Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Nike Athlete, Olympic medalist and 10-time World Champion; Founder, Pocket Rocket Foundation 
A’ja Wilson, Nike Athlete, WNBA Player; Olympic gold medalist; MVP of the 2022 WNBA Champs, Las Vegas Aces 
Moderator: Beth Kowitt, FORTUNE

Most Powerful Women 2022 - Living To Play

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Nike Athlete; Founder, Pocket Rocket Foundation 
A’ja Wilson, Nike Athlete, WNBA Player; MVP of the 2022 WNBA Champs, Las Vegas Aces 

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Nike Athlete, Olympic medalist; Founder, Pocket Rocket Foundation 
A’ja Wilson, Nike Athlete, WNBA Player; Olympic gold medalist; MVP of the 2022 WNBA Champs, Las Vegas Aces 
Moderator: Beth Kowitt, FORTUNE

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Nike Athlete, Olympic medalist; Founder, Pocket Rocket Foundation 
A’ja Wilson, Nike Athlete, WNBA Player; Olympic gold medalist; MVP of the 2022 WNBA Champs, Las Vegas Aces 

So I've noticed a lot of you all taking advantage of the beautiful Laguna Niguel weather working out during the summit. It's not surprising that we have so many athletes among us uh sports have so much value beyond keeping all of us active and entertained. Many ceo has participated in sports as they built their way to big careers. There are a lot of transfer liberal attributes, being a team player, a leader, a goal oriented person. And in just a moment we're gonna meet two women who have strong insights into all of this and are here to share. Shelly ann fraser Pryce is an olympic track and field gold medalist and 10 time world champion and she happens to be one of the fastest women on one of the fastest people on earth. And Asia Wilson is a W. N. B. A player with the las Vegas aces M. V. P. Of the 2022 W. N. B. A. Champs and olympic gold medalist and they're both Nike athletes to their joining us to talk about the impact of sports also playing field, how sports can help us learn and uncover revelations about ourselves and maybe we'll get some tips on best ways to up our personal and professional games. But first take a look at this. Okay I just want to start by taking a quick poll of the room who here played sports in college. Okay so this does not surprise me um you know and I want to ask you to experts, why do you think that is? Why you know, why did the women so many women put their their hands up? What role do sports play in leadership and maybe a shell and you can start there um for me, I think um sports was really the vehicle for me to move from the environment that I was in back home to kind of have an education and come out of my circumstances and it definitely empowered me to kind of create a platform for the girls in my community to understand that sports helped to create, like, you know, give you like a sense of belonging to like a collective group and if you're able to do that, then you know who you are as an individual and being able to be in an environment where other girls share similar, you know, traits to who I am as a person and I want to become, it kind of helped me to transition from that and become an advocate in my community. Yeah, I mean, it's the same for me, I think sports did something for me, It helped build relationships. I think it opened up a door for me that I've never probably would have ever experienced if I didn't play sports, it allowed me to be that friend that allowed me to share, like it was just one of those things where I've met so many people and connected with so many people around the world and I think that's how sports helped me and it gave me no choice but to kind of be that leader. It put me out there and was like, all right, it's you and 10 other girls figure it out and that's hard in the locker room because some people coming in sassy and it's like, it made me some people, it's not their day, the boyfriend and text them back and it's like, all right, but we have to we have to win ladies, like we gotta bring it in. So I think that's kind of what helped me in leadership and finding myself and understanding that I have a voice and like I was saying like building that platform for the next and also you're finding yourself. I think that's the biggest thing I found myself through sports. So I wanna, I wanna stand that for a second because you two are at very different stages of your career. You know, Asia U. 26 you've talked before about how you are still developing as both a person and a player. How is that how you doing that in the spotlight like this? I have no idea. Honestly, it's the way my life goes. You know, like you I think the biggest thing is understanding that it's never too late to win from within. I think that is so key. Like, you find yourself, you know those long nights when you're thinking and it's just like what's going on, where am I in my life and it's okay to be at that standpoint and I think for me that's my biggest thing was the bubble. When the pandemic hit it allowed me to have no choice but to get in tune with myself. And I think that's the biggest thing and I honestly would say I didn't find out who I was until I was 24 25 years old. So I think we get so caught up in having Be that phenomenal woman is figuring it out right on the spot when it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. So I'm still figuring it out. I'm loving it, it's my life, but it's definitely, it's been a journey. I want to expect that in a couple minutes, but you know, for usually and you are 36, sorry 26, sorry out of here in 2017, you had your son Zion, but since giving