What if you were unable to pursue the one thing you’ve built your career or life around? What would you do next? Oftentimes, when you spend a lot of time doing something, it can be hard figuring out who you are when you're not doing that thing. Tywanna Smith is an award-winning sports manager, best-selling author, speaker, and former professional basketball player.  Tywanna tore her ACL in high school which forced her off the court. During this time, she discovered new passions, who she was outside of basketball and what she wanted to do when she stepped off the court. Twyanna learned How to Turn a Setback Into a Setup.                   Listen on Spotify |  Other Podcast Players In this episode with Tywanna Smith we  talk about: [Time] How to tap into your unique voice [2:45] Giving yourself grace [5:16] Tywanna tearing her ACL and turning a setback into a setup The importance of mentorship [11:57] COVID and the Blessings from it                                     TRANSCRIPT Do you want more out of life? Are you ready to live boldly in pursuit of your dreams?  Today’s episode sponsor is Deneen L. Garrett.  Deneen is a Passionate, Innovative, Executioner (P.I.E.) who elevates the voices of women of color and empowers them to Live a Dream Life (style) through podcasting and speaking. Deneen is a Women Motivational Speaker and the Creator & Host of the Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation (Formerly An Intimate Conversation with Women of Color) Podcast, which she launched in 2020. Deneen specializes in helping women of color who want more out of life live boldly to create a dream life. Hire Deneen For: Keynotes | Speaking Engagements (Virtual) | Workshops | Fireside Chats | Podcast Interviews Signature Talks:  Living a Dream Lifestyle  | Leadership Development for Women of Color | Leveraging LinkedIn to Grow Your Podcast Hire Deneen to speak at your next event                         How To Turn a Set Back Into a Set Up  Give Grace  Looking for new ways to tap into your power and voice? Tywanna shares her 1st tip of why we should give grace to ourselves. Tywanna Smith: “The first thing I would say to any athlete, give yourself some grace. We have a lot of things going on, a lot of pressure, a lot of scrutiny for these individuals, when we put them on pedestals. And that can be heavy, if you think of the human experience. So give yourself a little grace, you don't have to be perfect. Life is heavy. Giving ourselves grace, making time for self care, and being present will benefit us as we navigate spaces as Women of Color. Setup or Set up How do you handle a setback? Tywanna talks about her experience after tearing her ACL in high school. While she experienced an unfortunate situation, Tywanna says this is the best thing that has ever happened to her. Tywanna Smith: “It was actually one of the best experiences to happen to me. The reason I say it was a good experience was because it taught me to rely on something other than sports.  I was blessed to have a cousin who played in the NBA. And so it allowed me time to connect with him. He helped me rehab my knee, and I was able to get a firsthand view of what it was like behind the scenes for a pro athlete. I fell in love with that. And I knew that's what I wanted to do. So I never would have gotten that experience, learned that about myself., had I not taken time away from the game. Sometimes the universe is trying to tell us something. Those roadblocks in our way are often to redirect us. Tywanna experienced such a moment.  Think about your “ACL tear” experience. Was it a setback or a setup or set up?    Importance of Mentorship Tywanna suggests getting a mentor. Connect with people you can learn from and in immersive ways.   Abundant Blessings  While COVID was a devastating time for millions, it was a Blessing for Tywanna. She shares her Dreams Deferred moment. Tywanna Smith:  I would say the start of COVID. I had so many opportunities come to me at once. From working with the NFL, being, you know, brought on to work with an NFL team to work with an NBA team to do some work with the NCAA in addition to managing my clients. And as I mentioned earlier, I'm a mother.  While those were a lot of great opportunities coming at me, it was overwhelming. So COVID happens, the world shuts down. Honestly, in the beginning, I'm relieved, because I'm thinking, you know, I'm so exhausted. I had a book that I was preparing to release that I did not release, because the world looked very differently then. And that was the dreams deferred moment with me, right, but deferred, not denied. And so I'm grateful to now be able to say that I've released my book, I've launched it. So I'm very grateful for that. And I just attribute that to being faithful to understand that there is no such thing as a missed opportunity or a missed dream. Everything happens in its perfect timing. And if you're patient enough, when that thing comes back around, you should be ready to walk through the door. What devastated so many families was Abundant Blessings for Tywanna. Purchase a copy of Tywanna’s book, “Plan TOO: Guiding Your Athlete to Wealth & the Best Mental Health: Guiding Your Athlete to Wealth & the Best Mental Health” here.   Memorable Quotes from Tywanna “Give yourself grace.” “You are, who you are, and not what you do.” “Figure out who you are without a ball in your hand.” “The offseason is the best season that you will ever play, right, because you get an opportunity to pour time into other areas of your life that you don't normally get to during the season.” “There is no such thing as a missed opportunity or a missed dream. Everything happens in its perfect timing. And if you're patient enough, when that thing comes back around, you should be ready to walk through the door.”   Connect with Tywanna Smith Tywanna Smith is an award-winning sports manager, best-selling author, speaker, and former professional basketball player. For the past 15 years, she has served as a financial and business advisor to nearly 50 NBA, NFL, WNBA, Euro-League, and Chinese Basketball Association athletes as President of The Athlete's Nexus. Her first book, “Surviving the Lights: A Professional Athlete’s Playbook to Avoiding the Curse,” has been featured at the L.A. Times Festival of Books, the Black Student-Athlete Summit, and the NFL’s Careers in Football Forum. Smith has been recognized as one of Ole Miss' Top 40 Under 40 Alumni and Mississippi Business Journal’s Top 50 Under 40 Rising Business Leaders. In addition, she has been featured in Forbes, NerdWallet, and HuffPost. Smith is currently pursuing her doctorate at The University of Memphis, where she is researching effective professional development programming for Black athletes. New book: Plan TOO: Guiding Your Athlete to Wealth & the Best Mental Health: Guiding Your Athlete to Wealth & the Best Mental Health “Plan Too” is for people who have a lot of influence on young athletes to provide guidance on how to help them. The book contains practical steps to help them take advantage of their time as an active player and to prepare them to make strides outside the game. Website: https://www.tywannasmith.com Twitter: @tywannadsmith Instagram: @tywannadsmith/ Facebook: @TywannaDSmith/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tywanna-smith-mba Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tywanna-Smith/e/B08BMZ8GC1%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tywanna_Smith IMDB: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm14130543/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t2 Tywanna and I talked about mentoring and her mentor who connected us. Listen to Episode 11 from Season 3 of our #intimateconversation “Be Open: How Being Open to New Opportunities Led Monique "AJ" Smith to a Career in Sports”.   Other Episodes to Check out Be You with Ashley Johnson Work Life Harmony with Tareka Wheeler, PMP       About the Podcast Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation (An Intimate Conversation with Women of Color) is a podcast about women empowerment stories and for Women of Color who want more out of life. This show is for women who have had enough and want change, especially those who have been waiting to choose themselves and live boldly.  In each inspiring episode, hear from women from different backgrounds, countries, and ages who have embarked on personal journeys, sharing their stories of empowerment, overcoming, and their path to living a dream life (style).   ***Women of Color was recently named a 35 Best Women Empowerment Podcasts by Feedspot.***   Popular episodes include:  How I'm Leaning Into SEO A Spontaneous Trip to NYC How Doni Aldine Turned Her Global Experiences Into A Community Deneen is committed to elevating the voices of WOC and empowering them to Live a Dream Life (style) NOW!