy 16:56

Fantastic. So man, the the pickleball world though, I imagine obviously though you know the first part of your life prepared you for this, but are you really prepared with you know for the pickleball life and and what you're doing now?

SPEAKER_01 17:09

No, I I would never have imagined that we'd be where we are today. Never. From fashion and fashion shows and Paris life and New York City life to the law firm to having four kids, one who was severely injured, and we did not know if she'd walk again, not once, but twice in the period of two years. I never would have thought that this would be where we ended up, but I really feel comfortable saying we've turned that pain into purpose, and I'm really thankful that we are where we where we are today.

Guy 17:38

So for our listeners, can you unpack uh kind of the surgeries and and how that started and then where you are now?

SPEAKER_01 17:45

So basically, after multiple misdiagnoses, where the surgeon or the orthopedist that we went to in Tampa told my daughter that her ankle was not, in fact, broken. All she did was chip on a ball on the tennis court. So for all of you out there practicing, I'd encourage you to move all the balls when you're playing. The misdiagnosis led us to about a year later with two titanium rods in the navicular bone of the ankle because of the seven misdiagnosed MRIs. Not one, not two, but seven. And they kept texting me, it's okay to play. So if you're a tennis player and you're playing on a broken foot, you can imagine the damage that you're doing.

Guy 18:25

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

And then even though we booted her proactively, we went to another doctor who put her in a boot, it was too late. The damage was done, and no matter how many months she stayed in that boot, she wasn't able to heal. So we went to the hospital for special surgery in New York City, where he put all the MRIs in front of me and he said, Listen, it tried to heal. You know, this ankle tried to heal on its own. It's not going to, it's severely damaged. So Valley ended up with two titanium mods in her right ankle. And after about a year of the beginning was putting the foot above the heart for 90% of the day, which made her unable to attend most of the schools. They had to put her in a hospital program, which is part of the school, which I'm thankful that they had, but it was a little bit lonely. And then um, in addition to that, we got back to physical therapy, occupational therapy, water therapy, you name it. Now when we get back to playing tennis, she went and she played the Mayor's Cut, which is in Macon, Georgia. She did great. I mean, we're talking like 10 months of therapy and healing. She played it, she did amazing, took a couple days off. After winning that tournament, she took two days off, and she went to run around the trap with her friends. She called her, she said, Mommy, come get me. The other angle's broken. I said, No, it can't be, it can't be, it can't be. It's not possible, but it was possible indeed. And she decided to go back in after some exams, and we needed to get two more titanium rods for the other angle from the two years of compensation.

Guy 19:50

Oh my gosh. Now, listen, being greedy with the MRIs, after your sixth one, do you get a punch card and they just you know your next one's free or anything like that?

SPEAKER_01 20:00

Some of them were because we had to change doctors, we were trying to figure out why there was so much pain. But yeah, I would definitely get a I wish actually I don't get a punch card, but I know all the receptionists by heart their names, they're a coffee order, and we know the doctors, secretaries, coffee orders. Um basically we're yeah, we're in with the medical world right now.

Guy 20:20

Yeah, I can imagine. I can imagine. And I wonder, you know, that's that's gotta be a story for other parents out there too. You know, my son was involved in a car accident, and I and luckily we had video inside the car and outside the car, and I could see he's you know his wrist stung from the steering wheel. So I knew, okay, there's a break there somewhere. But it took them a while to find that, and and it was just persistence on our side, and I'm sure that's your story well as well, being persistent, is that right?

SPEAKER_01 20:48

If I wasn't persistent, she would never have had the surgery. We would never have had found the hospital for special surgeries. So I think that as a parent, you do sometimes unfortunately need to question your doctors.

Guy 21:00

Now, even even with all that and the adversity going into all the surgeries, and then at at some point, does it start becoming clear to you that maybe tennis isn't gonna be the path?

SPEAKER_01 21:11

We were hopeful after the first surgery that we could go back to tennis. But after the second surgery, we I had a feeling as a parent that it might be too much, but we still wanted to try. So we did try. She played tennis and pickleball at the same exact time. And it's great because we feel that they kind of if you can, they really compliment each other. So she tried to play both, but her nerves were coming back online because if you think that you have surgery and you're one and done, you're never done. It's it's gonna be months of the nerves coming back online. And so she went to play a tournament, and this is after the second surgery, and she made a movement. She said, Mom, I'm so excited to be back, and I'm taking down the number one seat, and I'm so excited. She made a movement on court that she could barely feel because the nerves were not back online. She ended up being out for another four months. So tennis is brutal. I mean the loading in tennis, it's different than pickleball.

