Renee Montgomery: Vice President and Part Owner of the Atlanta Dream

21:01And he knew that I would because I would be the one that wanted to do the best thing for the team.

21:06Renee Montgomery:Oh, you're being punished for being mature and So that was my life. So I had to change my mindset. So I'm like, okay, if I'm coming off the bench, then I got to be the best player coming off the bench because I can't prove him right. And then not be the best player coming off the bench. Because if you put a starter on the bench, they should be the best person that comes off the bench in the league. So that's what those two years of my life were like, they were very hard. You know, I went from being an all-star and then in the off season, my coach gave me the news that I will be coming off the bench the next season.

21:36That's intense. Yeah.

21:38Renee Montgomery:So you were there in Connecticut for five years, right? Yep. And then you moved to the Seattle Storm and then back to the Minnesota Lynx in 2015, where you then won two WNBA championships. What is going on? I think that like, you know, if this was a movie, now everybody knows that things are not always as they appear. As each step you've told me in my life, I've had a lot of obstacles in my life. So a lot of people see my career and they think, man, you've won six championships in your career. You've had all the accolades. And that is also true. It's so true. And that's what makes me so proud about my career because the way that these obstacles were set up, that wasn't supposed to be my life.

22:22At every point of my life, I kept on having to face obstacles that I thought, man, I thought I should be past this point, but okay, let me figure it out. So I was traded to Seattle and I was thinking, all right, I'm out West. I'm going to start a new journey. And then halfway through my first season in Seattle, I found out that I'm getting traded to Minnesota. So that is in the middle of the season. That's hard because I picked up and moved across the country to Seattle, got all settled into my house. And actually at the time when I was getting traded, my Snook, which is my mom, what I call my mom was there.

22:55So Snook was there. And also a couple of my aunties were there visiting me and they were planning on coming to that game when I found out. So while they were there, we went to this cookout. And unfortunately at the cookout, there was a pig roast and I thought it was a great idea to eat the pig. And it was not a good idea to eat the pig. I ended up getting salmonella poisoning. So when I got traded, I was not even practicing with the Minnesota Lynx because I was so sick. And I'm going to spare you guys the details of when you get a stomach poisoning like that, It is a ugly, harsh reality. So I couldn't practice at the time.

23:29I was living on a toilet. And my coach tells me like, all right, so you're traded. And I was like, well, I can't even get on a flight right now. And my Minnesota coach was like, yes, you will. So in true sports fashion, two days later, I'm on a flight heading to Minnesota. My Snook and my aunties have to pack up my house, pack up my car, ship everything to me. And it sounds like a sad story until the sports fans know that is the year that I won my first WNBA championship. So in 2015, I got traded to Minnesota. After practice, I was going and doing workouts on my own because my core had just been demolished.

24:05And so I had no wind. I had no core strength. I pretty much felt like I had to start over, which it's just a nightmare to be in the top, top shape and get so sick that I felt like I had to start over. Like life literally had to start over. So I was doing two a days at Minnesota and just trying to build myself back. And to be able to have such a vital role on a very strong team in Minnesota, win a championship, it really felt like that championship was just more than a championship. I felt like I had broke through and did something major. Because you did. Yeah. Winning a championship in itself is hard, but I was like, man, I got traded this year.

24:40I had to fight through a whole crazy illness. So that span that you just mentioned, yeah, it was a lot.

24:45Renee Montgomery:I'm starting to fully understand the sense of that. Okay, so then you've got more change coming up. So in 2018, as now a 10-year WNBA veteran, you signed with the Atlanta Dream. And the head coach said that you were targeted specifically because of your ability to run a team, your three-point shooting skills, and your championship pedigree. Taking it all the way back to those early point guard days, talking about running a team. How had you grown as a leader on the court, in the locker room, as a public figure, all of it over that decade? Yeah, I think that my experiences shaped who I was as a leader.

