#29 - Bailey Moody - 3x Collegiate Champion, Paralympic Bronze Medalist and Meta NIL Empower Athlete

Bailey Moody has risen from the NWBA junior division and now entering her senior year at Alabama! A USA National team member is fast-tracking and developing her athlete brand and brand partnerships in the crazy world of sponsorships.  Check out Bailey's incredible story and her path to success on The Wheel Print Podcast. 

Transcript

[00:08] DK: Hello. It's DK. Welcome to the wheel. Print podcast. This podcast is created to uncover the inside game of adaptive athletes, their untold stories of what drives them and makes them tick. So be prepared to be inspired as we discover the trials and triumphs of human spirit. Enjoy this show. And I am the host of the Wheel Friend podcast. Today's guest is someone very near and dear to my heart, as is her family. Bailey Moody is 22 years old if I did my research right and is a single amputee and a senior at the University of Alabama. She is a bronze medalist of the USA Paralympic team that competed in Tokyo. There's so much more to unpack, but we'll get into that over the next portion of this episode. Bailey, welcome to your first Wheel Print podcast.

[01:24] Bailey: I'm happy to be here.

[01:28] DK: I'm glad. I'm glad. You're looking good. All in red. I just banter or chatter a little bit with you, but we have a lot to get through as I put together some of my outline for your episode. You have got a lot going on and a lot to say, and I want to start right away. Are you good with that?

[01:59] Bailey: I'm ready. Let's do it.

[02:01] DK: All right, well, why don't you begin with telling us when or how old you were that first day that you started to feel knee pain, and then it became a life challenging moment in time. Can you kind of explain that process that happening?

[02:30] Bailey: Yeah. So I was ten years old when I started to have knee pain. We didn't really think anything of it initially. I was playing literally every sport that you could dream of. At some point during that time, I think I was in my tennis season, starting my tennis season, finishing up softball. The weekend that my pain really got bad, I had played a doubleheader softball game and had a tennis match. So we thought it was growing pains or some sort of sports injury or something of the sort. We never really thought it would be a diagnosis of cancer. But my aunt, she's a physical therapist, she looked at my knee and she went to my parents and she said, you might want to get this checked out. So all in all, it was about a six week process. But as soon as we went in for the X ray, they immediately scheduled me for an MRI, and I think in about three or four days, I was starting chemo. So once we started getting on top of it, things moved really quickly from me being a really normal fourth grade, ten year old kid playing sports to me being surrounded by nurses. Starting chemotherapy treatment.

[03:41] DK: Surrounded by nurses is never a good thing. But since you are involved with well, first of all, September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and we just happen to be here. But you are involved with the Cure Kids campaign and why don't you tell us what that role looks like and what it means to you.

[04:16] Bailey: Yeah. So Cure Childhood Cancer is basically a nonprofit organization that focuses on raising money for research, but also supporting families of the kids that are going through the treatment and going to the hospital and giving them what they need and the support that they need. So it kind of focuses on two realms of the childhood cancer world, which I believe are very important. But they did such a good job while I was sick of coming around me and also doing things to raise money for research that now every year we do we're part of their campaign and fundraiser of trying to raise money in September. But I've done some things with them over the years. I've done some speaking engagements with them, try to engage with them as much as I can and try and kind of get that word out there through kind of promoting that nonprofit.

[05:11] DK: Yeah, what awesome work, and I'm sure so many can benefit from what you bring to the table is my guess. A lot of experience and hope and wisdom in terms of how you've handled and what you're doing with your life now. And on the same subject, yesterday you had a timing Facebook post that reflected your feelings and you were creating some awareness about your situation, but not limited just to yours. Why don't you explain the nature and intent of that post, realizing that maybe many people have not seen it.

[06:08] Bailey: Yeah, I've posted twice about September since September started. Are you referring to the video or the series of pictures?

[06:19] DK: Probably the pictures and rotation plasti.

[06:23] Bailey: Yeah, at the time, a very rare form of amputation called a rotation plasty. Since I had my surgery, it has blown up in popularity, and I just feel like there's probably three times as many kids getting it as there was when I was getting it. But it's basically a form of amputation where they take out the infected portion of the leg, the knee joint, that's where my tumor was. And they rotate the bottom portion of the leg 180 degrees and reattach it at the thigh so they reconstruct my leg so that my ankle is backwards and my backwards ankle functions as my knee. It's kind of wacky and crazy, but it was what gave me the best option to resume an active lifestyle in the way that I wanted. My goal was to get back to athletics and get back to being the active kid that I was. And rotation plasti was the option out of the three that I was given that would give me that road to recovery. None of the options were they have to remove the tumor. They can't leave it in, especially with osteosarcoma. With bone cancer, you have to do some sort of surgical removal in addition to the chemotherapy treatment. So none of the options were great, but that was the option for me that would give me the closest lifestyle to what I had pre cancer.

