Standing Out From The Crowd

What does it really take to stand out in today’s world? We’re not just talking about athletes, but about anyone chasing big goals and trying to build a life they’re proud of. Today on Rock Stars, we explore how to separate yourself from the crowd and why we think it’s easier than ever to do this. We dive into how small actions, like following through on your word, can set you apart and build your confidence and reputation in ways many people miss.

We also get into passion, work ethic, and whether it’s possible to chase multiple dreams at once. From balancing law and elite curling to raising a family while building our careers, we reflect on the mindset required to pursue something extraordinary and why consistently doing hard things might be the real advantage. If you’ve ever wondered, “why not you?” make sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave us a comment with your biggest takeaways from today’s episode!

Instagram: @Rockstarscurl // Jennifer: @‌jjonescurl // Brent: @‌brent.laing.99
Facebook: Jennifer Jones // Official Team Jennifer Jones
Twitter X: RockStarsCurl //Jennifer & @‌jjonescurl // Brent: @‌blaing99
Youtube: @‌RockStarsJonesLaing
LinkedIn: Brent Laing LinkedIn

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Rockstars, the podcast where high performance meets real life.

SPEAKER_02 0:05

I'm Brent Lang, joined by my wife, Jennifer Jones, and this is where we talk about rocks, rings, and everything in between.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

It's about chasing dreams and asking, why not me?

SPEAKER_02 0:14

And figuring out how to keep going when things get hard or hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Sometimes it's just us talking curling, business, family, and parenting.

SPEAKER_02 0:23

Sometimes it's bigger conversations about success, pressure, and believing that anything is possible.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

We keep it honest, uplifting, and fun.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

We might even make you laugh.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Because this is about the wins, the losses, and real life in between. Rocks, rings, real life.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

This is Rockstars.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Welcome back to Rockstars. Rocks, Rings, and Real Life, the podcast where a couple of dream chasers open up about chasing big goals, living in the moment, navigating life's highs and lows, and figuring out also what comes next together. I'm Olympic champion Jennifer Jones, and as always, I'm joined by my husband and Olympian Brent Lang. Brent, what are we going to dive into on today's episode?

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Well, we're going to do a couple of different things. We're going to talk a little bit, a little bit about business, a little bit about sport, a little bit about just being a good human today. And we're going to talk about separating yourself from the crowd in the world and what it takes to make that happen and why I think, and we'll see if you agree, it might be easier than ever to do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

I think I may agree. But I love this and I can't wait to get into it. But before we jump in, just a quick shout out to our listeners. If you're loving the show, please hit that subscribe button and leave us a review. And also follow us on our socials at Rockstars Curl on Insta and X at BLang99 on X and at J. JonesCurl on Insta. It truly does mean the world to us. Okay, Brian, can you please elaborate on what we're talking about today? So, what do you mean separate yourself from the crowd in today's world? And how could it possibly be easier than ever?

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Well, I I think what I mean is be the best at what you do. I mean, becoming world class in whatever it is that you're chasing. And I'm not just going to talk about that, but I'll because I also mean just standing out from the crowd in your job. You know, say you're a 15, 18, 20-year-old kid and you're applying for a job. How do you stand out in the crowd? And I will kind of break the news that this is about some personal experiences I've had in the business, but we'll get into that lately, which has kind of spurred this topic. But yeah, how do you separate yourself from the crowd? People talk about keys to success in life, and I think there are many, but the foundation of it, foundation of it all for me has to start with do what you say you're gonna do and do it to the absolute best of your ability every single time. I I love a saying. I mean, you know I like quotes, and one of them is how I do one thing is how I do everything. So if every situation you walk into, whether it's a relationship, whether it's the bathroom at work, when you leave, if that situation is better than when you got there, how popular do you think you're gonna be as a human? I think you're gonna be pretty popular.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

I've never even heard you talk about that before.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

Well, I talk about it at work all the time. Ask the guys at work, I say it every single day. And if I walk into the bathroom and it looks terrible, I ask who was in here last. Because I don't like cleaning toilets, but I'll do it because I want to set that example at work and I think it's the same at home or on your team or whatever. But if you don't do what you say you're gonna do, how are you ever gonna build any self-confidence in life? If you don't believe in yourself, because you can't fool yourself. If I promise I'm gonna do something and I don't do it, and we do it every day, lots of people do it every day, I'm gonna get in better shape, and then I never do it. The next time I say it, I know I'm lying to myself. But if you can't do it even for other people, for a job, for a sports team, for whatever, how are you gonna build confidence in your life? And like I said, this is coming from some personal frustration uh with people recently in our hiring process at work. Of course, our business is weed man, a mosquito hero, and Barry. That's a selfless plug. Barry and Collingwood and Collingwood. I'm good, you know, I'm I'm happy to promote our business. And so my rant is, and this might be a rhetorical question because I need to get it all out, okay? You're gonna have to give me a couple minutes here to start, but what about treating people the way you want to be treated? You know, the golden rule, isn't that what that's called? Whether you're religious or not, I don't I don't really care. Is doesn't that make some sense? You know, time is our most valuable asset. You can't replace time, there's no question about it. It's the one thing that we can't make more of, as far as I know. I mean, some people think they can. Well, they're kids. And when we were kids, we thought we were never gonna be this old either. So that's a different conversation. But so with that in mind, though, conduct yourself accordingly. Don't waste other people's time, whether they're strangers or not, find a way to add value to their life, do something nice for them for no other reason other than you want to make their life better. Have we totally gone to a world where what's in it for me is the only question we ever ask our ask ourselves. You know, Jen, could you imagine? I had some no-shows, if you don't already know, I had some interviews set for today. And uh, we had five interviews set, and I was training one of our guys who's been with us a couple of years, and he's getting more responsibility, one of which is you know, managing our technician team, the people who actually do the work. And we had five interviews that he had set up for us. Two of them showed up, three of them we never heard from. Could you imagine, Jen, being from our generation, the golden generation? Can we call ourselves that? We can call ourselves whatever we want. Nobody else is here. But could you imagine agreeing to do an interview for a job, any job, and just not showing up and never contacting those people again? And we reached out to these people just to make sure they're okay, knowing damn well they just no-showed and they know they're no-showing, but could you imagine doing that?