25:26Like if I'm talking to my teammates like, man, I feel you on being benched. I've been benched before. You have to fight through it. I'm not just saying that as just words. It's like I've experienced it. And if I'm talking to a teammate in the locker room who's crying because they just got traded away from our team, I can literally tell them, man, listen, I know you mad. I was mad too. So I think that I grew as a leader because of all the experiences and all of the things that I have been through. I'm speaking to people from experience. I'm not just saying like from the all-star point guard, hey man, it's going to be okay.

25:58No, I'm telling them like, listen, in 2015, this happened to me and in 2012, this happened to me. And I'm just going through and I'm talking to them and I'm saying like, this is not the end of your story. Because if I let each time that something happened of me to be an end of my story, I wouldn't be sitting here with you right now. So I think that I just grew from having to grow. Like, it's like, I didn't want to have to grow those ways that I grew, but due to those experiences, it just changed how I saw things. And even when I see a teammate that's sad on the bench or sad somewhere, it's like, listen, I know it's easy to be sad right now, but you got to just keep your mind in a place that'll be ready.

26:32Because if your number gets called, the worst thing you could be is not ready because you were sad because you didn't have the opportunity. So I think that just all of those things, just going through them changed how I was able to connect with people because since I was young, I've been connecting, but now I can connect on a deeper level.

26:48Renee Montgomery:Yeah. There's a different level of authenticity because you have the lived experience yourself. Yeah. So I read that you started all 68 games over the next two years, casual and that you led the team in assists in 2018. But then by 2020, you had a change of heart about how you were spending your time and you opted out of the 2020 season to focus on activism. Take me back to that time and how you made this like really monumental decision. Yes. So I think now you can understand that like sports was my whole life. So to even opt out of one season was a lot, but what was going on was a lot. You know, this wasn't your ordinary times.

27:35We were living in, first of all, in 2020, there was a whole pandemic happening. So that changed the mindset of how I was processing life in general. We're sitting on our couch and we're watching the news and the news is of what's going on in my backyard here in Atlanta. Like the news is what I'm seeing IRL, like I'm seeing it in real time. And so it was a unique experience. And my Snook, you know, which is my mom, you guys know that now since we family, like Snook, you know, she had been in Detroit when the Detroit riots happened. And she had just been through this before. She wished I didn't have to go through where people are hitting the streets and protesting, but this is a way that people make their voices heard and make their voices felt.

28:17And with what was happening with George Floyd and the killings, it was like, okay, so this is the process. You know, we're kind of living in it now. Once you start to study history, which people that have been alive a long time, they don't even have to study it because they lived it. And we're kind of like that too now, Hillary, if you think about it, like we'll be able to tell our kids like, yeah, in 2020, there was this pandemic. And in 2026, there was the no Kings protest. Like these are all things that we're just living through live. So once our kids go through it, we're going to tell them the same thing that my snook told me at that time.

28:47And so she said, you know, you're exactly where you need to be. You should be excited that you are in a place where you can make impact. And so I just thought like nobody even kind of suggested that I should opt out. But for me, I thought like for a player like I am, how would I be able to be 100 % focused on the game of basketball like I have been with so much going on outside of the game? And so that's kind of what led my decision to opt out.

29:12Renee Montgomery:So talk to me about that time. Talk to me about the work that you were doing for your community. Talk to me about what it was like not playing basketball for the first time. And also like, were you still practicing? I mean, you had built yourself back up from an illness. So you knew that you could do some of that if that was what you wanted. But like, how were you navigating during that time? Yeah, it was tough because like, I started to realize like my personality was athlete, like my whole being was athlete. And to that point, I was doing workouts, but this was the pandemic. We weren't living in the house.

29:46You know, the WNBA season that year happened in the bubble. It happened in an isolated area because people couldn't go out and interact because you didn't want to take a chance of catching COVID. So I was pretty much indoors having to maintain a certain level of conditioning and keep myself in shape, which was hard, but also not hard. You know, I already had dumbbells and training equipment in my house, so I was just putting myself through workouts. But it was difficult to navigate because I wanted to be there with my teammates. You know, like I was a team captain most of my whole life. Yeah, so I felt like, you know, I didn't want to leave the team.