[07:47] DK: And that as an option. Is that still a common practice? As we sit here talking today, it's interesting.

[07:56] Bailey: I don't know that I would necessarily use the word common. I think people are really scared away by the way that it looks. It looks really funky, and especially for females, it's tough because generally speaking, you don't look like everybody else, and parents are scared away by that. Osteosarcoma is found in younger children, and so a lot of times the parents are very heavily influenced and involved in the decision making process. So it's not like the most popular option that they give. But I think, and you can kind of see this in the kids that are doing well and responding well, is that Rotation plasti has had a really good success rate as far as kids being able to continue to play sports, continue to hike, play outside, be in the ocean, ride a bike, do things that they were doing before that. The other options just really don't offer in the same way.

[08:52] DK: Yeah, well, I really appreciate your willingness and honesty to talk about that. And that I think it's understandable the fear that people would have. But particularly, like you said, women or girls, when we talk about body image between male and female, there are some differences and perceptions. So I think it's important to bring up, and I appreciate you doing that. But now, having talked about losing your leg and how you adjusted to the surgery of rotation plasti, am I saying that right?

[09:50] Bailey: Yeah, that's right.

[09:52] DK: All right, cool. But now this active ten year old and moving into other years, somehow you found wheelchair basketball where it found you. Why don't you tell us how that happened?

[10:17] Bailey: Yeah, so I did about eight months of chemotherapy, and in the middle of those eight months was when I had my amputation. So I was basically in a period of kind of trying to rehab, but also finishing chemotherapy for about four months. But as soon as I finished chemo, I hit the ground running. I wanted to get back to playing basketball as quickly as I could. Basketball was my first love. It's still my love. I love the game and I wanted to play it, and I wanted to feel normal again, and I wanted to do what I enjoyed and feel like a kid again. So that was a very big driving force in me working so hard in physical therapy. I think a lot of people think that I have the false illusion that it was easier than it was, because how hard I worked behind the scenes kind of allowed me to gain progress really quickly. So people looking in necessarily wouldn't necessarily see all of that. But I finished chemo in end of October, early November, and then by December of that year, I was playing basketball stand up basketball in a rec league, kind of just walking the ball up and down the court and kind of facilitating the offense. And then from there, I think about a whole year passed and I was really feeling good on my leg. And I was playing volleyball with my middle school, playing stand up basketball with my middle school, playing tennis with my middle school. But then kind of as the other kids and as my friends started to get faster because they had two legs, I was working as hard as I could and keeping up, but just working so hard to get down to the other end of the court that I wasn't enjoying it as much as I did. So my parents kind of looked into the idea of adapted athletics and para athletics and the Paralympics and what that looks like, ended up kind of hunting down Laura Webster who had a rotation plasti. She is a sitting volleyball team USA member. My dad hunted down her family and ended up connecting her with my mom and ended up talking to her and she was know, because she played stand up volleyball all the way through college and then transitioned to sitting volleyball. And so she was able to kind of give us her perspective on just the opportunities that the Paralympics bring and that me getting involved in wheelchair basketball could bring in the opportunities to travel the world and have these just different experiences that I wouldn't necessarily have ever had if I had two legs. So my parents found a local wheelchair basketball team and I got in the chair and I started playing and I loved it and I fell in love and that was what I wanted to do and I really didn't look back. And then over the years, as I got into high school, wheelchair basketball kind of just crept in and crept in and took more priority over my life and more priority until it was kind of what I was training for and USA became a possibility and the opportunities for that started presenting themselves. And it's just been amazing from there.

[13:29] DK: Yeah, amazing doesn't really describe what you've been able to do and accomplish today, but our history goes back to that period in time when I coached the Charlote team and you played for the Atlanta team and program. And I have a lot of confidence that I have a keen eye for talent and I noticed you in that regard. And yet Atlanta's program always a powerhouse. While I was coaching, I don't know that we ever beat you and or Atlanta until I stopped coaching. I think Charlote started to get the upper hand at some point. But why don't you talk about know, I think it was blaze in the beginning. I don't know if it's still blaze, but what that experience was like on a power program team, but made up primarily of boys and what kind of challenges did that bring interacting with all boys on the floor.