SPEAKER_00 5:42

No, I would never sleep. Like I just couldn't, I could never let anybody down. That's actually one of my things.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

I think Oh, sorry, they can't see my eyes rolling. I don't let you down.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Come on. No, and I couldn't if I say I'm gonna do something, I 1000% do it. I sometimes almost take on too much and then I'm you know stuck because I've said I'm gonna do a bunch of things, but I'll definitely get it done. But I could never imagine no showing. However, saying that, I like about a year ago, I missed uh a meeting for an event that I was hosting. It was kind of just to go over the event and somebody else has set up the meeting, but it went in my calendar in a different time zone because I was tricky. I was not I was traveling, and so I tried to call into the meeting, but I was significantly late because of the time difference. And I was just beside myself. I I I literally could not sleep that night. I was full of like just guilty feelings. I contacted both the client and the individual who set set up the meeting. I apologized immensely. I was like, I'll do anything to make this up to you. I apologize for wasting your time. This is not me. So that is that is my personality. I just couldn't imagine treating somebody with so much disrespect on purpose. Like, and all it all it is, and but even just texting, I do that's another topic. But I have a trouble that we can't just pick up the phone and have a conversation as well. And you just text.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

But that's become a thing like in with younger kids where they all they're almost offended when you call them. It's like, why would you call me? And I I don't fully understand it, and I'm showing my age, but uh yeah, the phones still make calls, and that's still the fastest, most efficient way of communicating. So texting back and forth, like to have a conversation via text that we just had, which is probably four or five minutes, would take us half the day.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

No, I know I'm text. Yeah, and I'll even when I pick up the phone and call somebody, I'm like, I know I'm old school, but I'm gonna call because I just find it easier, and I do. Like I find it much more efficient to get through it. I love that personal connection. I feel like you get to know that person a lot better just over the phone and not texting, but maybe that's why one of my favorite things is how busy everybody is right now, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:47

Everybody's so busy. Maybe we're so busy because we take five-minute phone conversations and turn them into two-hour text conversations.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Yeah, where you where you're so distracted because you're just trying to, you're going back and forth. And I know people will voice text and all that, but it takes a like, and then you have to wait for a reply, and you just can't hash it out back and forth on the phone. Like, I just I just don't understand if I'm being watched. Is it so? But then I never wanted to be that person who is older, but and I know that shows my age, but it just doesn't seem like a great way to move in society. Like, I feel like you still need to be able to have those conversations.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Right. And what I'm going back to my original question, though, is it easier than ever to stand out in a crowd? What I'm saying, and you know, I I know we're uh we're hiring for Weedman a Mosquito Hero, so we're not getting PhDs necessarily to put in a whole bunch of time and effort and gone through the whole schooling and stuff, but to separate yourself in a lot of ways, you just have to do what you say you're gonna do and show up where you're supposed to be and don't be late. Don't, you know, text five minutes before, five minutes after the interview to say, Oh, by the way, this is why I'm late. It's like, yeah, great first impression. I I would have been just like you, I would have been sick to my stomach. Like, I still to this day, and I know you know this about me, I can't stand being late. No, and I think that comes from a guy named George, my dad. And growing up, it was like if you're on time, you're 10 minutes late. Like if you're supposed to be there at five and you're there at five, you're 10 minutes late. Like I would rather, and this goes back to make people's lives better, and I can I'll make fun of Craig Savile after this, one of my best friends, is I would rather wait for people than have them wait for me because when making people wait for me makes me feel like the most selfish person in the world. And I'm not saying you are Craig, and I know you're listening, I hope you're listening. But Craig had it made in the shade. He's like, I've never wasted a second in my life waiting for people. I show up and everybody's ready to go. It's like, yeah, he's winning, but I couldn't, I just I'm not built that way.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

See, and then I'm also on the other side of that in the sense that I don't like it when people come early.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

Well, I'm not gonna, if I'm somewhere early, I would just sit in my car. Like if I'm 10 minutes early for an interview, I'm gonna make sure I would say my hair's ready, but my hair's just never ready. Uh, you know, I'm I'm looking the way I want, that I don't have anything in my teeth, and that I go over my you know, maybe I have a couple of notes or I've gone over my resume, reminded myself of this company, all the things you're supposed to do for an interview. And then a couple minutes before I'm gonna go in.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

A couple minutes is okay. But you know, when you're hosting people for dinner, I've had somebody show up an hour early and I am not ready.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

You gotta be a real good friend to do that. Like it better be like Craig, or it better be somebody that's almost welcome to just walk in the And it actually causes me stress.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

I've seen it. I've seen it because I like things to be just so and you know, like have the table set or just have the food ready, or and I don't usually get myself ready until after I've done all the kind of that because I want to be, you know, freshen up. And so they'll show up and my hair's in a bun.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

And oh geez. And you can't let people see you like that. What are they gonna think of you?