30:19I was very happy for them when they let me know like they understood why I opted out for all of the reasons and that they supported it. That was like a relief to me. I mean, some of the things that we were doing here was, you know, I was fortunate that when I opted out the DMs, my phone, everything went crazy. Like I had no idea it was going to be as global news as it was. You know, like I sent it through a tweet. And this is before women's sports really had a lot of the media attention. You know, women's sports has always been at a high level and played at a high level, but the media attention was lacking.

30:51And so I didn't do a press conference. I just sent out a tweet letting everybody know like that. I feel like there's a lot of work that needs to be done in the city that I'm living in. And, you know, for those reasons, I'm going to just sit this season out and get to it, you know, and BBC was calling MS Now was calling. so many people started calling that the Atlanta dream had to set up a press conference to answer a lot of the questions and so one of the people that also reached out was LeBron James and his team they had more than a vote at the time and said well hey since you opted out and want to get to it we're trying to get to it as well so you want to like collaborate and I was like uh yes please and then Michelle Obama's when we all vote reached out so I really felt like okay this was necessary and this is exactly what I wanted to be doing and so we went about it we were boots on the ground.

31:37I was out in the streets handing out water. We just was trying to be a part of the movement.

31:42Renee Montgomery:By the way, you know you're doing something right if you make a decision and then both LeBron and Mrs. Obama call you. It was crazy, honestly. I'm like, what is happening? Okay, so then in 2021, you officially announced your retirement from the WNBA. This feels so massive. Obviously, it's just one part of your story, but talk me through making this choice and how you were thinking about the future. I know this is going to sound crazy for people that aren't in sports, but this was probably one of the hardest decisions of my entire life. No, that makes sense. I'm not in sports, but that makes sense.

32:17It feels insane. Yeah, because some people see it as like a game. And like, I do understand that there's very serious things happening in the world. So I always have to like preface it with that. But it was tough. Well, I knew that I could still play. You know, like that was the hardest part. Usually sometimes your body retires you. Like if you're blessed, then father time will come knocking on your door and say, all right, you've had an amazing long career. Give those knees a rest. Yes, exactly. And so that wasn't my reality. I probably could still be playing right now if I'm being honest. It was a tough decision to know that like I spent my whole life trying to be this top 2 % and be in this exclusive club of the 144 players that get to play in the WNBA every year.

32:58And so I'm just going to literally hang it up. Yeah, it was so hard. But then on the other hand, you know, I knew that you have to sometimes take a leap of faith and you can't be a team owner and a team player at the same time. So to even be eligible to be a team owner, I had to retire to take a chance to be a team owner. So that was the other side of it. So that was on your radar.

33:20Renee Montgomery:You were already thinking about it. I was thinking hard about it. And it would be one thing if I had confirmation that, okay, if I retire, you're saying I will be the owner. It's like, no, if you retire, you give yourself the opportunity to be an owner, but it's not to say that you will be a sports owner. So that was the struggle. Like, do I take this chance? And if I don't become a team owner, it's not like you could just go back and say, Hey guys, yeah, I was just kidding. Hey, by the way, yeah, JK, I'm just kidding. You know, you remember me, but so it was tough, but I did my dear basketball moment.

33:51I was crying like a baby on my podcast. I just felt like the opportunity to be a sports owner is just not something that comes around very often. And, you know, you guys know I'm from West Virginia, humble beginnings. I thought about my parents a lot. Like, I think this would be stuff that their wildest dreams are made of. And so I just felt like it was worth the try.

34:12Renee Montgomery:So talk to me about that. How does one actually take over the Atlanta dream? How did you do that? Like, how did that come about? Yeah, no, I mean, I just can't explain enough that it's having a good team around me. Like my wife was the one that actually suggested in the first place where she was like, you know, wives know things. Listen, it's your best teammate, you know, in the world of sports, like she's been the best teammate I've ever had because she saw things from a different perspective. Like she was telling me like, who better to be a sports owner and run a team than somebody that's watched the game, studied the game, played the game and gave everything to the game.