[15:11] Bailey: So I think that playing with boys is something that's very good. As long as you are ready to play with boys in a sense that knowing they're generally going to be bigger, stronger, faster, pretty physical, it's good, it pushes you, especially as a female athlete playing like when I was 14, playing against 18 year old boys, it pushes you. It can be frustrating at times. I have a lot of really good relationships with a lot of the guys that I played in high school with, a couple of them play at Bama now. So we played together since I started the sport. I think sometimes it can be challenging for younger girls in staying in the sport in general, just because sometimes you can get a little pushed out. I think since I've played, there's been a lot of trying to keep women in the sport, especially younger women in the sport, and giving them opportunities to play with other women. I think it's important to do that. I think playing with guys does have its benefits, but it is nice to get to play with other females and get to kind of play that game because I think that the men's game and the women's game does have its differences. I'm very thankful for how much playing with guys pushed me in high school. To be a better athlete and be faster and stronger gives you a little bit of adversity too. I was able to compete with them, which is awesome. And then transitioning into playing basically exclusively with women on a college team and a USA level has also been nice to one not have to switch back and forth between the different size basketballs because that was interesting for a time but also just to connect with other women and have that similarity in the sport.

[17:14] DK: Right on. Everyone that plays and knows about, there's a ball size difference between men and women, but if you're not really connected to the knowledge of that, there is a difference in size. And women and girls go back and forth from a men's ball to a women's size ball and they do really well. But it is difficult at times. But that segues you brought up the USA possibilities, but not before, but you started your search for enrolling in college, and I know I had discussions with you, mostly with Hunter as you called your dad, Patrick, about options and where to go and how to make a decision. And that's difficult, I think, for everyone, but I think it'd be really helpful, especially for a lot of young girls or even boys that are looking to try to determine where to go, how your experience is to share that now with how you came to Bama in the end.

[19:07] Bailey: I think it's important to recognize that everybody's college decision is based on a number of factors. Obviously, you want to have good basketball and good coaching and good opportunity for that. I think that's very important. But I also think that in choosing a college, you should factor in other things just in case. You never know, basketball could end and you don't want to be somewhere where you wouldn't love it even if you weren't playing basketball. And I think me choosing Alabama involved, there was a number of factors that went into making that decision. Bama is really close to my family. I have a lot of really young siblings, and family is very important to me, so me being able to get home is important to me. I believe that Bama has the best facilities and the best program in the nation as far as what they're able to offer, as far as just with my sport and coaching and arena and just different opportunities in that. So basketball was really high up there. Bama's campus is beautiful. Their academics are great. I grew up an Auburn fan, which was really hard to get over, but Bama just was able to give me such a well rounded college decision in so many areas, and I'm still so thankful for that because I have a really good life outside of basketball as well. So there's a good balance between being able to excel in my sport and train in my sport, but also have a life and have friends outside of basketball as well that are able to support me and I can spend time with them. So I think when people make college decisions, they should kind of involve all of those things because college there's so much that college can offer, and education and basketball are very equally important things in terms of future. So that's what I looked at. If you had told ten year old me that I would be attending the University of Alabama, I would have laughed in your face, and here I am, and I love it, and it's absolutely been the best decision for me. But my parents went to Auburn, my aunt and uncle went to Auburn. It runs in my blood. So it is kind of funny how that works sometimes.

[21:22] DK: Yeah, well, I totally get it. And I remember again, because I had a little bit of involvement at that critical juncture when you were considering Auburn, but they didn't have a women's team at the time. And you would have had to if I'm remembering it right, you were considering beginning to play on the men's team with the hopes that a women's team was coming. Do I remember that correctly?

[22:05] Bailey: Yes, that's correct. My idea kind of involved me playing on the men's team for a couple of years and then eventually starting the women's team and working with Rob to do that. So, yeah, Auburn was up there in my list as well. Bama just had a much more developed women's team.

