Brianna Battles  00:01

Welcome to the Practice Brave Podcast. I am the host Brianna Battles, founder of pregnancy and postpartum athleticism, and CEO of Everyday Battles. I’m a career strength and conditioning coach, entrepreneur, mom of two wild little boys and a lifelong athlete. I believe that athleticism does not end when motherhood begins, and this podcast is dedicated to coaching you by providing meaningful conversations, insights and interview topics related to fitness, mindset, parenting and of course, all the nuances of pregnancy and postpartum, from expert interviews to engaging conversations and reflections. This podcast is your trustworthy, relatable resource for learning how to practice brave through every season in your life. Hey everyone, welcome back to the practice brave podcast today, I’m really excited to have my longtime friend Julie Snodgrass on the podcast, and she is a division one water polo coach, and we kind of came up together, like even playing club with each other back in high school, and then similar pipeline of playing in college and then both getting involved in coaching college, when that wasn’t a really popular pathway, especially for women in coaching, and especially at the levels that we are at. And Julie is still in that realm as a head coach, and she’s just been doing an incredible job mentoring so many young women over the last, I don’t

Julie Snodgrass  01:32

know how many years,

Brianna Battles  01:34

16 years, so I wanted to bring her on here, because I know so many of you come from a collegiate athletics background, or you are coaching at that level, or you are a woman in coaching period. I think Julie has a lot of great insight, and I’m really excited for her to share her life and her coaching on the podcast. So Julie, thanks for being here.

Julie Snodgrass  01:56

Well, thanks for having me. I’m excited to just obviously, like you said, develop women, and I think that’s why I stay in coaching. It’s to develop the young athletes. But I love just having conversations with other whenever I see another woman on deck, I always make it a point to go out and, like, ask her how she’s really doing and like, how can you be, you know, supporting her or advocating for her or encouraging her. So it’s been fun,

Brianna Battles  02:17

absolutely, because, I mean, we are both from the time period where we played with boys, a lot of the times where girls water polo wasn’t even really that much of a thing in the area that we lived in, despite still being in Southern California, there was just still not a lot of club options, and it was still fairly new for girls and women to even be playing this Sport.

Julie Snodgrass  02:40

Yeah, we joined, I think, a little bit before it became an Olympic sport, or right around that era, right?

Brianna Battles  02:47

And so while maybe some of you listening are like water polo, like you’ve only seen that the Olympics, I mean, California, it’s a really popular sport, and we’ve seen a lot of growth in that realm over the last 20 plus years, but in that same breath, we hadn’t really seen a lot of women coaching women, or, frankly, coaching in general, whether it was opportunities or even just like a natural pathway. And so Julie, tell us a little bit about yourself and like, how you went from being the athlete to now being a head coaching position.

Julie Snodgrass  03:19

Yeah, I think my story is a little weird and unique, because, like you said, like the emerging college sport was kind of emerging with me. I guess it was, it was already a college sport, right? But the level of growth that the sport was seeing was happening. So I actually got my intro into coaching as a division two head coach, and I think it was a little bit, whatever you want to call it, luck, divine divine synchronicity, or whatever you want to call it. It was a part time air quotes, part time head coaching job, because there’s such thing as that level, but it, I think it narrowed down the pool of applicants a little bit, and it was at a faith based institution. So I got my introductory to coaching there, and I did go out. I did actually get my degree and get my teaching credential. I was teaching for a couple of years and coaching like swim and water polo and doing leadership stuff on campus at the high school. And you know, when this opportunity came up, I didn’t have any kids yet at that time, and my husband and I were like, you know, if we’re going to take a risk now’s the time. Like, yeah, I’m going to be giving up being a tenured teacher with a master’s in California, and I’m going to take this part time head coaching job. But we kind of knew it was going to become a head like, a full time coaching job, so the next year, I was made full time, and that pay really helped. But then yeah, so since, I think, yeah, 15 ish going on 15 years right now, because I started in 2011 and then in 2012 was like January. I remember the date because of what happened my first season. So January 14 was our 20th was our first games, or something like, whatever. Okay, I don’t remember the day. I remember the Friday before. It’s Friday before. Was Friday. The 13th, and that was the Friday that I became a mom. And I actually became a mom of teenage twins through foster care. My husband was serving at a church at the time, and two kids needed a home, and we said yes. And that was wild. And then, yeah, so that was my intro into coaching, and it was just saying yes, you know, in the summer of 2011 to try to take this on. And it was kind of weird seeing how, boom, life just happened. And the kind of cool thing was, if I was still in teaching, it would have been a lot more complicated to say yes to bringing in two teenagers to our home, and that schedule would have been a lot more strict and a lot less helpful for our kids. And the coaching schedule was still, well, taxing. Was a lot more flexible because I was the head coach. So being a head coach has really made it You mean, you can choose your schedule to a point, but once you’re locked in, you are locked in. So makes the it makes the scheduling a little better. So that’s the long answer,