SPEAKER_00 10:38

So yeah, that actually stresses me out a little bit. But like for an interview, or if I'm going somewhere, I would always be, yeah, five to ten minutes early.

SPEAKER_02 10:46

Yeah, just be ready, not not have them wait or worry, you know, wonder if you're coming.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Traffic, you never know if there's bad traffic. Imagine.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

I mean, I grew up in Meeford, so there wasn't any traffic, but it's okay to be, and I find, and it's I kind of get a chuckle out of it now, is when I think I'm running late, I still get there early. Like I'm still five minutes ahead of being where I'm supposed to, because I would never plan to be there just in time because I don't want people waiting for me when we've agreed to do something at a certain time. But I I still, and I think I was alluding to this earlier, I still have some, some of my worst, and they're not nightmares, but some of my worst dreams are that I'm I'm late for a curling game. Like I've had that recurring dream at a lot of times where it's a big game and I'm late and I am so rattled that I don't almost don't even want to go. But do you think do you think it's uh I I hate to be the old people, like you've said, do you think it's a difference in is it a cultural change in, you know, we're talking about Canada where we live, where those expectations like to set an appointment and just not show up, is that okay?

SPEAKER_00 11:48

I I think it's becoming okay, and I don't I don't like it. I don't agree with it. I don't think it's okay, but it's just becoming you know, you just say, Oh, I'm just like I don't even That makes no sense to me, but I I'm not saying you're wrong. Well, I don't even think kids get in trouble for being late at school anymore.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Well, kids can't get in trouble for that. That's a whole other podcast.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

No, but I know, but we're this is so you you can be late for school, you can hand in assignments late, you can do everything. So what are we training? Like I think it's just becoming ingrained.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Goes back to my point. It is easier than ever to stick out from the crowd. All you have to do is what you say you were gonna do. And but further than that, I I did some interviews with two people that showed up. Um, a lot of my least favorite kind of lines of today, you know, whatever sayings, whatever you want to say, mantras of today came up. One of them I was asking about work, and we're a seasonal company, you know, we work long hours, all weather, and this person had no problem with any of that. But then they at one point said, But you know, any longer than a 10-hour shift, which I recognize as a long shift, what we do, it's tiring, it's physical work. We we try and talk people out of it and tell them how hard it is because we know it's physical. We don't charge for the weight loss or the extra strength you gain. That's free. I'm kidding. But people do get in better shape. It's you're walking 20,000 steps a day and lifting things, and anyway, but they went on to say anything over 10 hours, like my main focus is a work-life balance. And if you were there, you would have known, well, this person's not getting hired. They just pissed Brent off whether he's gonna tell them or not, because I I don't really believe I've never believed in a work-life balance. I mean, if you're doing things you want to do and you're you have goals, then it's not about that. I I get, and I'm not saying I don't want to hang out with my family or my kids. I I think it's been very clear that that's not the case. But let me ask you, Jen, have you ever met somebody who is, you know, world leading, world class in what they do, or exceptional, really elite in anything, whether it's a spelling bee, the best speller in the world, I don't care what it is, I'm not sure why that came to my mind. But have you ever heard any of those people talk about work-life balance being their number one goal in life?

SPEAKER_00 13:53

No. No. And you know, we've I'm actually out often asked this question. And for me, it's always just being you're following your passion, you're doing what you love to do, and you just try to be present in what you're doing. Somebody said to me a very long time ago, I don't look at it like work-life balance because you almost feel like you're failing every day, because nothing is ever in balance. You're either at work, you're here, you're you're there, you're doing whatever you're doing. They looked at it more like harmony. You just want to find that harmony that works for you. And but if you're trying to really achieve something great or you're working hard, you're trying to move up the ladder, you're you're trying to develop a career, it's about putting 150% effort in and and but loving what you're doing, like really wanting to succeed and exceed expectations. And, you know, that I came from a world where I was an articling student, so you you kind of just you had to grind it out and work that way. And I'm not saying that that's always the best. I'm not saying that that's the best, but that's what I wanted. I enjoyed working hard. I felt like I was really trying to, you know, impress the people around me, set really high expectations of myself so that I could be successful in what I was doing. And the same would go for curling. I I always said if we outwork everybody, if we outwork everybody, we will be able to beat them. And I believe that that's why we had success, is because I think we outworked most of the teams, if not all of them.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

Yeah, I would couldn't agree more. And do you think, and I didn't go through articling, I'm not a lawyer by any means, do you think that that's designed that way on purpose? That it's it's a known part of being a lawyer is you get worked way over a reasonable amount of hours, and you have to, you kind of have to get through that to get to the other side. Do you think that that helped you in your curling, knowing that, you know, not overdoing it, but I I gotta do what I gotta do to get to where I want to go. And to to become a lawyer, I have to go through this, I have to do all the grunt work, I have to work crazy hours, I have to work through the nights eating saltine crackers, I've heard the stories. I have to study in the bathtub while I'm on the road curling to get my my law degree because I've decided that this is what I want to do. So is that has that helped you in other parts of your life?