Guy 22:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

It was clear to us, and the doctor said something that I will never forget. And his words, in your seat, the surgeon said, Sometimes you pick the sport, and sometimes the sport picks you.

Guy 22:14

That's that's kind of great.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Yeah, and that was it. Pickleball picked Valerie and she fell in love.

Guy 22:21

Sure. And so you know, but all of this, I'm thinking as a parent as well. It's uh you know, with the misdiagnosis and the continuous pushing and pushing and pushing to make sure she, you know, gets relief, that's gotta make you a little furious. How how do you keep the family? 'Cause I mean, two other girls and a and a boy, how do you keep the family going through all this?

SPEAKER_01 22:40

It's been tough. We were all Valerie's nurses when she was undergoing all of that. We would be the ones running ice baths for her with the pain. But they're super positive and our deep belief that we're now doing something to help others is what's driving us. I served on the Board of Education in New York for two terms, and my family is a service-oriented family. So we've only done community service our whole life. So they love giving back. So I think that that's what saves us. But during that time, it wasn't easy.

Guy 23:14

No, you're uh you're a rock star, you're a superhero. You know, you've got the worry going on, you've got the somewhat anger going on with the doctor and the hospital system in general, and keeping it all together. So, you know, I'm sure your daughters appreciate it, but I want to make sure that we shout it out too. Just, you know, moms are rock stars, moms are superheroes, and and you've shown the perseverance through all this. So fantastic. Hats off to you.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

Thank you. She wants to agree with you that I'm a rock star. Yeah.

Guy 23:43

Hello.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

Williams.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

I'm Victoria.

Guy 23:47

Great. So so okay, I've got you here. Now, I mean, you're a rock star in your own right, of course, obviously. Tell us a little bit about the organization and and then how that started for you guys.

SPEAKER_03 23:58

Okay, well, the organization is just something that we kind of started as an inspiration from Valerie. And we really wanted to give back to make sure no one really has to go through that alone. So they have our help from Serper Strength to help them financially, mentally. We have like that we build a community for them.

Guy 24:21

That that is so great to recognize that gap, you know, as as you as the family's going through it, right? As Valer's going through it, recognize that there is a gap that exists and then saying, you know, well, we can fix this. We can do something about it.

SPEAKER_03 24:35

Yeah, we saw that gap and we're like, we have to like do something about this. It's we don't really want any of us to go through that. Like by themselves, we have to build a community for them.

Guy 24:44

Was there a moment in the family where everybody just kind of looked at each other and said, Wow, we can we've got something here. Let's let's put this on paper and figure out what it looks like and then run with it.

SPEAKER_03 24:54

Yeah, there was kind of a moment where we were like brainstorming surfers saying, We're like, this could be like a really good thing. Like this could help so many people, this would be amazing. Yeah, there was a small little moment there where we all kind of stopped and were like, this could be amazing.

Guy 25:06

Yeah, and it and it definitely is. And then you guys came in and supported the surgical team with that. Why was it so important to give back to the healers? Because I mean, in this story, you could almost say, like, well, they they screwed up a little bit, right? And so, you know, I don't want to help them.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

There's couple bad seeds for all those bad couple those couple bad seeds. There are some miracle workers out there. And we we feel very blessed that someone took the time to review the MRIs and to talk and listen to Valerie. When she said she had pain, he actually listened because the doctors that we had seen before, they told her the worst thing you can do. I he actually said, I'm the doctor for the Buccaneers. I'm the doctor for the Buccaneers, I'm the Tampa Bay Lightning Doctor. I'm here to tell you that the worst thing that you can do is sit out. That's what he told Valerie when she was in pain, as opposed to the surgeon who we saw who listened to her pain and he said, There's something off here. This doesn't make any sense.

Guy 26:05

And so Yeah, and I think that's that's why they still call it medical practice, right? They're still trying to figure things out, it seems like uh we think these we go to these people. Yeah, we think they have all the answers, but uh I I hate it for them because ChatGPT and Claude and all the AI now is just helping us be better patients, I think, by helping us, you know, diagnose a little bit ahead of time and then bringing some knowledge to them that they can either say, yeah, that's good knowledge or no, that's bad knowledge.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

That's true. So we were just readjusting here because Valley just finished registering for her classes. Bye.