34:46And so, you know, like as I was listening to her, I'm like, OK, so to your point, how do we go about this? And we thought about LeBron. We knew that it's really who you know. And so we knew that we knew somebody that was very powerful. And he also had sent out a tweet opposing our current ownership and was saying that, like, you know, Atlanta needs new ownership. So we were like, if you think that and we think that maybe we should talk about it. So honestly, his team was so vital in getting us where we needed to go to be team owners. And then really the thing that happened that's different is having progressive people like Larry Goffsteiner, who is one of the other team owners alongside Suzanne A.

35:27Bear. We're a three person super team, I think. And they were very progressive to be receptive to me being an owner. And then also when I proposed to be an executive, they were receptive to that as well and said yes. So it's easy to have ideas, but you have to have people that are progressive thinking. And Larry and Suzanne were that.

35:47Renee Montgomery:So let's talk about the fact that you pulled this off and you became the first former WNBA player to be both an owner and an exec. That is so brilliant, but also like makes so much sense. It feels like there is no one who understands the player perspective, the strategy perspective, the game perspective, the needs of the players, all of the team itself than you. Like you're the secret weapon in all of this. Clearly, you have a vast lived experience knowledge set when it comes to this. What didn't you know? Oof. A lot. What was the biggest learning curve on this side? I think the business side of it, the corporate side.

36:32Because when you look at business as a whole, sports prepared me for everything. There's a stat that over 94 % of women in C-suite play sport at a certain point in their life. And I think that that is such an overwhelming stat for a reason, because it takes the things that sports makes you have to be to be a woman in business. Like you have to be bold in business as a woman. You have to be extra confident in business as a woman. And for people that don't know, it's because we're usually the minority in those spaces. So for you to get yourself at a table, a lot of times, like I'm the only one at the table.

37:09So that takes a lot of the things that sports give you like teamwork, you know. So I was prepared for all of the things that you need in business. But there were things that the corporate world that I don't know, like when it's spreadsheets, It's the jargon. All of these words and all of these initials that mean words. It's like KPI, ROI.

37:32Renee Montgomery:OKR, what's the tam on that? I'm like, baby. OK, so this is a different language. I know I speak sports. I don't speak this. So that is what I did not know at the highest level. I didn't know it. And that's why I have to credit Suzanne, our president, Morgan Shaw Parker, because they never made me feel like, oh, you don't know this. they would literally just like explain as they go, probably assuming I didn't know. They was like, you know, our ROI, our return on investment needs to be higher. You know, like they were helping me out without trying to make me feel lesser than. So like, it's been a beautiful journey learning.

38:05I didn't feel embarrassed that I didn't know. If I didn't know something, I would ask them, I'd be like, so what does that mean again? Like, you know, I would just ask, but yeah, that is the thing that I did not know.

38:14Renee Montgomery:And email language is a whole, like, I had to learn all of that, Hillary. I had to figure it out. It's a whole language. I relate to this so deeply because I worked at Elle Magazine. I started my company when I was 26. The thing that I also found most interesting, and I don't know if you have a similar experience, but I was like, a lot of this is just kind of common sense. Yes. A lot of it is like, if you are an expert in the area, I was an expert in women's content. You are an expert in your field. If you are an expert, That is secret sauce. That gives you as much of a leg up, if not more so than an MBA, because you've lived it.

38:52Renee Montgomery:You know it. You know the audience. Like, you know the players. Like, you know stuff that they don't know. And I was so surprised to be like, oh, a lot of these, like, concepts and all of these things, like, it's common sense, right? I agree. Like, once they explained it to me, what it was, I was like, oh, yeah, okay, I got you. Oh, I understand that. So you're saying that we need to generate more streams of revenue. Well, then we need like, once you break it down, it's like, oh yeah, bet. It's organic for you because you've lived all of it. Yes. And it's interesting too, because it's like, when it comes to hiring, it makes me change how I see people because it's like, just because you don't know these things, a lot of people may not have even worked corporate.