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Oh, for sure it has. It's just about, you know, finding ways. Like I never felt like it was a sacrifice. I never felt sorry for myself. I never felt like it was, you know, too high of an expectation. I had goals. I had lofty goals that I wanted to achieve, and I was willing to do what it took to achieve those goals. And yeah, I guess there's sacrifices along the way, but not I mean, you sacrifice maybe some loafing around the couch time, you know? You don't have the you don't have that ability to maybe do nothing on a Sunday because your your days are full, and maybe that will work for some people and maybe it won't work for others. But for me, in order to be successful and have the life that I wanted to have, I knew that loafing around on Sunday was not gonna happen from for a few years, and I was okay with that.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Yeah, and I'm nothing against people who say, I want to make just enough money so that I can watch the football game on Sundays and I can take Jimmy to the you know baseball game on on Saturday. And I'm not I'm not saying that. I'm just saying for those people who say, I want to do something extraordinary, I want to do something out of the out of the ordinary, then yeah, it's gonna it's gonna take some some different kinds of uh you know of of effort. And do you think all that hard work, is that why you were so relentless in tracking me down? Did you learn that from being a lawyer? Is that why you didn't give up after all the no's I gave you in the beginning? Oh yeah, that was it. Oh, was it? Oh good. At least it's finally out there.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Um not exactly how I remember it.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

It's not exactly how it happens, so that makes sense. But we've talked, you know, not every podcast is going to come back to curling, but this one will come back to curling at least for a second. Another question I wanted to ask you, Jen, is you know, I I think it's fair, first question, I guess. Is it fair to say that in a lot of curling programs around the world, you know, the high performance programs, that one of the opportunities identified by these associations and these programs is that we would like more, you know, young talent coming up through the talent, you know, pipeline. Is it is that fair to say, first of all?

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Don't say no because I have a follow-up question.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

You know, for sure it is. Uh we're trying, and what we've seen, I mean, we can talk about Canada, but in other programs around the world as well. There's just not that depth. You have these young, great players that all of a sudden just vanish and you don't ever hear from them again. And and so then the next generation, like who is gonna be that next Rachel Holman? Who is gonna be the next Brad Jacobs? We're not sure.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

No, we're not sure. And so if that's true, is it possible that that that it could be related to the idea that so many people are choosing between a career and chasing curling greatness? I mean, we hear a lot of really highly talented people stepping away to say I'm chasing other life goals. So obviously that's true, at least in some way, because that's what everybody says. You know, I'm I'm you know, I'm gonna go become this, or I'm I wanna, you know, I I gotta do my articling, I gotta go, I have a co-op I have to do, my new job won't allow me the time off, whatever it happens to be. So if that's the case, you know, is this me being old? Is it still possible to do what Jennifer Jones did and become a lawyer and become an elite level curler? Is it still possible?

SPEAKER_00 19:07

1000%. Like I I think anything is possible. I do. I I if you surround yourself with great people and you believe in yourself and you you figure out a plan, you can do anything and you can figure out how to manage both things or three things or ten things or whatever it may be.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

Yeah, even if it means, you know, studying in the bathtub while your roommate sleeps. Yeah. When you're on the road.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Even if it means that, even if it's going to talk to professors and figuring out ways. I also worked. I I had to, you know, I needed money. So I I mean I worked at McDonald's. I would go and and open or close the store so that I could balance that with I hate using the word balance, sorry, like manage that with trying to curl at a very high level and have a successful career. And so yeah, I I definitely think it's possible, but it's just a question of having that drive and the desire to go through all of those hoops to get there and and figuring out a way, figuring out a plan. And and the only one who can figure out that plan is you. You can't rely on somebody else. You can't rely on the high performance center to or the directors or the coaches to figure out your plan for you. You are the one that have to take charge in your life and find a plan that will work so that you can achieve your goals. You're the only one who's gonna advocate for yourself. Yes, those people could help you, but you need to go in there with a plan, advocate for it, find a way and figure out a way to make all of your dreams come true. So I yes, I do think it's possible.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

Yeah, I knew you were gonna say that. That's why I asked, because I agree. So I, you know, some of my questions are leading down a road here, but I I 1000% agree that yeah, if you decide that you want to do something, it's going to require the hard work and things. And one of the things I would say is, well, two things. First is most high performing people, if you ask them if they're doing enough, the answer will be no.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

Well, yeah, and even even us, I feel like we could be doing more. And sometimes you'll shake your head at me. You're actually really good grounder at that. Like, not to say that, but because I'm always like, well, there's always more we can do. Like there's always something more that we could do to help us be successful, to be happier, to do something more for the kids, to that there's always like if you can't really just stay status quo. You always have to try to evolve and do something different.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