Guy 26:44

Oh, look at this is what a what an honor uh for you guys to be on here and taking your time. Cause I don't think you know, as teenagers and young ladies, there's probably nothing else going on in your life. So I'm sure you're just ready to sit down with an old guy and talk on a podcast.

SPEAKER_03 26:59

No, we we love this. This is so cool.

Guy 27:02

So tell uh okay, so tell us the best thing about the organization, uh Surf for Strength. Tell us the the best thing, like one of your uh one of your heartfelt good good feeling stories.

SPEAKER_02 27:13

I guess like the best thing is learning and realizing that other people have suffered through many injuries, and if they had like the help, like um, because sometimes it's quite costly all these surgeries, and to help get them back on their feet. It's really awesome to know that like we can help others. And some people I know hadn't been able to have special bone surgeries because they can't afford it. And so that's what's so awesome about like circus drunk getting to help others.

Guy 27:41

That's that's fantastic. So I mean, you're spending your nights and and your free time when you can um raising money, raising awareness, you're helping people reclaim their mobility. What is that what is that really what has that taught you as a family about what matters most?

SPEAKER_01 27:57

So like as a family, um go for it. I'd love to hear what you guys say.

SPEAKER_02 28:02

Having a good knit community is really awesome. Having people that are gonna support you through all the tough like processes, like and like for example, my surgeries, if I didn't have my family, like and the tight knit like community, I wouldn't have been able to get through it and have all that positive energy behind me to get me past those really dark and tough times.

Guy 28:23

Yeah, I could see that. And then so it it makes it easier. It makes it easier, I guess, for you guys to put yourselves in the shoes of people that you're helping with your organization too, then.

SPEAKER_03 28:35

So that's kind of why we do our community events. And some people they might they might not have a tight knit family like how we do. Like I'm very blessed to have my mom, my dad, and my siblings, all of them to really like help us through like any sort of cut times that are going on for a gallery, like for surgery. That's kind of why we're doing our community events. People have a community, even though it's not family or blood, it's pickleball.

Guy 28:58

Yeah, we uh we see that. I mean, that's that's one of the things we illustrate on the podcast a lot, and I and I hear it in story after story from people is the community of pickleball. Can you kind of amazing yeah, tell us the difference between the tennis community and the pickleball community?

SPEAKER_02 29:14

Uh it's definitely very different.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

The junior tennis community community can be very toxic and juniors, but the pickleball community on the other hand, it's so welcoming, I feel like. Like once I entered in and everyone's like, oh come pilots me, come to this.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

We were very late onto the scene and they were very accepting, which we had not experienced that in pickleball and I'm sorry, in tennis. We had not experienced that in tennis, and pickleball was super welcoming. So it caused us to want to do our community events to have them be focused around pickleball. We had one coming up in a few weeks that we're actually super excited about, too, that we're teaming up with the PPA Challenger so that we can reach as many people as possible.

Guy 29:57

That's so fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Community, the biggest difference is here in the France.

SPEAKER_02 30:03

Yeah, pickleball is almost like a family community, and people are more welcoming, as they said, and just nicer, in a lot of ways, nicer.

Guy 30:13

Yeah, for sure. And and and less grass quartz, though, right? Yeah, less grass, less clay, for sure, and always better on the indoor side. Especially in summer. So, you know, we we've experienced that too. And the only thing other thing I can I can equate it to, and I I'm guessing you guys aren't Harley riders, but the people in the motorcycle community are the same way. It doesn't matter what bike you're on. We all come around each other and we support each other. You're not gonna be broken down on the side of the road without someone stopping right away on a motorcycle.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Well, they're still in high school, so they're not bike riders, and if they are, their mom's gonna have some words about that in high school.

Guy 30:54

But how cool would that be to pull up to the school on a Harley, though, right?

SPEAKER_01 30:58

You and I are gonna have some words afterwards.

Guy 31:01

This is such this is such a heartfelt story. How can people get involved with this? I I know our listeners, we got a we got a ton of great people out there. Um how can they get involved with what you guys are doing with with Surfer Strength?

SPEAKER_01 31:14

We can like our listeners involved website. I think too much of the website.

Guy 31:18

Yeah, even our listeners on the Big Dink Energy Podcast, how can they get involved with you guys?

SPEAKER_03 31:24

Yeah, so our website, surf for strength.org, has all our events, our backstory has a donate page, has like all like yeah, our backstory.

SPEAKER_01 31:33

Yeah, so we try to put all the upcoming events on our website. We also have an Instagram, which is Surf for Strength. And if they visit that, we're the ones who answer if you DM us. But the most the best that they could do would be to check out our website, see if there's an event near them, or if they want to bring us to an event, or if they want to donate, sponsor, or just tell us their story because we're starting a section. What's that section called?