39:31You could have went to school for the actual job that you're doing and still not know how to do your job. That's the tough part for people. And so it's like, you have to really look for talent. I'm an athlete, but I really believe in team and the chemistry that you build and that culture. And Suzanne and Larry are the exact same. Our number one thing that we wanted to build in Atlanta is we wanted to change the culture. And it started in the front office. And it started with how every employee felt. Suzanne and I, when we first became team owners, we met with every single individual in the organization.

40:03We sat down and we heard what they loved, what they didn't love, what they wish would happen. We met with every single person. We actually cleaned the office ourselves. Like we wanted to instantly change how the Atlanta dream was perceived because as a player, when I left Minnesota to go to Atlanta and that was the first time I could choose where I went and I chose to come home because I was already living here. Like everybody thought I was crazy. They were like, why would you go play for Atlanta? And you're at this great organization of Minnesota. Like, why would you go to that terrible team?

40:33So I already knew what the energy around the Atlanta Dream was. And so that's what we wanted to change. Like that was the first thing. It wasn't even about the wins or the losses. It was about the organization and how it was ran. And that's what we wanted to tackle first.

40:47Renee Montgomery:Well, under your leadership, the Atlanta Dream has seen consistent progress. And after a successful 2025, I have read some early predictions about the team being one of the top threads in 2026. So talk to me about some of the tangible things that you've implemented that you think are helping to drive this progress? I always have to say, Suzanne, Larry, and I, because I really think that this was a major collaboration. We are a super team. We have completely different skill sets and they all complement each other. And that's what I think is super about it. So the first thing that we did was we took our time.

41:26A lot of people thought that we were going to make a lot of changes in a hurry and we didn't do that. We took our time and we made sure that we found the right person to be our president. And that was Morgan Shaw Parker. And she is still our president and she is the right person. And we made sure we took our time and we found the right GM. And Dan Padover, he is that guy and he is still our GM. And so we started to provide stability. There was a lot of turnover that was happening with the dream. And we really wanted to just, at the leadership top of it, give people somebody that they could really look up to and that could lead them.

41:59And so those were tangible things that the sports world was wanting us to go faster and like, who's going to do this? Who's going to do that? And it was like, yeah, we don't have that yet. So I think the main thing that we implemented was like each year we focused on one thing or two things that we wanted to elevate. We knew there was a lot of things we wanted to do, but we just specifically focused on certain things like fan experience. You know, we did not have a good fan base when I was a player. It was tough because I went from sold out crowds in Minnesota to in Atlanta, you know, not, yeah, there was not a lot of fan support.

42:30So we was like, okay, you know, that's an us problem. Like we have to change the experience that the fans are experiencing. Like we can't control if we win, but we can control if it's a party in there. And if you feel like you're having a great time. So those are the things that were tangible that like, there was things that I knew that I loved as a player that we implemented. And so like even having DJs and having the vibe. So we went about it very systematically and took our time and just made sure we were making the right moves.

43:00Renee Montgomery:So obviously there's still a lot of work to be done, but we have seen a significant increase in attention to women's sports over the last few years. It feels like it keeps getting better. The momentum keeps going. Yeah, we have a long way to go, but I also am like, let's celebrate it's moving in the right way. What are some of the goals that you have, not only for the Atlanta Dream, but for the WNBA at large as well? That's what I can't emphasize enough. It's like people understand, like I want the Atlanta Dream to win championships. And I do think that if we continue to do things the right way and build the team and have the right personnel, that will come.

43:37But even more so than that, I want the WNBA to be a powerhouse in the pro sports game. Like I've seen the whole trajectory of the WNBA to win in 1996 off of the Title IX Olympics is what we call it, but it's the 96 Olympics that happened in Atlanta. The U.S. women's national team put themselves on the map. And then that same year, the WNBA started. During that year and a couple years following that, I saw WNBA players on commercials. I saw them on TV, on sitcoms like Martin, Living Single. They were on top of the world. They were hanging with Michael Jordan. I saw them at such a crazy height. And then I saw the interest die down a little bit to where we weren't really getting as much of the media attention and we weren't really getting the sponsorships that we were before.