Yeah, totally, totally true. You you think anything is possible, and I I used to think I thought that, and then I met you, and I think that I'm I believe that more than most, but maybe not quite as much as as you. I do believe that there are limited things and that you have, you know, you have to focus on a certain number of things. And I'm also not capable of as much as you are. I I would say because I never challenged myself as you know, as much as you did. And that's what I my point was in the beginning was from a young age, you know, through your teens and into university and stuff, you decided you were gonna do both. And the more people told you you couldn't, the more you would were determined to do it. I still know that if I really want you to do something, I just have to tell you you can't do it. It's true. But and and you know, I did that to a certain extent, just not not compared to you, but We always want to fix the blame, right? Not the problem. So we've identified a problem. Like who's to blame? And I'll say it, and I I think it goes back to one of your comments is you can't really at school, you can't really get in trouble. You can turn things in late. You know, cell phones are allowed in some schools. Like that blows my mind. And you know, headphones are allowed in because it's good for your mental health or whatever it happens to be. And I all of these things are leading to softer people, like people who are capable of doing less and who are the are really quick to put their hand up and say, that's not fair to ask me to do so much, or that's not fair to expect me to do so much. Or yeah, like you said, I need more help. I need more money from the national team center if I'm a curler. And it's like, yes, that's not wrong. But maybe start to take a little bit more ownership in you're responsible for your life and and you're capable of doing whatever it is you want to do. Not saying it's going to be easy, it's actually going to be the opposite. The more hard things you do, the more you're going to thank yourself down the road and realize you became somebody like Jen and and less like the three people who didn't show up for my interview today, because when you were born and they were born, you had different, slightly different opportunities. But at some point, you didn't come from a silver spoon, you didn't come, nothing was handed to you.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

So that's you know, it's a a story that is repeatable, is is and I I do think for me, like even growing up, I remember my dad lot got laid off. It was during one of the recessions, right? And I'll never forget that feeling and wanting to make sure that I was always in control. Um, you know, I saw the look in my dad's eyes, and it didn't last for very long, but it was just this moment in time where things were a little bit tight. And so I wanted to always make sure that I was self-reliant. And so that was really important to me from a very young age. So I did have lofty goals, I did set really high expectations of myself. But even going back, and as Brent would say, like I never handed an assignment late because guess what? You couldn't. If you didn't if you handed an assignment late, they didn't accept it. You got zero, you caught a zero. And if you were late for class, guess what? You didn't get to go to class. And what what happened? You had to go to the princess's office. And if you were late more than a couple of times, you were suspended. Like there was some pretty lofty That's lofty. No, no, like um consequences is what I was gonna say to being, in my opinion, disrespectful, right? And I remember I lived actually quite far from the school, like it was on the outer boundary and from being bus. So it was probably about a 20-25 minute walk. But sometimes we'd go home for lunch, which was kind of silly because we only had an hour for lunch. So you'd have 10 minutes at home. I remember hoofing it, like running the hundred meter dash, making sure that I wasn't late because of the consequences and and just you know, putting those expectations on yourself. And we've tried to instill that in the kids. Um, if we make a commitment, we stick by our commitment. And if you don't feel like going to do something, well, we'll take that into account before we sign you up for the next time. But we've committed and we are going, and that is how we roll. Um we, you know, there's no asking for an extension on things, you get things done. Like we'll go on a holiday. Um, or the kids, let's say they came to watch the Scotties and they were gonna miss some school. Like most of our holidays are when school's not on, but they're gonna miss some school. We don't even have to ask. Both the girls will go and ask their teachers what they're gonna miss at school, and they'll bring that homework with them to make sure that they're not behind when they get back. And that's not something that we've we don't do it, they do it.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

Right. And and they've had some really good teachers along the way, and you know, that's that's helpful as well. But so back to the idea of you know, becoming world-class, world leading, what is the separator between making it and not making it? It could it be something as simple as the idea that obsession beats talent every single time? Like I've heard a lot of people say, well, that person's just naturally gifted in whatever it is, or that person's naturally gifted in this in sports, in you know, academia, whatever it happens to be. Could it be that Jennifer Jones was just a little bit more obsessed with her goals than pick somebody else who had the same goals but didn't follow through? Is that possible?

SPEAKER_00 26:10

Yeah, definitely it's possible. You did like I call it passion or just this desire, used to tell me I was driven.

SPEAKER_02 26:16

And I never liked that word because I thought I don't I thought I was confident when we first met, it's a little quick side story. I used to say you're quite intimidating because you are so successful and you know you you carry such a big presence on the ice. And I'd never met you before, so I was like, there's a girl who knows what she wants, she knows how to lead her team. She's she's you know, the bigger the moment, the better she gets. It was always fun to watch you curl. You were one of the first female skips that wanted to throw corner guards and did all those things, so that was entertaining. But yeah, when I when we were first continental cup teammates and um spent a little time together, I remember saying to you, Yeah, you seem like one of the most driven people I've ever met. And you were like offended. I'm like, I'm not very good at complimenting this uh this lady. So I don't know what to say next, but I think I probably said, I gotta go.

SPEAKER_00 27:02

Yeah, I I I don't know why I that's a compliment.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

Being driven towards something is I always it's an essential skill.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

But it was never like, you know, get out of my way. I'm gonna go. Like I just I never I always means no, I know, but I always was a cheerleader for those around me, and I wanted everybody else to have success. And it was just more I just was gonna find a path that would help me achieve my goals. And whether I had to pivot or not, I would I would find a path.

