An Olympian's Perspective on Overcoming Obstacles: A Conversation with Chaunté Lowe

Chaunte Lowe: You always take the fight with the end goal in mind. If you're fighting to just be fighting, what's the point? But, when I had my breast cancer diagnosis, I was fighting for my kids. My first thought was," Oh my gosh, they're going to grow up without me." And it just broke my heart. I couldn't imagine it. But, the end result of fighting is I get to live.

Michael Rivo: That was four- time Olympian and mother of three, Chaunte Lowe. Welcome to another episode of Blazing Trails. I'm your host, Michael Rivo from Salesforce studios. Well, we're now seven months into this pandemic and with increasing cases heading into the winter, I know I speak for many when I say sometimes it's difficult to stay positive. But, today we've got an episode that helps with that. Our recent conversation with Chaunte Lowe and Salesforce is Jody Kohner. Chaunte isn't letting anything stand in her way of making her fifth Olympic team. And she talks about how to overcome obstacles and inspire others. But, before we jump over to Chaunte, a quick word about work. com. Work. com is an all- new suite of apps and resources that leaders around the world can use to reopen, re- skill employees and respond efficiently to the COVID- 19 pandemic. Reopening will be a journey, but work. com is your guide. To learn more, go to work. com. And now, Salesforce's Jody Kohner and Chaunte Lowe.

Jody Kohner: I'm very excited about today's speaker. We've had just so much conflict and so much difficulty to deal with on so many fronts. And I think that we can all use a little bit of positivity, and dare I say it, even some inspiration. And so, our guest today is a diversity and inclusion champion, a total woman warrior, a phenomenal athlete, Chaunte Lowe. So, if you don't know who Chaunte Lowe is, hello Chaunte, let me give you some rundown here because this is truly phenomenal. A four- time Olympic high jumper and bronze medalist competing in Rio, London, Beijing and Athens. She is the American record holder for the woman's high jump. She is a holder of a gold, silver and bronze medals in world championships. I've never even spoken with anyone who owned one. She's got like a hundred. Then, though she also was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, just almost a year ago, in the summer of 2019. And despite all of this, she's working from home, she's homeschooling three kids and she is training for her fifth Olympic games. This is just extraordinary human being. So, today, Chaunte is going to talk to us about obstacles, and perseverance, and creating a more inclusive and a welcoming environment. So, we could not be more thrilled to have you, Chaunte. Thank you for joining us. We're going to take questions at the end. And we have Emma Richards with us, our BOLDforce global growth chair, and she's going to help out too. So, just a great half hour, a great way to spend some time. So, Chaunte, tell us about the phenom that is you.

Chaunte Lowe: Well, I try to juggle it all, the mother of three, the Olympic training, going to school, so thank you for that. Normally, I only talk about the perseverance, endurance and just trying to overcome obstacles. But, I think in light of everything that's going on right now, it'd be a great time to interject, and talk a little bit about diversity and inclusion. So, the story I want to share with you guys today starts like all my other stories. When I was four years old, I decided that I wanted to become an Olympian. I'm watching the Olympics for the first time and I see this woman, her name was Flo Jo. And some of you guys on here should know who she is. If you don't, look her up. She's the woman that Beyonce wanted to be on Halloween. And she had this long flowing hair, her nails, she had cat nails before everybody thought they were popular. She had these rippling muscles. And I was just like," Oh my gosh, mommy. I want to be like this woman right there." And my mom said it took hard work and perseverance. And I was like," That's not what I want to hear at four," so I went to the second wisest person I knew, which was my six- year- old sister at the time. And she told me to eat dirt. So, I reached down, and I ate dirt and she told me that it-

Jody Kohner: Not figuratively. She told you to eat dirt, the way only an older sibling can do. I love this.