44:26So for me, I want the WNBA to just break through and be a mainstay where if you're watching a sporting event, of course, you're going to end up seeing a WNBA player on a commercial. And even these media rights deals, viewership is up, ratings are up, investment is up. These are things that I dream of because I know there's little hoopers right now watching. Like when little girls were younger before, sometimes they would be like, I want to be like Kobe or I want to be like Michael Jordan because those are the figures that they saw on TV. So I hope now you have these little hoopers that are saying like, they want to be like Asia Wilson, you know, like they want to be like Ryan Howard or Alicia Gray.

45:03Like they're looking up to now the WNBA stars. I love that. So as if

45:08Renee Montgomery:All of this wasn't enough. You also have some diversified revenue and projects of your own outside of the WNBA. In the fashion and beauty space, you have a clothing line called C-Suite 21. And you also recently became a mentor for Chanel Beauty's CC League, which is a program designed to support high-level female athletes. Tell me about both of these and also why it's important for you to show up in these industries, because I love it. I'm so excited. I went straight from the locker room to the boardroom. How I dress was not boardroom material. Okay. Like, you know, sweats is my comfort zone. So I really was searching for something where I could find that in between where I was comfortable, but also looked apart.

45:55Right.

45:55Renee Montgomery:It's like learning the email language. There's a certain like, yes, like this is how square business people dress. not square. I'm not saying you are, but you're like, I got to fit in with the blue blazers kind of, right? No, but you're right. And so that's how C-Suite 21 was born. 21 is my basketball number and C-Suite is self-explanatory. So that's how it was born where we combine and mix the two worlds. So instead of having just a normal peacoat, we're making it like a varsity jacket mixed with a peacoat. And it's called a varsity peacoat where you have your patches on it and all different things like that.

46:30So I just decided to infuse my sports world with the business world and see what happens. And that's how C-Suite 21 was born. And so it was exciting because, you know, like we've now worked with Dick's Sporting Goods. You know, we have a collaboration coming out with a sports team, play a society. So it's growing because I think the concept, everybody that was in the pandemic, after we came out of that pandemic, ain't nobody trying to be suited and booted, baby. No one wants to put on hard pants after that. Like, come on. We're never going back. Like, that's it. Like, that was C-Suite 21. And then when Chanel reached out, honestly, we thought it was spam.

47:07When we got the email, I sent it to my business manager. I'm like, man, spam is getting good now. Check this out. Right. And we honestly didn't even respond for like some weeks just to hear about what they wanted to do and why. When you start to understand the story of Chanel, it made sense that they wanted to create a program that was basically empowering athletes. And these are not just any athletes. These are Olympians, athletes that's already won gold, athletes that are probably going to be at the LA 2028 Olympics. Athletes at the highest level, they wanted to give them basically a group where they could be vulnerable with, which is a word that you don't usually hear athletes say.

47:46But in the sports world, you're so busy competing that who is that sisterhood, that unit that you can experience things with, talk about things with. So that became my role as mentor.

47:56Renee Montgomery:I love it. I also love the fact that you are also working in media. You recently had a guest starring role in the CBS show DMV, which by the way, my husband does the music for the show. No! Small world. And you also founded a production company with your wife called Think Tank Productions. I mean, obviously you are incredibly bright. You are so charismatic, but that doesn't mean that someone is automatically a fit for the world of entertainment. So how did you study this world and how does your background, both on and off the court, shape the stories that you want to tell? So my wife, it was her idea to start a production company, Think Tank.

48:38And it was also when I first opted out, she was following me around the house with a camera phone. Like this needs to be catalog. Like we need to log this. This is going to be history. And I'm like, leave me alone. Nobody cares what's going on. And then you fast forward to LeBron's company reaches out and wants to do a documentary on me. Turns out your wife was right again. I have to say it out loud because people know these things and it's like, I can't even take credit, you guys. Like, so LeBron's company does my documentary and a third of her footage was a documentary. So that's how Think Tank really started to come to life where she went to school for journalism and production media in specific.