SPEAKER_02 27:29

Yeah, because were you obsessed with becoming a lawyer? I know we were both obsessed with curling. Like it was I was. I was it was all I could think about. Like I curling, it was when do we play next? When can I go practice? Dad, can you take me to the club? When I was a teenager and just getting into it, you know, we lived 10-minute drive from the club, not very far, but I would say, Dad, can you take me down on Tuesday night? And I don't know if that's the right night, but there would be a leak going on, and I knew that somebody wouldn't show up. That somebody would be stuck on the farm, I was in a farming community, something would come up family, somebody wouldn't show up, and I would go and I would sit there, and my dad would sit with me, and we'd find out who wasn't showing up, and I would go spare for that person because I just wanted to curl. So did you have that with I actually had that with volleyball too, and I'm not saying I was a and golf. Uh golf somewhat, but volleyball, I used to in high school, I I I got cut for my grade nine team. And then in grade 10, I went out and tried out after playing in public school in my grade 10. Same coach, Mr. Merch, one of the guys I look back on and taught me a lot. He said, Why didn't you try out last year in grade nine? And I said, Mr. Merch, I did. And he's like, Oh, I cut you. I was like, Yeah, yeah, that I wasn't on the team. I think you'd remember me. Um, but yeah, that from that point on when I started, I would walk around the house with a volleyball in my hands, just setting it around, playing around with the the volleyball, and because I was obsessed with it. It was what I wanted to do and all I could think about. And maybe that's a personality trait. I don't know. I I like to think that it's a learned a skill that you can learn.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

Yeah, and and I I mean, I obsessed isn't a word that I would use, but I guess it make it does make sense. I was very focused on being successful. I was very focused on obtaining an education that would allow me to be self-sufficient, self-reliant, and being successful. And I really enjoyed the law. I really loved the analytical thinking, and so I did everything possible to do that and I curled at the same time. And everybody thought I was crazy, but you know, I I felt that I could be a lawyer and still be a curler because I also had aspirations of being a doctor, but but it was but it was law that really I I could see me in and and something that I would enjoy. So I guess I was a little bit obsessed of it about it, but I was just really focused about being about give getting an education that would allow me to open doors to be successful.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Here's a question before you back to curling for a second, and we're we're talking about whether it's possible, and I I agree with you, I absolutely think it's possible, but this just kind of popped in my head. I I'm not sure that take the Canadian national team program as David Murdoch makes some changes and makes it more structured and makes you know more key performance indicators and you got to sign a contract and all these different things. I'm not sure that he would accept, you know, Jennifer Jones at 22 years old now into the program. And I'm not saying that you couldn't still become world champion, Olympic champion. I'm just saying that maybe some of these programs might be missing out and forcing people out because they realize that well, they're making me choose. I they're not they're saying I can't do both. And I haven't heard this personally. I don't know for sure that that's being said, but I think it's at the very least being heavily implied that here are the here are the requirements, and if you don't read the, if you don't, if you don't meet those, you're not in the national team program. We're gonna miss out on some athletes.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Yeah, we might if that if that is the case for sure. And there was no national team program when I started way back in the dark ages.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

You did it without money?

SPEAKER_00 30:50

I we did it with zero money.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

But that's impossible. Everybody said that we made it because we had sponsors.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

I know we didn't have any sponsors until like 20 or so.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

Is that how it works? You gotta prove yourself first.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

Well, yeah, but and then the national team program really wasn't a thing. Like there was no, especially in juniors or like when you were younger, and then it really didn't become a thing.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

I don't even remember, was there in I don't even I don't even remember when we first became a part of the national team program, but it was well I don't think it started until uh own the podium, like 2010, like probably 2008 or nine, it probably started.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

So like well into we'd already, you know, won a Canadian championship or a couple, and so you just kind of did it. You did it because you loved it, and then you know, you'd you'd hear all these people think, Oh, you made all this money, and it's like, well, not really. Like it it costs actually quite a bit of money that you to to travel and to pay a coach and to do all of these things and to train and it's the old business that yeah, a hundred grand in revenue, but our expenses were ninety-seven thousand. Yeah, so it was looks good. So you definitely like we didn't have there was no coaches to ask. You had to find your own coach. Like I was very fortunate because my dad, I think, knew a lot about curling, so was there and and really helped us out. And we had, you know, a couple of other great coaches along the way um that really helped. But there was no national co coaches that would come and train with you. Like that wasn't a thing. There was no national training centers where you could have video and lasers, like you know, you you did it old school, but it was just work ethic. I threw so many rocks, um, went out and did so so much of that. And so yeah, I I think there has to be a balance moving forward where I actually think somebody who has who is driven to succeed in multiple things is actually a person who is very great with time management. And maybe I like I feel like I'm really good at that.

SPEAKER_02 32:40

Like in my I feel like you max out the day. Is that the same thing?

SPEAKER_00 32:43

Yeah. I'm at well, yeah, but I I get stuff done and there's no question about that, you get stuff done.

SPEAKER_02 32:48

It I I I would prefer I would probably if I I can't do as much as you can in a day, probably, but maybe that's because I need it kind of written down because you know how good my memory is. If I don't have it kind of planned out, similar to the podcast. I mean, if we don't have a plan to follow, I'm just like uh I don't even keep the calendar.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

It drives them crazy.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

We don't have a family calendar.

SPEAKER_00 33:08

My calendar is in my head.

SPEAKER_02 33:10

Yeah, no, that doesn't work for me.

SPEAKER_00 33:11

Yeah. So we're we're gonna move. I'm I'm compromising, we're gonna move to a shared calendar, but I just remember things.

SPEAKER_01 33:17

Like I just I do too, like which golf clubs I want to buy next. Do you remember? My top hundred golf list I want to play very well, but I mean travel destinations.