Chaunte Lowe: She was a jerk. No, I'm just playing. I love my sister, but it's just like when I was little, that idea, the embodiment of the Olympics, it was something special and it touched me. It impacted me in an amazing way. And that's why us as employees, family members, that have little eyes that are looking at us, it's so important that the visualization and the things that we allow them to see are things that inspire them, and plant seeds of growth, and life, and health and vision. And so, that's what I want my story to get across to you guys today is that we have a lot of crazy things happening right now, but my story is always one of choosing to pay attention to the good also. We don't have to put our heads in the sand and ignore the rough things that are going on. But, at the same time, what are we feeding our souls every day? That's why I love the B- Well series because it gives us the opportunity to put that positivity with what's going on. So, fast forward a little bit. I am a senior in high school. I stopped eating dirt probably in the sixth grade, but I really find out that my mom was right. This hard work and perseverance thing is really the key to getting to where I want to go in life. And I end up working really, really hard and I get the opportunity to be offered over 150 different scholarships to attend college. And so, I always take it back to that first year in college, I went to my coach and I said," Look, I want to be an Olympian." And we sat down, we made a plan and we worked towards it. And I like to tell that story first because you imagine a child that had the proper tutors, the right education, people that supported her. And we're like," Yes, you can do it." And that wasn't my life at all. We grew up in what was considered the projects, the poorest part of town. I went to school every single day for the free food because we didn't have food at our house. We didn't have lights. Well, sometimes, we had lights. Sometimes, we used the fireplace. We didn't have running water a lot of times, so we had to go across the street to the apartment building with buckets, with our friends watching. Fill the buckets up, so that we could flush the toilet, bathe and drink water. And it was a tough way to grow up. And I remember that I would go to the park and I would watch other kids playing soccer. And I would be sitting on the sidelines and I would beg my mom," Please, please, please, let me play." And she would say," I'm sorry, we can't afford it." So, as they practiced, I would be on the sidelines running along. Trying to stay back, so they didn't know what I was doing, but still watching them play and wishing that I could be included. And one time I went up to the coach and I was like," Hey, you know what? I want to play." And they were like," Well, have your parents come back up here. And if they pay money, you can play." And the team ended up going to China. And we were in elementary school. The team ended up going to China to go play in a tournament. And they lost horribly, which I was happy about. No. I wasn't really happy, but they lost horribly. And I didn't want a hand up, I just wanted an opportunity to be included. And I always think back like, wow, they didn't know that they had a four- time Olympian, world championship gold, silver and bronze medalist standing on the sidelines, just wishing to be included. And so, when I talk to companies, or I talk to parents or I talk to individuals and I talk to them about inclusion. I always say," Look for the child on the sideline that has the skills, the talent and the willingness to do it, and look for ways to include them. It's not that people are looking for a handout. They just want a opportunity." And so, I even take that and apply it to my own children. My daughter wants to be a YouTuber. I want her to be a high jumper. She's 12- years old and she's 5'10 like me. And she has a size 11 foot, so I know she has a ways to go. And I look at her and she doesn't want to do what I want her to do. She wants the opportunity to be a YouTuber. And I'm like," You're going to break mama's heart, but let me start nurturing you in this thing. Let me give you a opportunity to show me. Maybe you do greater things than I've ever done. Maybe you become a newscaster. Maybe you do amazing things that provide a way for you to go to school. But, I have to create the atmosphere of opportunity for you." And so, I fast forward a little bit and I started after elementary school. Times were rough. There was a woman and this woman, she was wealthy. She had a shoe store. Her husband was the sheriff of the town and she closed all that up, sold her shoe store, bought a double- wide trailer in the middle of the hood. And this is a white lady with bleached blonde hair, red lipstick that she wore mostly on her teeth. And she came to the hood, dropped that trailer down and opened up a recreation center. And she made us pay one quarter to go to that recreation center. She was not going to give us a handout. She said,"If you want it, it's there for you. But, you have to go and find the quarter." And every day, I would go and collect five cans. I'd just find them laying on the ground. I would take them to the recycle place, because at the beginning when recycling wasn't that popular, they'd give you some good money for those cans. And I would take that 25 cents every day, and I was able to participate in tap, ballet, jazz, and track and field. And it was my first introduction to organized sports. And I got the opportunity. And I was there. As soon as they opened in the morning at 7: 00 AM, I was there. Till they closed at 10 o'clock at night, I was there. During the school day, I would go to school. I wouldn't go home after school, I'd go with my backpack and go to the recreation center. And that is when I developed the skills that ended up putting me in the position to being able to earn a scholarship. And then, now I'm sitting here, my sophomore year in college. It's the Olympic trials. And they line all the ladies up and they say their accolades. So, they have this one woman, she was in her Asics gear." Amy Acuff, American record holder. Blah, blah, blah." And the crowd's going wild," Yay. Go Amy." And then, there's another woman on the other side of me and they say," Tisha Waller, indoor American record holder, the women's high jump." And her mom was," That's my baby." And the crowd goes wild. And she had already been an Olympian. And then, they get to me and they're like," Oh, here's Chaunte Howard," because it was Howard at the time. I know it's weird, high jumper changing their name to Lowe. It took me years, I have a whole complex about it. But, they say my name and they're like," Oh, here's Chaunte." And a couple of people are like," Oh, how cute. This little college girl." And little did they know, that because I had already had my opportunity, I was ready to seize that moment. I stood up at my mark. I bounced a little bit like you see the high jumpers do, leaned back, and I ran and jumped over the bar. And I cleared it again, and again, and again and again until I made that Olympic team. And I beat all the people that were paid to do what I was doing.