birth you have run the nine fastest times of your career. Um First of all, how? Uh Yes, yeah, I have a daughter, I'm not running out of time. How are you? How do you do it? Like how has this changed you? Um you know, having my son has definitely changed me a lot. I remember the first time when I found out I was pregnant, I was like in a slum, I just finished, It's the truth. I was like, this is not about to be it, I was gonna be 30 I was going to be turning 30 to december of that year and I remember being a female in sports you always hear, Oh, it's not the right time to have a child. You have to wait until you retire or when you get to 30 they almost, you know, want to tell you it's time to wrap it up, you know, it's over. And I remember have, you know, being there and being in the moment, I was just nervous like, what's gonna happen and having my son was the best thing that has ever happened to me because it made me tough and I think it made me more, you know, a stronger athlete and a woman and I was able to balance and juggle being a mom and a nasty because I knew I had more to give and I wanted to unleash that paul and I knew the only way I had to do that was that I had to believe that it's possible. So the moment I accepted what was happening, like, yes, I'm gonna be a mom and it's okay, I'm gonna come back. That was it. There was no change in my mind. There was, I understood it was going to be difficult, I knew it was gonna require more of me. I had to evolve as a woman as an athlete and know that I belong in that space and age was not gonna stop me, you know, uh the opinions of others, we're not gonna deter me from the goals that I have because I knew I had more to give and being able to accomplish the things that I have after having my son is remarkable and I hope it adds Voice to the other women who are thinking that their dreams are somehow dead because oh, I'm turning 30, I'm gonna have a baby. But I'm hoping that they too will find inspiration in knowing that new beginnings is always a good thing. It's an opportunity to evolve. It's an opportunity to grow, it's an opportunity to be more than you thought would be possible. So, I mean, I think it's also worth acknowledging your career has been a decade and a half long, and you are very long and you are at peak performance. Yeah, there are some lessons here in longevity, How have you done that? You know, honestly, it requires work. And I think this year out of all the years that have been competing, I finally found the confidence to be who I am, you know, and I think for a lot of us age is something that we all have to go through. We'll have to, we have think that's just the reality and I think for a lot of us, we are afraid of going through that process that we limit who we are as, as a woman, you know, and it's somehow It somehow takes away from us where we think, Okay, because we're turning 30, we need to just tone things down with were stop dream where to stop thinking that things are possible. But I think at, you know at this stage of my career I feel young, I feel fit. I think I deserve the moment, the moment is mine to see if it's a new beginning. I'm equipped, I'm ready, I'm hungry and I want yeah. Yeah. I love that. You want it, I want it, you want it, I love it, I love it. Um I want, you know, I want to go back to something you alluded to which is kind of finding yourself when you were in the bubble, which is the W. N. B. A bubble for those who don't know. Um you've both spoken and written very openly about battling depression after an M. V. P. Season. What made you decide to be so open about that. Um I think it's just key to show people that I'm human. I think they get so caught up in the accolades, they get so caught up in seeing us in uniform that they're like oh my God you're a machine, There's nothing wrong with you. Like you have the perfect life, you get paid to sweat, You get like you get all these good things and it's like but I still hurt, I still feel feelings, I still go through things and I think it was just so key for for me, especially in that moment and it helped me to be vulnerable and to show that side and say, hey, it's not easy every day for me. I'm glad that I can make it look easy, but it's not easy. Like no one sees the hard work, the long nights, the stressful nights of where you just want to pull your hair out. No one sees that, and it's like, but those moments are real and you have to live those moments and take them in. And I think I was just, it was a moment for me to be like, okay, this is me, this is who I am, and I'm loving who I'm becoming, because I can show the world that it's different paths of life. We're all on this different journey, but we're gonna all get to the top in our own speed at our own race. So, at the end of the day, you just gotta be real and be true with yourself. And that was a key moment for me. Thank you. I want to see if the audience has any questions for you here, we have one in the front, you can wait for the mic intelligence making its way. Well, hi, I'm Lorraine Harrington catalysts and I know an issue for women in sports is pay equity, and especially been with W N. B A. Can you talk a little bit about the challenges and opportunities in that? Yes. Oh gosh, we could be here all day. We uh no, but it's just something that is, it's always a crazy, not even a crazy, it's a sensitive topic because it's like you do so much. You work so hard and it's just like, what can we do to make it just my thing is make it fair. That's all I'm asking is fair. If we put in the equal amount of work, we're