[22:30] DK: Yeah. And you mentioned Rob for everyone out there. That's Rob Taylor, head coach of the Men's team, the US Paralympic Team, and he's done a great job filling in. Not filling in, but taking over for hall of Fame Ron Lycan's, who has a couple, two, three gold medals to his resume. Ron Lycans does, but yeah, interesting because you were deep rooted into Auburn and yet you ultimately made the best decision to go Crimson, as much as that may have cut across your DNA growing up, but you do what you do that makes sense. And I can appreciate, you know, at that time and in between, you're being touted as a National Team prospect or developmental player and you have your first USA National Team tryout. How old were you for the first senior women's national team?

[24:08] Bailey: I was 16 years old when I tried out for my first Senior National Team, and when I made my first Senior Women's National Team, I went to a development camp at 15 and basically was just trying to start to get my name out there. And Trooper Johnson came up to me and excelled. Gonzalez at the end of the camp and basically said, I want you guys to come try out for the Senior Team in January. We looked at each other like, what is happening? I thought when I went to that tryout camp that I was just trying to be shown kind of the level that I needed to get to the level of play that it was. And then I ended up making that team and have participated ever since. So my first team was 2018 world Championships in Hamburg, Germany. And I've competed on every team since.

[25:02] DK: Yeah. Wow. You got the word that you were getting a tryout and you said, what's happening? But how exciting was that to make that phone call to your parents or maybe they were there just to be able to tell them that you had a tryout.

[25:36] Bailey: They were blown away. I think we all kind of expected, including me, kind of expected that Paris 2024 would be what I had my eyes on. Not at all. Tokyo 2020, so development camp to selection camp. Things were moving so quickly and then into kind of that quad. It just kind of all happened so quickly, but my parents were so invested. My dad would be up crunching numbers, trying to figure out, get ideas on who was at the tryout and they were going to take twelve. So who were the people that were going to I don't know. My dad was so funny and analytic and always wanting the scoop all the time. They were so excited. They're my biggest fans, but it's just I think they cried when I told them I made my first team. They were so excited.

[26:30] DK: Yeah, well, cool stuff. And knowing your dad, I know how invested and your mom in you and your future. We're going to talk a little bit in a minute about them. Yeah. So you win your first experience. And you get on the medal stand, you win a bronze medal, and now you leave pretty soon, in October or the end of September. When do you head for the under 25 Bangkok, Thailand tour again?

[27:18] Bailey: Yeah, so we have our send off camp end of September. We leave, I think, October 1 or something close to that, for Thailand to go compete in my second U 25 World Championships and the first time I had a year of USA under my belt. Now I have six or seven, and so I'm more of a veteran player this time, which is very exciting. But I'm excited about this new group of girls as well, that's kind of coming into the pool and on this U 25 team, I'm really stoked to see what's going to happen.

[27:53] DK: Yeah. And then you've got a minute and before you know it, Paris and 2024, the Paralympic Games are right there.

[28:09] Bailey: We have our qualifiers for that in Chile in November. So it's a very quick turnaround between U 25 in October and Chile in November.

[28:21] DK: Yeah. As I was putting all this together, I just looked at what's coming down the pike and what a fast track.

[28:32] Bailey: Absolutely.

[28:34] DK: What a fast track for a 22 year old Alabama student with it just makes me shake my head, but it really seems like you're living the dream. You have three National Championships to your name on top of that at the University of Alabama. So the question is, will it be four in a row? I already know what you're going to say, but will it be four in a row in your senior season?

[29:20] Bailey: Obviously, I want it to be four in a row. You finish that one year, you win, it feels great, and then you're like, okay, onto the next one, let's go win another. So, yeah, I mean, that's the goal is for well, with COVID I have six years of eligibility, so I'm going to be around for a while.

[29:42] DK: Yeah. Well, that was kind of my next question was what's next for Bailey after you graduate?

[29:52] Bailey: So I'll graduate in May with my bachelor's in psychology, and then I'll go into my Master's and stay at Alabama. So we get our five years. And then with COVID we basically got our first year back. So I had a year of education, but didn't burn a year of eligibility and basically had a whole season my freshman year. So I'll continue and do a two year Master's program at Alabama. Is the plan.

[30:20] DK: Yeah. And I really hope the listeners understand the underlying message being woven is, one is hard work. Determination equals results. But the fact of the matter is that education and academics is a benefit and an outcome from when it first started. As a junior, you're able to set your sights on what we're talking about right now, and eventually, with all this higher learning, you will be a contributing member of society in a career that probably will defy description. What's your thoughts on your future in that regard?