Jody Kohner: And the crowd goes wild.

Chaunte Lowe: Oh, they knew my name after that. They knew it. And so, I got to go to the Olympics and this is the part where I like to talk about diversity. I go to the Olympics and I see tens of thousands of people, different people. I see a man. I saw Yao Ming at my second Olympics. I saw, I don't know, it was one of the Olympians. They all run together when you go to so many. No, I'm just playing. But, I saw a Yao Ming and his cap was bigger than my face. He probably stood one or two feet taller than me. And I'm sitting here and looking like," Wow. That's what an Olympian looks like." And I exchanged pins with him and I turned around, and then I saw Gabby Douglas, I think it was. And she went to my ribs and she's tiny. And then, I see the Chinese team of gymnast walk past and they're tiny. And I was like," So, that's what an Olympian looks like." And then, I see Venus and Serena outside of the food court. And I'm like," Well, they're just a little bit bigger than me, so that's what an Olympian looks like." And I realized that there was such diversity and beauty in the Olympic Village that no one person was the same. That if you think about it as a body, there was a eye. There was a eyebrow. There was a mouth. There was a elbow. There was a hand. There was a finger. There was a foot. Everybody had their different part to play. And what made them unique and special is they discovered what part of the body they were, and they fine- tuned it, developed it and perfected it to the point where they were the best at what they did. But, nobody's going to come and just watch Yao Ming do some dunks all by himself. Nobody's going to. The media coverage isn't going to be around that. People are not going to travel all across the world just to watch Yao Ming by yourself. Nobody's going to watch just Gabby by herself. Nobody's going to watch me compete by myself. And as much as we love Serena, I love her, but as much as we love her, I do not want to see her play tennis by herself. What makes it beautiful is that everybody comes together and everybody plays their part. And we get to watch the entire thing as a whole. And that's what's important in our workplace, in our personal lives and in our families, that we understand, first, who we are, what part of the body we play. I get to watch the protests and everything, but that's not the part of the body that I'm playing. What I play is I get to use my voice. I get to come and talk to people like you. And I get to say what's in my heart or be the voice for the people. I get to be a mouth, but somebody else might be a fist and it's okay. And it's like I love the fact that here in our country, or here in this world, we all are playing a huge part in making sure that our world is safe from COVID- 19. And our world is looking at racial injustices and trying to fight back, using what we have, what platform we have. So, the takeaways that I want you guys to get from my talk today is look for opportunities to find that child on the sideline. Look for people that want to be included, but are not, and try to find ways to create opportunities for them. The next part is I want you to create nurturing environments that make opportunities for those people. Somebody be that [ Vicki Jeff 00:00:16:03] coach, that lady with the lipstick on her teeth. Be that for somebody. And the third thing, it comes in three parts. Know what part of the body that you are, appreciate the part of the body that other people are and find a way to make that body work together to do something beautiful that brings the world together. And that's my talk, y'all.

Jody Kohner: Oh my God, so much shazam. I love your energy. I just can't think of a more important message right now. To be able to really understand the role that we can all play, and to have that level of optimism and energy and how we approach it, it's so welcoming. Thank you so much for joining us.

Chaunte Lowe: Thank you.

Jody Kohner: I have a question for you, kind of around this place that we've found ourselves in, between all of the layers of chaos. It's so much. There's a pandemic. There's civil injustice. There's a financial crisis. And something that has always really impressed me and that I've always been very inquisitive about with athletes is the level of discipline. And the role that discipline can play in getting through, and over, and beyond and learning from obstacles. Because I think as we've been in all of these different phases, we've been in lockdown mode. We've been in now what are the rules? Do I wear a mask? Do I not wear a mask? Can I have my kids have play dates? Can they not? But, having some level of a through- line of normalcy of discipline, it can be the only thing you can control. I'm super interested to just hear you from breast cancer to gold metals to being a voice of diversity and inclusion, what kind of discipline are you bringing into your day- to- day, and how is that kind of sustaining you and fueling you?