SPEAKER_00 33:25

You know, one thing that actually made me quite sad to read, um, and not I I don't want to say this in any way because I'm super if this is exactly what these young women want, then amazing, and I'm sure it is because it's a decision they made. But my Laplett's team, three of them are like they've won, I don't even know how many Canadian Canadian juniors for sure. They're so talented, great young women. It would be amazing um, you know, future of our sport in Canada, and they're focusing on school. So they might come back, they they might come back to curling, and I'm not saying they're not, and it's it's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

It doesn't generally happen where people come back though.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

But it would be historically it would be incredible if they could do to both. And I know the University of Alberta has a really good program, but and potentially they have really you know lofty educational goals where they are where it is just impossible to do to do both. But you read those things and you're like, is there a way where we could figure it out so that we could allow these individuals to be excellent and excel at both things?

SPEAKER_02 34:26

Yeah, and total speculation. Have they heard whispers or do they think the writing's on the wall that we're not gonna be allowed to do both and we're gonna have to self-fund everything if we want to continue to curl and go to school and chase our other aspirations, dreams, call them whatever you want. And I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

Um Yeah, I'm not sure. I just remember I just read it and and thought, oh it's sad to lose people like that out of our next ones, if I'm being honest, right?

SPEAKER_02 34:50

They were impressed if two or three years ago you played in at the the points bet, and I was like, Yeah, this team's for real. And they were 18 then, I think.

SPEAKER_00 34:56

Yeah, and and yeah, again, like they they may come back, but it was just when I read that I thought, oh, okay, so they're I mean, they're gonna take some time away and just figure out if curling is really what they want to do, and which is completely up to them. But I think we've kind of talked about this, hey? Is there any other thing?

SPEAKER_02 35:12

I think we've cracked the code. If you want to be exceptional, you just listen to this podcast and do exactly what we said, right?

SPEAKER_00 35:18

Just do what you say you're gonna do.

SPEAKER_02 35:19

That's important. Yeah, be where your feet are. That's when we talk about like be in the moment.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

I know there's a lot on our minds, but we try and do that and be passionate, like find your passion and and just don't let anybody kind of stray you aside and and really advocate for yourself. You can't rely on somebody else to find that path for you if if not you're gonna just loaf on the couch. I don't know why I always say loaf on the couch, but you know, you just kind of fun sometimes, uh right?

SPEAKER_02 35:44

It's it's always calling. But what what if you could can you and and I agree, passion trumps everything, but what if you could train your mind to think that I'm passionate about doing hard things? The harder it is, the more unlikely it is, the more somebody says I can't do it. And I think you've done this to a certain extent, probably not on purpose. But if I can train my mind to think the harder something is, the more it draws me in. Like I want to do hard things.

SPEAKER_00 36:07

That's how I was. I felt like when I was training, the harder something was, the more determined I was to succeed at it. You know, it's like, okay, watch me. You think I can't do this? Well, I'm gonna find a way to do that.

SPEAKER_02 36:17

I think that's the real one of the real secrets is train your mind to love doing hard things. And it if you do hard things afterwards, you're gonna realize why it's so rewarding. And the longer it takes to win, the longer it takes to to accomplish something, the better it's going to feel. And you know, every day do something to get a little bit better at whatever it is you're chasing. But yeah, I think we've given you the success the secrets to life today.

SPEAKER_00 36:41

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:41

Here it is.

SPEAKER_00 36:42

Somebody get it out there and show up for your interviews.

SPEAKER_02 36:45

Show up, be where you're supposed to be.

SPEAKER_00 36:47

Or at least let me.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

No, at least. No, if you commit to an interview, just show up to the goddamn interview.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

How hard is that? And be on time for Zoom calls.

SPEAKER_01 36:55

Be on time for everything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:57

Okay. Be yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

Let's move on. I could go on Twitter. I had a tough day in the office today.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

Rockstar rapid fire questions.

SPEAKER_02 37:05

Okay, I'll take the first one here. This guy's name's Jason Miller. Sounds like a bit of a loser. Not a bad left-handed golfer, I heard, but he's saying our sound is awesome lately. Yeah, we've made some upgrades. Thanks, Jay, for noticing. But he's also asking, why are our headphones look so bad? And he says, the headphones gotta go, the sound's gotta stay. Millsey will work on it, no promises, but we're we're really upgrading things here, and that's another question we get often is when are we gonna see the studio? And it's like, we're trying. Our our trophies and stuff are where.

SPEAKER_00 37:35

So unfortunately, Brent makes us move all the time.

SPEAKER_02 37:38

Makes us like you could make Jennifer Jones do anything.

SPEAKER_00 37:41

So anyway, we have moved and we're we're not in our permanent place. So they are still in boxes.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

We're trying.

SPEAKER_00 37:52

Our trophies have never been displayed.

SPEAKER_02 37:55

No, I'm afraid they're probably rusty, but we'll we're working on it, okay? Then that a time.

SPEAKER_00 37:59

So we are working on it. We are planning on setting up kind of a podcast uh studio somewhere. I hope so. Yeah. Um, but we didn't want to wait on the podcast. We really wanted to start it, so we thought, let's just get going. We're gonna try to make it as good as we can. We knew the sound wasn't as good as we wanted, so we got a the soundboard thing. We're learning, we're not techie, so this is our our new passion.

SPEAKER_02 38:22

We're doing great.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

And anyway, but in order for it to work, we need the headphones.