[31:26] Bailey: Yeah, so I'm really interested in sports psychology. I'm interested in kind of working with athletes in the mental health side of their sport and what that looks like and working with getting them to where they are in order to perform consistently and have consistent mental performance as well. But I'm also very interested in public speaking and being able to share my story and travel and be kind of influence for younger athletes, specifically younger girls, in what they're trying to do and accomplish. So it's kind of very broad, but I'm looking for opportunities in order to do that. But, yeah, psychology is something that is fascinating to me. I think the mental side of the game is super important, and I've seen it really play a big factor in my game and in my performance. So I want to be able to help other athletes kind of excel in that area. And also I would love to continue playing USA Basketball as long as I can. So whether that's 28, 32, I have no idea. I'm just going to keep playing until I can anymore. But, yeah, the future is bright in that area, and college has allowed me to kind of explore those options and get an education that allow me to do those things.

[32:53] DK: Yeah. Using sports psychology and teaching young girls and or adults, the benefit is not limited just to sport. You would be able to take and transfer all that learning to career, to family, to other initiatives in your life and make it work for you, right?

[33:33] Bailey: Absolutely. It's so flexible in what I'll be able to do.

[33:38] DK: Yeah. Well, I had mentioned that I thought you're living the dream. Do you believe that?

[33:47] Bailey: I believe that. I also believe, though, that the dream is bigger than basketball. I believe that, yeah, I'm living the dream. Yeah. I'm working really hard to accomplish the things that I've accomplished, and these blessings have come into my life because of the great suffering that I've been through. But I also believe that it's bigger than just winning a gold medal. It's opportunities to impact people, opportunities to share my story, opportunities to use this for a greater good. And there's such a huge platform and responsibility to do that because of where I am and because of what I've accomplished. So, yeah, basketball is so fun and my favorite thing, and I work really hard at it, and I want to win a gold medal out of Paralympics, but I also know that there's a lot more than winning as well with the level of play that I'm at and the platform that I have.

[34:44] DK: Yeah, you're laying down what I can totally relate to because I truly believe that championship medals and when it gets down to it, it's really just the Fodder and what we've done to change mankind. Womankind there's so much work to do with women and girls. I just drove to Rocky Mountain, North Carolina, three and a half hours away for the first ever three on three tournament for just women. And I was so grateful to be part of that historical moment. And I'm only saying that because I realized that in a sense that's almost a crime, that it's the first one. You got to start somewhere. But come on, I've had 20 years of putting on three on three. So I'm really grateful, but I can see where you would be able to roll your sleeves up and really contribute. And I've always felt it is not about what I do, it's about who I do it for that really matters. But here comes the big question related to whether it's living the dream and whatever that means to you. How does your faith, how does the coolest, most supportive parents and siblings factor into your life today?

[36:53] Bailey: It's the core of my being. It's deeper than basketball. It's how I live my life. I want to live my life because of my faith to love others well and to have an impact on other people, but also just to build relationships with other people and share my story in a way that shows that I desire to love my teammates as best as I can. I desire to love the people that I am surrounded with at any point in time and be able to kind of give them my full attention and allow them to kind of have conversations and grow and know that I'm someone that is going to love them unconditionally and be steady in their lives. I think my parents have raised me to be that way. I attribute a lot of that to my faith that I've grown up with. My family is very important to me as well. They're also my rocks. They are my biggest cheerleaders. My siblings and I have a great relationship. They cheer me on. We're so close because of what we've been through together and that's what allows me to then turn around and go out and love people and participate in my sport and do it for the glory of God, but also because I've been called to impact people, love people and do my best and work my hardest.

[38:33] DK: Well said. I couldn't wait to ask that question. And another segue. So it's a time stage of athlete branding and partnerships at the elite level. You have a publicist and the company is called Grit. That's an acronym. So can you tell us what does the acronym stand for? Just because I'm curious.

[39:17] Bailey: Well, Grit PR is basically Amy Chastain and her whole goal is to work with college athletes in building that PR. A lot of know people don't really hire PR managers in college, publicists in college. That's not really something that people have been doing before the age of Nil. And now that nil is a thing that's becoming. More of an opportunity. And Amy's very focused on finding those college athletes that have grit and that are working for their future and excelling in their sport and wanting more and finding them and starting to work with them and build their image and their brand in the media. So she's been great. She's also brought on a lot of other athletes that I admire that are very talented. And just through doing that, the goal is to begin to kind of build my brand and start kind of creating a career for myself through this basketball, through Team USA, through my collegiate experience, just trying to build that as best I can.