doing the equal minded things cool. But I'm just saying make it fair to us as a league and it's really, really hard because of economical reasons and things like that. But it's, it's tough. But at the same time, I think for me, I'm understanding that change doesn't happen overnight and we have to continue to use our platform to voice these things. I think it's so key that we don't be, we're not, we don't have those seats at the tables to say, hey, these women need to get paid more because they work their tails off and they deserve it. I think that's the thing. I think we get so caught up in society of being like, well the woman is always a step below, but it's like why I'm, I'm just as equally as qualified as anyone else. And it's a topic where it's just like, well, what can we do? Everyone's asking, what can we do, what can we do? Just respect and understanding that we need seats in their bodies in those, we need bodies in those seats. We need people to see us. I'm a firm believer and see if you can see her, you can be her and it's really, really hard to be seen if they're constantly sweeping under the rug. And that's so key. It's just like just being seen. I think that's the biggest thing is just putting stuff out there. So many people coming to me and they're like, why can't we find your Jersey and airport? Why can't you? And it's, it's those little things that we have to go back into these companies and saying, just put us out there, put us out there and see what happens and I guarantee you will not disappoint you. And I think that's just very, very key when it comes to just that pay equity situations, just like, let us be seen, Let us be hurt were more were deeper than just athletes were foundation owners were business women, we're mothers, we're sisters. Like, put us out there. And yeah, that's about all I can say that before. I got do we have another question in the audience right over there and if you could wait for the mic and tell us who you are. Hi, I'm Rose with Verizon. First of all, you ladies are fabulous. We are a little jealous that you talked about aging. We're like, okay, but let me ask you this. So how do you think about what your next is because you won't be athletes forever. But you have these incredible skills and discipline and intelligence and we're gonna get you out there, How do you think about your next um so, you know, for me, um it's all about impact, you know, and I'm from the Caribbean, I'm from Jamaica and it's a small country where there are so many girls are people in my community that are on the privilege and I want to be able to be the change for them and through my pocket Rocket Foundation that I started a couple of years ago because of a woman, I should say that your nickname? Yes, yeah, There's a woman I met when I was 15 years old in New York at the Penn Relays and for some crazy reason, not knowing who I was or who I was gonna become, she invested in my life and that changed the course of my life forever. So being able to have that foundation in Kingston where we offer student athletes the opportunity to create change and to have a balance of having their sport and their classroom education and being able to peer both together and create an avenue to escape the current circumstances is where it's at. You know, that's the impact I want in my community to, to have girls in Jamaica feel like out of all the girls in the world we belong, we're not just Caribbean women were not just Jamaican women, but we can have an impact in the world and being able to have that Foundation where we have 55 student athletes that have passed through the foundation, giving them the opportunity to not think about where their meal is coming from, where their uniform is coming from, where the books are coming from, but just focus on the classroom, focused on your sport, being able to create for yourself an opportunity to excel because for me, I never had that opportunity when I was younger, when I was like 10, 11, 12 until I met Gene, you know, and that changed the course of history because otherwise I would have continued a cycle that was in my community, I would probably be home, probably have a couple of kids just running around, but you know, I'm glad that she saw something more and being able to have that initiative in my community, it's where it's at for me and creating more space for women like me in my community. How about you? I think the biggest thing for me is just planting seeds for the next generation, like I'm still young but um I think the biggest thing is understanding that it doesn't stop here, like like surely understand just seeing that potential, we all have those type of people in our lives, that's all potential us before we could see ourselves. And for me that's what's next is how can I plant seeds for the next generation to be like, I want to be the next asia, I want to be the next like what can I do in my community to help them understand that you can shatter any glass ceiling that is in front of you, You can reach any goal. I was a young girl, I don't wanna play basketball, hated sweating, hated sweating. Oh my God, it's disgusting. But here I am sweating for a living. Like it's just one of those things like I just want to put that out there to the young girls like you don't have to have it all at once. Like just continue to plant seeds and what you want in your journey. Like that's my next, that's my why to keep grinding and keep just shattering anything that's in front of me. I love that, shattering everything that's in front of Asia. Thank you so much for being with you.