Chaunte Lowe: Yeah. So, it's funny that everybody that's going through this now, I've been going through it for about a year. So, I had a double mastectomy. I started chemotherapy maybe in August. And so, I had it for about five months in the fall. So, I was already walking around with a mask, trying to find that new level of normal, because I'd decided to train for the Olympics while I was going through chemotherapy, so just trying to navigate through that. And then, COVID-19 hit, so I delayed my birthday. I had a celebratory cruise, the best place to be on, during COVID-19.

Jody Kohner: Oh my God. Hit pause on that one. Okay.

Chaunte Lowe: So, actually I got off the cruise on March 7th, so you can understand how literally the next cruise, somebody got COVID-19. So, it's like, at first, you want to panic, but every athlete knows that if you know the problem, you can find a solution to it. So, the first and most important thing is identifying what the problem is. So, first thing, the gym closed. I'm like," Oh God, how am I going to train?" So, the gym closed and I was like," Well, maybe I'm not in that group. Maybe I could train in the park." Well, now the parks are closed. Well, maybe I could train on the concrete. Well, that hurts my knees. Maybe I could train on the grass in my backyard. And it's like you think about every situation that could go wrong and find a solution to it. So, if you don't, they always say," Only focus on what could go right." That's not going to benefit you. Athletes will look at every situation that could go wrong. So, for instance, when I go to London, the London Olympics, it rains a lot, but I want to compete and do well there. So, I've learned that if I take plastic bags, take the insole out of my shoe, put the insole on the bottom of my foot, put the plastic bag over it, and then put my shoe over the plastic bag, my feet will stay warm and dry the entire competition. And it's going through the motions. Well, if I don't want to get sick, I might look dumb wearing a mask, but what's going to happen if I do wear a mask? I can go to the store, get what I need, come back home and feel more confident that I'm not sick. Where there might be a higher risk if I decide not to wear it.

Jody Kohner: That's great. So, it's kind of finding those new norms, and then really working through the problem and sticking with it. And then, persevering through it.

Chaunte Lowe: Yeah.

Jody Kohner: That's great. I mean, I know that's been a big deal for me through this whole situation is like I am not going to eat out my pantry every day. I'm not going to sit with a chair and empty it out. I am going to implement some sort of rules of the road here, so that I don't come out the other side much unhealthier than I needed to be. Okay. Emma, I would love to hear from you. Thank you so much for joining us again. In case you missed the beginning of the call, Emma Richards is our global growth chair of BOLDforce. And she is joining me today as our guest moderator. So, do you have some questions, Emma, that you'd like to share with Chaunte?

Emma Richards: I do, so thank you for having me. So, Chaunte, I'd love to continue on that thread that you were talking about in terms of your breast cancer diagnosis and how that affected you. You tell the story of when you were diagnosed in terms of"I'm going to fight." When you think about equality and inclusion, do you take that same energy into that fight as well?

Chaunte Lowe: Absolutely. You always take the fight with the end goal in mind. If you're fighting to just be fighting, what's the point? But, when I had my breast cancer diagnosis, I was fighting for my kids. My first thought was," Oh my gosh, they're going to grow up without me." And it just broke my heart. I couldn't imagine it. But, the end result of fighting is I get to live. I'm going to watch my daughter walk down the aisle. I'm going to see my son have kids. And so, when we have this type of fight for social injustice, it's not just a fight of they're wrong, who cares? At the end of the day, whoever's wrong or right, what's the end result that we want? And that's what you fight for.

Jody Kohner: I love that. I just wrote that down," Always take the fight with the end goal in mind." That is really powerful.

Chaunte Lowe: Yeah, always. I cry and throw up when I worked out because the end goal is getting to the Olympic stage again. Being able to have a platform where I could talk about breast cancer risks and the fact that it impacts African- Americans more than the white counterparts. We die of it 40% more than white counterparts. And people don't know that. I was 34 when I was diagnosed. And when I was in chemotherapy, there was a 21- year- old with stage three cancer. And it's happening more and more. The risk for women is one in eight in your life. And so, because of that, I am fighting and pushing through with that end goal in mind that I want to make sure women hear it and it's not them. It's not them, their sister or their daughter.

Emma Richards: Thank you so much for that. And I completely agree with Jody, that fight with the end goal in mind, that should be something we should all definitely [crosstalk 00: 23: 11 ].

Jody Kohner: Right. That needs to be big banners.

Emma Richards: Exactly.

Jody Kohner: You and I, we're redecorating Salesforce after this.

Emma Richards: Let's do it.

Jody Kohner: Lots of banners.