[40:31] DK: Yeah, we're going to kind of circle back to this because it's all connected through your partnership now too, with Dromos marketing Agency in Ishtaniari, who is your agent, focusing on brand deals, partnerships and sponsorships, and also my marketing partner and who's helped me put on this podcast, do all my events. One of the greatest moves I ever made was bringing her into my world, as intimidated as I was by the whole scene. But this isn't about me. This is about you. So what you have quite a team to help you navigate and capitalize in the corporate world and support your brand. How did it come? Now, you even mentioned that not many athletes have a publicist, but you have both a publicist and a marketing agent. How did you come to the realization to that need and that direction? Because you're kind of blazing a trail in adapted sports.

[42:14] Bailey: Yeah, so that's part of the motivation to do that is, I think, well, first off, there's this need, but there's also this perfect pocket of people are starting to jump on the Paralympics bandwagon as far as kind of starting to get some more equality in kind of the Paralympics and the Olympics being at the same level. So there's this perfect pocket. There's not really a lot of female athletes right now that are in team sports that are taking advantage of that pocket. But also, there's also still a great need for education in the world of specifically collegiate para athletics and adaptive athletics being seen as equal with their other athletics on campus, but also just in the greater grand scheme of things for para sports and what that looks like. And I think I have the tools necessary in order to kind of be that. I just need help getting there. And so Amy reached out to me first about over a year ago. We started working together. Lots of conversations with my dad in the back, kind of trying to figure out, talk through, is this something I want to do? He let me drive the whole situation and then affirmed and helped me kind of sort out exactly what I was saying. This is a long term thing for me. I want this career to be long term, and I want it to extend beyond my basketball career. And so I'm starting to build that now while I'm in college in order to be able to do that.

[43:55] DK: Are you sure you're only 22 years old?

[43:58] Bailey: I'm 21 years old, DK. I turned 20.

[44:01] DK: Oh my God. I made you even older, I thought. Oh, Lord. Okay, I'm glad you clarified. 21 people. Give me a break at the experience and maturity that's coming through this podcast, and it gets only better here. Now, so you were selected to Meta's Nil program. And you mentioned Nil, and people need to know what Nil is, which is name, image, and likeness. So Meta and they need to know those that don't. That is kind of the umbrella or the parent company now for Facebook, Instagram threads and WhatsApp, just to name three or four. So they're huge. And tell us how you became aware and landed this tremendous opportunity and what you see as the benefits and what does it all entail.

[45:21] Bailey: Yeah, so Ish from Dromos brought me this, said, I highly, highly, highly suggest that you apply for this. I think you have a great opportunity of being selected. I worked with Ish and Amy to kind of figure out my answers, just kind of do the best on my application that I could because I wanted to be able to get my point across because I think I really do have something to say. And Ish was like, I don't think that there will really be any other adapted athletes that apply for this. And so that was kind of right up my avenue as well. I want to be seen with other collegiate athletics as equal. So this Nil Empower program that Meta is doing is for female collegiate athletes in order to kind of get training in building their brand and building their social media, gaining followers and kind of setting them up in the long run with connections and different training in order to be able to do that. And they selected 30 women in collegiate athletics, collegiate athletes from various different schools, various different sports. I think they said that they had over 950 applicants and they selected 30. So that's a huge deal.

[46:40] DK: Wow.

[46:42] Bailey: So I'm very excited about this experience. It's a six month long program, so a semester long, where I'll have training and I'll have access to coaches and I'll have different opportunities to kind of start building and growing and learning and adapting and kind of growing my follower base and learning how to do that.

[47:03] DK: Huge. Absolutely huge.

[47:06] Bailey: And I'm the only para athlete, wheelchair basketball athlete, collegiate para athlete that is in that 30 person cohort as well. So there's a huge avenue for that also.

[47:21] DK: Yeah, I love the only part okay. That distinguishes sets you apart. Well, let's do it one more time because you are the very first adaptive athlete. And I already said I love saying that, by the way, that the only adaptive athlete to have received an Nil deal before or no after. Collegiate athletes were able to be compensated for name, image and likeness. And you struck a deal with a Degree. And I want to clarify. Degree is as I know, but maybe everybody doesn't know what I'm talking about. It's anti burst sprint and other products. But how did this exposure support your brand?