SPEAKER_02 32:00

Called Stories of Strength, where we like, yes, for other people's stories of what they went through and how now they're playing pickleball. And so just to raise awareness. Any sport, or any sport, obviously.

Guy 32:13

That that's so great. You know, I I've been in the military and law enforcement, and you know, we are getting better at that side of things of putting our arms around each other. But you know, pickleball has been the great thing where I show up to a court and it doesn't matter what attitude or or feelings I have that day, I'm gonna feel good walking away from it. And I can only imagine people in your situation that just love your organization because you put your arms around them virtually and you say, Hey, we we're gonna carry you through this. It's it's uh it's gonna be okay. You're gonna come out on the other side uh better than ever. So I absolutely love that.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

Thank you. It's really fun because they do clinics, working with people of all ages, post um not just clinics, but also challenger courts. What we'll do is we have um the girls will rotate on open play courts. So just get to play with so many people, and it doesn't matter your age, your ability, you get to play anything like that.

Guy 33:14

That's right. Yeah, absolutely. And and girls, are you really good at your autographs now? I imagine you get recognized out in public and you're just signing autographs.

SPEAKER_03 33:26

I've just done asked me for my first autograph. I'm like, uh I don't know this. Really that I was like, I gotta pass this time.

SPEAKER_04 33:33

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

She literally turns to her mom, she goes, Mom, what do I do? The first time someone came up to us and came up to her, and I said, You sign your name. And so now they have it mastered. It's a little cute. Hers has a heart, right?

Guy 33:46

Yeah, that's awesome. And and it's gotta be hard signing a pickleball by itself on the round surface and all that.

SPEAKER_03 33:52

Yeah, you gotta avoid all the holes and everything.

Guy 33:54

I mean, it's like yeah, people don't understand the challenges you face with all with the celebrities.

SPEAKER_03 34:00

Bro, you've got this. I'm like, guys, there's little complications here.

Guy 34:04

Maybe you should do a little a little mini class on how to be a celebrity in the pickleball world.

SPEAKER_03 34:09

That would be so cool.

Guy 34:11

That that would be great content on on all your social media for sure.

SPEAKER_03 34:16

Yes.

Guy 34:17

Well, uh, so what is next? Is there something like uh a secret coming up or behind the curtains that you can share with our listeners? It is an exclusive we're gonna break here. Or it what's you know, what's in the next one-year, two-year uh horizon for you?

SPEAKER_01 34:32

I think teaming up with the PPA Challenger is for us um an amazing accomplishment. We're super excited about that, and that's our newest thing because that's coming up at the end of the month, August 27th.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

We're teaming up with the PPA Challenger and we're gonna host an event in Atlanta at Let's Go Pickleball, August 27th. I'm repeating the date just so people know.

Guy 34:53

Yeah, absolutely. No, that's people have to hear it twice or three times before they pick it up in their brains.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

It's for every level, right?

SPEAKER_03 34:59

Yeah, so we're doing so it's a Monday ball for every level. So we're doing 3035, 4045, yeah, amateur. And then the 405 plus. So it's amateur and pro.

Guy 35:07

So nothing.

SPEAKER_03 35:08

Even sign contracted players can play it because it's um a PPA sanctioned event. So that's a really cool.

Guy 35:14

When are we gonna see you and ALW face off?

SPEAKER_03 35:18

You could actually watch our nice. We actually did just play them. Not like just because in February.

SPEAKER_02 35:23

In March at Cape Coral, and we hope to play them again soon. But that was our second time playing them. So we hope to we're gonna do even better this time, maybe score more than one point.

Guy 35:33

Yeah, she's a beast out there on the court for sure. For sure. But it sounds like the event doesn't have anything for me because I'm a solid 1.5. Um shout out to Duper if you ever need a 1.5, I'm it. I'll be the poster child for it. Okay, great.

SPEAKER_02 35:47

You can just carry me.

Guy 35:49

I don't know if it's gonna be good for the ankles because you're gonna carry me the whole time.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Well, we have this weekend coming up three events, one of which is for beginners, and another one is for also for open play with all levels. So we have two out of our three out of our three events actually are for beginners this weekend.

Guy 36:05

Fantastic. I should be there. Well, let us know when you guys get out to Texas. Surf for strength. Oh, you're coming in November?

SPEAKER_02 36:15

Yeah.