49:16So this stage of our life is really both of our schooling coming to life. And when it came to the media, it's kind of a funny story because when I first started doing media, I had a very well-known person in the media reach out to me and say, hey, I don't know if you know, but how you're doing this is just not the right way. This is not how an analyst should act. This is not how an analyst should be. And I was like, I went to school for this, so I do understand that, but I feel like I have a certain personality type and I want to bring that to the broadcast with me. So while most analysts aren't excitably fans of the game, I am, you know, I studied the game.

49:51I love the game. So when I'm watching a game, I'm calling it as if like I'm on the couch watching it with the fans. And I do know that that is unorthodox, but it was a choice, you know? So my beginning in the media, it wasn't necessarily, you know, ideal. I started very at the bottom. I was doing a 60 second hit. I would be in the studio for like six hours to do a one minute hit.

50:12Renee Montgomery:Also on a side note, unsolicited criticism is probably my least favorite criticism. Yeah, no, my family didn't love that. But I think the thing about sports is like, I just took it as constructive criticism. I didn't listen to it. I just felt confident in what I wanted to do. But if I was not an athlete, I don't know how that would have changed the trajectory of my career and how it looked or how I am as an analyst. So that's another thing that sports gives you a certain level of inner confidence that even if everybody doesn't think you can do something, I've had to believe in myself my whole career, as you guys have heard.

50:44So somebody telling me that I'm not doing something or I can't do something, that was just not going to be something that deterred me. Well, I appreciate it, to put it mildly.

50:53Renee Montgomery:Okay. So on this podcast, we always close out with the same three questions for everyone. And the first one is about mistakes. And I think it's really important to talk about mistakes that we've made in our careers because we're all used to giving like this Instagram perfect version of our lives. And the reality is, is it's incredibly important to be honest about mistakes because it shows resiliency. So can you tell me about a mistake that you've made at any point in your career and what you've learned from it? I think a mistake for me that I made almost my whole basketball career was I didn't stay connected to the people that came in and out of my life as an athlete, individuals that are in the C-suite.

51:32Like, you know, as athletes, we're surrounded by a lot of high net worth individuals, but also a lot of connected individuals, like whether you're in college and it's the boosters that are donating to the college that want to just come to your practice and meet you because they've earned that right by how much they've invested in practice. You're kind of like after practice, I told you I'm locked in. I'm not really connecting as I should have with these people that could end up being people that I bump into in future or have some type of business with in future. So I should have just been connecting more, keeping open lines of communications with these people that were trying to keep open lines of communication with me.

52:08But at the time, I'm just focused on practice in the game. You're also a kid. I'm sorry. Yeah, I mean, yeah, but I didn't even do it as a WNBA player as much as I should, too, when it comes to sponsors. And you have to go to these sponsor events like as an athlete, you look at it as, OK, I have to go to this event. It's an obligation, but you don't really look at it as like, man, this is an opportunity. You're in a room with every individual from that company's executive team. Every top leader in the company is there because the whole team is there and because they all want to meet you guys. That is such a crazy opportunity to be able to meet somebody's CEO, the CMO.

52:46I didn't see it at the time because remember, I don't even know this corporate world like that. You don't know the ROI on that. I don't know the ROI on knowing the CEO of big major companies. Well, now you do. And now I do. So I think that that is like one of the biggest mistakes. These people were in my stratosphere and I didn't take an opportunity to further connect. Well, now you know.

53:09Renee Montgomery:So a lot of the folks who listen to this podcast are in their first lives and they want to make a change in their careers. Maybe that's staying in their same industry, but doing a different aspect of it. Or maybe they want to change industries altogether, but they're scared. As someone who has evolved her career, who has pivoted, who has made changes and leaps, what advice would you give someone who's thinking about doing it, but just feels a little bit scared because maybe it's outside their current skill set, or they feel like it's outside their current skill set? Oh, yeah, that's such a good question.

53:43I think that, first of all, you got to study it. Like, I think a lot of people jump into stuff and don't know, like, let's say you love the cook, and you're a great cook, and you're like, I'm going to start a restaurant. You need to know those are some of the smallest margins in business. And you need to know why the margins are small so that when you curate your menu, that you don't put a hundred different items on the menu because you should know if you study that that is the quickest way to now deplete your funds. You have to find a set, certain things that you sell, but you have to know these things before you go in because then you give yourself the best chance to be successful.