[48:34] Bailey: I got the opportunity to work with Degree through the Opendoors app, which is the app that kind of helps connect athletes with different Nil opportunities. It was specifically something that I gained access to when I was going to Tokyo for the Paralympics in Tokyo. But Degree was looking for in that time, they were doing their Breaking Limits team, which is kind of highlighting athletes that have broken limits to get to where they are today and what they're still doing to break limits in their sport and in their performance in their sport. And they did like three phases ish of it. I was the first adapted athlete and the only one in the first phase to be a part of it. And so that was super exciting to be able to kind of start off with and get to do. I loved working with Degree. Occasionally I'll still do like a one off thing with them, but yeah, that was really exciting just to kind of start to bridge that gap in the athletics scene and kind of bring awareness to the sport of ultra basketball and what it looks like.

[49:52] DK: Yeah, you got it going on. And I know you need to remain humble and hungry, and I get that. But man, you got it going on and you're just really beginning this whole end of your journey and I can't wait to understand what it's going to look like in a year or two and after Paris. So we've gotten through all that side of thing. Now, let's really not really, but let's talk about a fun fact. Not too many. I've never asked this on a podcast before, but you love to crochet and tell me why and how and what does crochet do for you? I have my own opinion that it's almost a form of meditation, but tell me what you got going on with doing your thing.

[51:12] Bailey: It's a hobby that I picked up this summer when I wasn't in any classes, but we were traveling a lot and I needed something to do. And I found these little kits online that will teach you how to make little stuffed animals. I have it right here. It's sitting on my desk. It makes me smile. But anyways, it's a little elephant. But anyways, I don't know, it's kind of relaxing and definitely something I'd like to get better at. It gives me something to do with my fingers and oh, I'm supposed to show it to the camera again so I could take a picture. But here it is. Here's the elephant.

[51:53] DK: Oh, how cute. God, I can't believe I said that.

[51:59] Bailey: But it's a new hobby, but it's something that I have enjoyed doing in my free time. But there's not a lot of free time right now that I'm in classes. But I'm doing a tiger. I'm going to give it away for my hobby tiger fans out there. But it kind of looks like right now. So it needs to work.

[52:20] DK: Well, I think that's very cool. We all got to have our go to thing that kind of centers us and slows the crazy train at times. Mine is fishing, yours is crochet, and it's all good. I got to really just express to you my gratitude while I got you captive, but you flew in from Dubai with I don't even know how much time you had, a day or less or something and hopped on another airliner to Dallas to support my DK Three finale. And you and a few others did that dance from Dubai, and it's mind boggling. But I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated that and how much it meant to me that you made the effort when you were on full fatigue. And last thing any Paralympic athlete would want, or any athlete coming from the world would want to do is jump on another airplane in that short period of. So I'm really, really grateful, Bailey, that you and your dad came. I got to spend time with both of you, and we had a lot of fun and just wanted to let.

[54:13] Bailey: You know that I'm very thankful that I got to go. I was tired, but I wanted to be there, and it was a blessing to be there, and I had a great time and it was super fun to get to be a part of the Kings farewell. Yeah, definitely fun.

[54:34] DK: Well, I'm not going too far. I'm going to be kind of on the side helping Matt Scott, who's really got some good things going already with his corporate relationships and making it work to serve others. And again, it's more than gold medals. So here we are, Bailey. We have blazed through just about an hour, so I'm going to ask you if you have any parting words before we jump off.

[55:18] Bailey: Just, thanks for having me on. It was good to get to chat with you. Always a pleasure, but I appreciate it a lot.

[55:27] DK: Really cool. And once again, everybody, what a episode. Bailey being such an example of what's possible, but only possible with her faith, with her family and all the hard work that goes along and that she has to put into not only on the court, off the court training, but in the classroom with a publicist and an agent. I mean, it's work. It's work. And from it comes great results. So on behalf of the Wheelprint podcast, I want to thank everybody for listening and taking the time. We are on Apple Spotify and we have a YouTube channel so I want to tell you to get out there and be a great human being and do the next right thing and aspire to be more today than you possibly can imagine. Like Bailey Moody. Anyway, all right, over and out from The Wheel Print podcast. Thank you, Bailey. I hope you enjoyed today's show on The Wheel print podcast. I invite you to check out our other episodes on Apple podcasts Spotify or on our website at davekyliebk. Three. Special thanks to Dromos Agency for producing this podcast. Our lead sponsor PER4MAX wheelchairs a sweet Ride Ride.