Guy 36:15

Awesome. Well, we'll follow, we'll follow up. We're gonna follow all your stuff. Let's make sure we give the social media handles for everybody again.

SPEAKER_03 36:23

So mine is the Victoria Simon. Mine's Val Gal Star.

SPEAKER_01 36:28

And we have Surf for Strength. And I am I'm by Daniela Simon.

Guy 36:33

Very good. Find all of those, go follow them, go click all the likes, and there's a ton of good information out there and a ton of good feeling stories out there. Thank you all so much for being on the Big Think Energy Podcast. We love having you.

SPEAKER_02 36:46

Thank you for having us. Thanks for having us. We enjoyed thinking to you.

Guy 36:50

Awesome. Thank you. It's time for pick six.

Pick 6 ( 1 question and 6 answers)

Guy 36:58

Pick six is where we take one question, each bring two answers, and immediately regret to agreeing to this segment. Today's pick six is things that instantly humble you. Things that instantly humble you.

Stephanie 37:10

I'm gonna have to go with a capcha asking you to find bicycles. Oh. Or bridges, or school buses, or sidewalks, or anything.

Guy 37:19

All the cars.

Stephanie 37:20

All the things. Yeah, that's a good one.

Guy 37:22

Yeah.

Stephanie 37:23

Mine is basically anything that comes out of a child's mouth about your appearance. So, like, I work around a lot of children and including me. Um, on the days that I don't wear makeup to work, I typically get, why does your face look like that? And I'm like, oh, okay. Yep. Instantly humbled. It's a good one.

Guy 37:44

Why is your mom sleeping with someone who's not your dad? Oh mine is when you pull up your camera and it's the it's facing you. Oh, that's the worst. You're like, damn. I didn't know I looked like that.

Stephanie 37:58

Yeah.

Guy 37:59

It's from below, too.

Stephanie 38:03

Oh, this was a hard one because I had so many, so many things. Yeah. I would have to go with IKEA furniture.

Guy 38:10

Oh, you, yeah. You were putting together that bed yesterday. Well, that was from Amazon, but disassemble it twice.

Stephanie 38:16

It was I just don't assess it. Assembling furniture, yeah. I just don't like it. IKEA in general. Like, I have to go get it out of that warehouse and find it and look at it. It's just too much. Yeah, too much for me. Yeah. My last one is going to be when you hit a ball that is an easy hit for you, and then you just completely whiff it in front of everybody. Oh, that's a good one. That happened to me today. Yeah, that that's happened to me a lot. I'm like, oh, this is gonna be a great hit. I'm gonna hit it right in that corner, and then I don't even make contact with the ball. I'm fun. Very humbling.

Guy 38:49

The other one for me is uh saying you too, when the answer or the response back should not have been you two. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good one.

Stephanie 38:58

Enjoy your burger. You too.

Guy 39:00

Tell us what you got. Get all up in our comments section, bdepodcast.com. Things that instantly humble you. What do you got?

Stephanie 39:08

Oh, it's Parkinson's Law. That's what I was trying to talk about. Parkinson's law. Here she comes. Like if you have that that means like if you give yourself eight hours, you'll take eight hours. Does that make sense? So if you work from home and you have all day and you have businesses, and it's like, well, I could keep working, so everything just fills that span of time.

Guy 39:35

News you can use.

News You Can Use

Guy 39:39

Sometime for you to take to your water cooler tomorrow with all your friends, and if you don't have one, go get a water cooler first.

Stephanie 39:45

So remember when your biggest life decision was who made your top eight? Mm-hmm. Well, MySpace says it's making a comeback. I saw that. So the current owners have announced they're planning to relaunch MySpace with a different vision, saying they're waiting for the right time to bring it back in a world that's become dominated by algorithm-driven social media. There's no launch date yet, but they say the comeback is coming. Now, my take on this is I don't necessarily think people want MySpace back. I think they just missed the time when the internet wasn't like a full-time job and like when you actually stopped scrolling. Like, do y'all remember when even Instagram and Facebook was just like your friends? And when you got to the end, it was like you're done. Right.

Guy 40:30

Yeah, the internet's like you're all caught up.

Stephanie 40:32

It's like you're all caught up. But now it's just yeah, it's never ending. So I think I don't know if people are like, oh, I miss personalizing my page and putting a song there. Like, I don't think people are missing that. Right. And in all honesty, I didn't I don't even think I I had a MySpace page, but I don't it was at the very end.

SPEAKER_04 40:50

I didn't have one.