54:16That's number one. You got to know your job and know the industry that you're trying to enter. And then number two is that you might not be able to just jump into it cleanly. You might have to take a little hop. You know, you want to take a leap of faith. You might have to take a little hop and test your toe while you still got the gig that's making sure that you can eat and have somewhere to sleep. It sounds good to want to take a leap of faith and just do it. But, you know, like I think that you need to make sure that you're already making so much money in what should be your side hustle that you're comfortable quitting your hustle.

54:46Like I love a good leap of faith, but you have to have a little nest egg to make sure you got a little cushion below you when you take that jump. But then the last thing that I would say is that like, if you're going to start something new, and especially if you're going to start your own business, you just got to know it's going to be harder than the job you're doing. Like a lot of people think that working for yourself is this like, oh, I set my own schedule and I'm the boss. It's like, baby, you the boss, you're the employee, you're the janitor, you're the chief financial officer, you're the chief marketing officer, You're the person that runs the social media.

55:17If you're looking for your life to be easier when you leave your job to start your own business, you gotta do your research, baby. Like, it's just not that. So those are three things that I would caution people that if you wanna take it, you can do it. Just know those three things. And then if you feel good about it, do it. I love that.

55:35Renee Montgomery:Okay, so my last question is also my favorite question, which is, if you could step into a time machine and go back in time and speak with your younger self and give your younger self some advice, what would you say? Man, I think there's like a saying like you're chasing waterfalls. Like when I was in West Virginia, I used to think like, is this really realistic that I'm going to go to the WNBA? Like I would spend so many hours and I would like be missing life. Like, you know, like I know that my friends are hanging out. I know that they're doing this. People always would say like, you know, you only get one life.

56:10And because it was like, you get one high school career, you get one college career. And I literally sacrificed life to be the best athlete that I could be. And like when people would tell me like, live a little, I used to always second guess that. So if I could go back and talk to my younger self, I would tell myself to keep going, like just keep dreaming. Because a lot of times I felt like me and my family were the only ones that believed in my dream. Even when my snook wanted to announce to the newspapers in West Virginia that I was going to assign to UConn, they wouldn't do it because they didn't believe it.

56:42You know what I mean? And so it was like at every point in my life, I had this small nucleus of people that believed in my dream, but that was it. And the outside world wasn't really seeing it for me. So if I could talk to young me, I would just say like, keep going, man. Moments, ego, momentum. And I was like stacking days and stacking hours and just keep going. It's all building up to something great. You don't know it yet. You know what I mean? Like it sounds good now for me for hindsight, site. But when you're in the fire and you don't know it yet, it seems like you're just chasing this dream that keeps moving and the goalpost keeps moving and you just keep trying to climb towards something.

57:17But I feel like a lot of people could understand that. And if you keep going, you do reach it. A lot of people stop right before their breakthrough. So don't stop before your breakthrough would be my advice.

57:27Renee Montgomery:Renee, this has been such an absolute pleasure. You are a delight of all delights. Thank you. I feel so inspired. I would like my face hurts from smiling. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Honestly, this was amazing.

57:49Renee Montgomery:That was the co-owner and vice president of the Atlanta dream Renee Montgomery. For more inspiring interviews with women like Renee, head on over to second life pod.com where we have so many more for you to peruse. If you like today's show, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review us. We love seeing you spread the word on social. And now you can tag us in your posts. We are at Second Life Pod on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. We always want to know who you're interested in hearing from on the show. So send in your requests to hello at secondlifepod.com or you can DM us on Instagram.

58:30Renee Montgomery:I'm at Hillary Kerr. The show is at Second Life Pod. Our DMs are always open. I'm Hillary Kerr, and you've been listening to Second Life. This episode was produced by Hillary Kerr, Summer Hammeris, and Natalie Thurman. Our production assistant is Grace Ingram. Our audio engineers are at Treehouse Recording in Los Angeles, California, and our music is by Jonathan Leahy.