SPEAKER_02 38:26

But Jay Man, if you want to buy us cool headphones, golf season's coming up, it can be my welcome back to the Thursday first tea gift from you to me.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

But you know what's amazing, you don't have to do your hair when you're wearing headphones.

SPEAKER_02 38:35

I don't have to do my hair. You're so funny.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

Next one is is for you. This is from your social media, and you get to pronounce Susan.

SPEAKER_00 38:43

I'm gonna say Ziraki. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

I think you nailed it.

SPEAKER_00 38:46

Okay. So, what is your opinion on women's worlds? Is it supposed to be the best in the world, and only five of the top 13 teams are there?

SPEAKER_02 38:54

So isn't it supposed to be?

SPEAKER_00 38:55

Yeah, the it's a great question.

SPEAKER_02 38:57

And it's the world women's curling, right?

SPEAKER_00 38:58

Yeah, world women's curling is going on right now, and actually the top three teams ranked in the world are not there. We have Team Hasselborg, the reigning Olympic gold medalist, we have team Tiranzoni, the silver medalist, and then team Homan, the bronze medalist, are all ranked number one, two, and three in the world, and they are not at the world championship. Rachel Homan, as we've talked about on our last part on a previous podcast, was not able to compete.

SPEAKER_02 39:25

Not allowed.

SPEAKER_00 39:25

Really, yeah. At the Scotties because it conflicted.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

It didn't conflict. She was not allowed to play.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

No. Well, yeah, but it the timing they could have moved it a little bit to make it a little bit better.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

But it was possible. They weren't allowed, though. It wasn't an option.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

Anyway, and then Team Sw Sweden decided based on points from the year, but team Hasselborg was very focused on the Olympics, so they didn't play as much. So Team Vrana had more points than them throughout the year, so they get to go to the world championship. They are actually not ranked in, oh, you know, they are ranked in that top 13.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

For sure they are.

SPEAKER_00 39:55

Um, and then we have a team Hasselborg. Oh, that was Team Hasburg and Team Rana, and the last is Team Tiranzoni, who had to go straight from the Olympics. They started their Swiss play downs the very next day, like jet-legged, whatever they were, and they lost. They won the it's the best of three against Team Schwaller uh in the playoffs. They won the first and they lost the next two. So Team Schwaller from Switzerland is there. So that is why those three teams aren't there. The question is, you generally don't have the best teams at the world championship. And that's why the Grand Slams are amazing and the diff most difficult to win because you always have the top teams, the top 15 teams, 16 teams in the world are at the Grand Slam events. So you're playing against the best because some countries, Japan right now, has four teams in the top 15, I believe.

SPEAKER_02 40:45

So does Korea.

SPEAKER_00 40:46

And Korea, so you don't have those teams as there. We have two Canadian teams, only one team can go. We have two Swedish teams, only one team can go. We have two Swiss teams, only one team can go. So unfortunately, sometimes, depending on who wins their country, you're not gonna have the best of the best at the world championship. And this is one where actually the top three teams, top three ranked teams, are not at the world championship.

SPEAKER_02 41:13

Well, yeah, and it's not it's it's not the point, right? Like there's there's never been a world championship where the top ten teams in the world have been there.

SPEAKER_00 41:19

Same as the Olympics. You know, it doesn't happen. You look at the Olympics and you're gonna have some teams ranked below 50th in the world that are gonna be competing at the Olympics if they qualify.

SPEAKER_02 41:29

Right, because it's based on countries, it's not based on rankings. And and then you each country decides how they determine their representative, which none of them are perfect, but all of them, you know, send great reps, and there's lots of great teams, and they just haven't had their chance. You know, it's nice to see team Xenia Schwaller and Coach John Epping, of course, of course, get to the world championship because they've been doing so well and it's a young up-and-coming team, and it's nice to see you know Isabella Rano and Ross White and the men's, and but it's not designed, it's it's impossible to get the best 10 teams in the world because it's never gonna be 10 the best 10 teams in the world from 10 different countries. Yeah, it just isn't gonna be. It used to be if you didn't like this, go back to the men's worlds in 2008, 2009, 2010. I bet you that there were seven men's teams in the top ten that were Canadian, and one got to go. It's just that's not what it's about. Is it a perfect system? No, I'm not gonna say that. But that's it's not about that, and it's about sending the best team from each country, and then you battle it out country to country, and I'll be the first to say it. That's why some internationals, Nicholas Aden, has won seven world championships.

SPEAKER_00 42:35

Because they get to go every year.

SPEAKER_02 42:37

Whereas in Canada or um Scotland or And once you get there, you don't have to beat all of the teams, you just have to beat a couple of the best.

SPEAKER_00 42:45

Yeah. And yeah, and it it's it's very it's and also you get the experience of being at the world championships every year because you're there, you know what to expect, you can perform better. Um, there's lots of advantages to it, but uh you know it's it's also fun to play from Canada and represent Canada, even though it's so hard to win our country to get there.

SPEAKER_02 43:06

Maybe that was a podcast topic and not a rapid fire. We went on a little long there.

SPEAKER_00 43:09

Yeah, sorry, that wasn't very rapid, was it?

SPEAKER_02 43:11

The question was rapid, the answer was involved.

SPEAKER_00 43:13

Okay, well, there you go. Well, but we'll wrap it up then. So thank you very much for tuning in, everyone. Keep rocking the chaos, chasing every adventure, loving the ride, and never stop dreaming. We'll see you next time on Rockstars.