Stephanie 40:51

And like I created it, but I never used it, and then it went into Facebook. So I never really got into the MySpace. I I just think, I mean, I don't even remember the years it was. I was in I had MySpace, and I like my thing is is I want to know if I'm able to log into my old account. Like, can I recover those pictures? Because I had a lot of pictures of my daughter when she was firstborn on MySpace because that's what we had at that time. So it did actually come down? Yes. Okay. You cannot log into it. There is no MySpace, and there hasn't been for a very long time. I didn't I just thought it would like nobody was using it. I didn't know they actually shut it out. It's completely shut down. But I would like to get into my old account and see like the stupid stuff that I saw 20 years ago. See, I don't like I said, I didn't really use it, so I don't even remember how it was used, but there was the Tom guy, right? I I do remember that. Tom was the founder. And then it was it like Facebook? Did you message people or did you have a wall?

Guy 41:46

It was like a wall. Yeah, you had a wall.

Stephanie 41:48

So what was the time frame of this? I'm trying to think of where I was, that why I was I would we had just started our business, I think, and I just wasn't involved in that time. Born 2006. So and I had it in high school.

Guy 42:00

So Oh, I was out doing man things and saving the world.

Stephanie 42:04

So like 2000, early 2000s. See, that I think that's what it was was I just I was busy and I didn't know it know what it was or was involved in it. Cause I didn't even get Facebook till like 2009. Yeah. My mom had Facebook before I did. And then Guy didn't get Facebook till like I had to four years ago.

Guy 42:23

Yeah.

Stephanie 42:23

He would always just look at my stuff. And I'm hardly on Facebook anymore. So I don't know. I don't know if we're trying to get changed to social media. Do we just need to get re I don't know. I think that right now there's this huge trend of bringing back things that millennials find nostalgic. I have seen so many different things coming back and making a comeback of everything that we had in our childhood. Umagotchis is something. Yes. I never I never had that. Or hogs. Tamagotchis are a big one. People have Walkmans again, just those kinds of things. People, the music that we used to listen to, like those people are headlining again. Uh the movies that we used to watch are coming back out. I think that it's just this huge nostalgia thing because now we're all adults with adult money. Money, yeah, it's marketing for sure. And so now we can afford to go pay for all of those. So I think it's part of the nostalgia of what we had growing up. And they're like, oh, well, if we can bring my space back because that's what they all had, they're all going to move from Facebook over to MySpace, and then MySpace will then become the monopoly of the social media.

Guy 43:34

Well, yeah, I mean, yeah, that's true. Because I just got gas and grass uh in my scratch and sniff stickers in my portfolio. So if any of if you all don't have those, I have you we can trade.

Stephanie 43:45

Like Lisa Frank is all coming back. All of that stuff is coming back. Well, I uh did you have like your top eight? Like was that a thing?

unknown 43:51

Mm-hmm.

Stephanie 43:52

Was that just like people you interacted with the most? No, it was kind of a a way to like a pyramid in the dance, in the whatever the dance moms. Like, was it your favorite folks? It was kind of like a I would say almost like a mean girl type of thing because it was like your top eight friends. Okay. And then I mean I can get on board with this part. Like if you and Susie were fighting, Susie got kicked out of the top eight and you would put somebody else in there. I'm liking this. So it was So it's passive aggressive for sure. Passive aggressive and petty 100%. Sign me up for MySpace.

Guy 44:24

Yeah, and you had and you let people know I like cats with lasers and sparkly backgrounds.

Stephanie 44:29

Yeah. Yeah, I I do remember like I wish I would have done more because I think I I did it like right when Facebook was coming. So I didn't even get to play in it. I wish I would have now because it sounds like it'd be awesome. Yeah, it was. Yeah. We'll see how I do remember the music. I do remember the music because I remember like people would go on MySpace and then all of a sudden this music would play, and it's like, we know you're on MySpace because the the page would just automatically play whatever song, I guess. Um that's a little annoying.

Guy 44:57

But uh yeah, MIDI files.

Stephanie 44:59

Yeah.

Guy 44:59

Can't wait for LimeWire. That's it for this episode, unless you've got something to say. If we got it wrong, have a better take. We want to hear it. Find us at bdepodcast.com

Wrap-Up & CTA - Final thoughts, shoutouts, and how to engage with us

Guy 45:12

or at bdepodcast on the social. Drop us a message. We might just be too on the next episode. If you had a good time, well, thank you. If not, you'll follow us, tell us, you know, until next time.