Emma Richards: One question I also really wanted to ask you, so naturally, the whole world is in a bit of a state of turmoil for various reasons. And right at the beginning, you talked about your four- year- old self. And I love the fact that you took the story right back to your four- year- old self. I could just imagine. if you could, right now, as you are, but kind of go back in time, strangely, and then talk to your four- year- old self. What were the few key messages that you'd give your four- year- old self? That's a big question, I apologize.

Chaunte Lowe: No, it's good. And I was thinking about this, is that your tears will be wiped away one day. And I think that that's like not knowing because right after four years old, everything got hard. And that's when my mom experienced the domestic violence. And I spent a lot of time thinking that I was an island, that I was by myself, and crying and not really understanding that as life went on, there was going to be different people that stepped into my life and walked around, that surrounding me and supporting me. So, I think I would just like my childhood self and say," You were not going to be alone for long and this journey will be well worth it."

Emma Richards: Very Beautiful. And I completely identify with the idea of being an island. I think minorities spend a lot of time being islands. It's something that we do a lot of time, so I completely resonate. Thank you so much.

Chaunte Lowe: Thank you for having me.

Jody Kohner: It's so great to have you here.

Emma Richards: It really is.

Jody Kohner: It's really great to have you here. So, if you are the voice, you're the voice right now. You're the voice of the body. What else are you doing to kind of be that voice and to be out there? Tell me about kind of how you're spending your time, and how we can support you, and follow you and how can we get on the Chaunte train?

Chaunte Lowe: Yes. So, I love talking about inspiration. I think that resiliency is something that people are really struggling with now. I've noticed through the Zoom calls that I've been on, people's countenance is just starting to slowly get sadder and sadder. And I feel like people need something positive and I want to be that voice of positivity. So, I love to make people laugh and I love to share stories that they could say," Wow. If she could do it, why can't I?" And so, you can follow me on social media. I'm on Instagram. I have a black square right now, but I'm going to be posting some more content. And I just have this wacky, crazy life. Anybody who wants to reach out and definitely is feeling kind of lonely or whatever, they can reach out to me. And I'm going to actually start Airbnb experiences for Olympians. So, basically, it's a opportunity to do some individual goal setting. I'm going to put that on there and I'm going to do a lesson on resiliency. So more so than just getting you to feel the warm bubblies, I want to give you some tangible steps that you could take on your day- to- day life to be able to overcome this pandemic and these feelings that you maybe having.

Jody Kohner: As you figure that out, you call me and come right back onto this show. We will give you the microphone again. And you can kind of walk us through what you're thinking about and what you want people doing.

Chaunte Lowe: Oh, yeah. I would love that because, to be honest with you, probably the saddest and scariest time of my life was being told," You have breast cancer." And I was sad for literally 20 minutes, that was it, because I figured out that I've been through a lot of rough things in my life, but I know that exercise makes me feel good. I know that eating right makes me feel good. I know that laughing makes me feel great. And honestly, I had to cut all ties with people that were negative, even if they love me and they want to talk about," Oh, I just want to tell you that my great aunt Lucy died." I'm like," Okay, bye, got to go because I'm trying to live." And it's not disrespect, it's just choosing positivity and choosing to feed what you're going to feed yourself. And for me, it had to be positivity. So, I watch the news once a week right now. I will not watch it every day because if I did, I'd be like this.

Jody Kohner: Your message is very much resonating with me. And I agree. I'm watching energy dip on Zoom calls. I'm watching optimism decline. I'm watching exhaustion set in. I'm watching frustration rise. I'm watching a sense of just despondence settle in. And I think going back to your earlier words about taking a fight with an end goal in mind, then the fight is really about our attitude and our mindset. And to be happy, and to be joyous and to find joy in our existence. Man, if I could get out a big set of pompoms and be your biggest cheerleader right now, I would. Thank you.

Chaunte Lowe: Come to Tokyo.

Jody Kohner: Okay. Thank you. My goodness. Thank you for joining us today. This has been a breath of fresh air and I really look forward to having you on the show again. So, thank you very much. Thank you, Emma. Thank you for hanging in there with us at the end of your day and dialing in, it was a joy to get to meet you as well.

Emma Richards: Thank you.

Jody Kohner: So, everyone be happy, be well and we'll see you back here again soon.

Michael Rivo: That was the Olympian Chaunte Lowe with Jody Kohner, reminding us how important it is to stay focused in the face of adversity. I'm Michael Rivo from Salesforce studios. Thanks for joining us today.