Brianna Battles  05:54

when I would imagine, on a personal note, that, like having so much experience coaching young athletes, probably was maybe the only thing that can prepare you for bringing in two teenagers when you were still pretty young

Julie Snodgrass  06:08

yourself, for sure. Yeah, I was in my mid 20s, and I became a parent, and I literally give myself a pep talk that day. I was like, Well, you know, I taught high school English. Like, yeah, I’ve been working with high schoolers. Like, I better know, at least this is probably, I probably more qualified to do this than have an infant right now. So, like, you got this, Julie, I looked at my husband. I was, like, we got this, okay? Like, we can do this, right, right? We’ll do it, you know.

Brianna Battles  06:33

So, yeah, absolutely. So you became a mom and you’re becoming a, like, head coach, all at the same time and talk about, like, a significant life transition. And isn’t that like, that tends to be how it goes, right? Like, all the things all the same time? Yeah, I actually

Julie Snodgrass  06:49

became a mother of four and two calendar years. So January 2012 the twins moved in. I got pregnant. We were pregnant at the same time. I think we’re only a couple weeks apart, and I have a cadence. You have a Cade I think that’s hilarious. You’re like, we didn’t even know names, but we were just, I remember one of your athletes like sneaking a picture of us pregnant on pool decks together.

Brianna Battles  07:06

I know we need to find that like, because again, back then, there were not many women coaches on the pool deck. Nevertheless, like young women who were pregnant, right? We were odd in that realm, and Ollie absolutely and like, and in some ways, like, people were supportive, but I think in other ways, it was like, well, like, like, basically, they’re just doing this for a short period of time, and they’re gonna move on and be a mom and be done.

Julie Snodgrass  07:34

Yeah, yeah. And I will say that I have, like, I’ve talked to women in coaching, and one was gonna go into teaching, or, like, go into coaching. I was like, honestly, you’re gonna have more flexibility. I know you think you’ll have more flexibility as a teacher, but I’m telling you, like, if you’re the head coach, being an assistant is a whole nother thing. You’re kind of, like, on a chain to the level of care of your head coach. You know, if you have a caring head coach, then it can be a really great relationship. But if you have a rigid head coach who’s like, their way or the highway, it can be a really, like, stressful, toxic, almost like, oh, tense situation,

Brianna Battles  08:10

yeah, like, and I feel like that dynamic exists whether you’re a mother or woman or not, like just the culture of coaching right at that level, and like your quality of life, your quality of like, just your job, like your career, quality of your career experience. So much of that I think people don’t understand is, like, very admin dependent, very like Coach relationship dependent. And unless you’re in that head coaching position, you just don’t necessarily have that much control. And then ultimately, you’d still have an administration that calls a lot of shots.

Julie Snodgrass  08:43

Yeah, absolutely. And like, I think it’s really, I think the longer I’d been in it, I’m like, the more you need to, like, interview your assistants or your head coaches. Like, if you’re an assistant coach out there and you’re trying to apply for a, like, become an assistant to a head coach. Like, I encourage people who I’ve talked to, I’m like, if you’re gonna go be an assistant, you need to interview that head coach, because this is like, your work spouse, like, Forget gender. This is like, you need to take this relationship as seriously as you would take a dating relationship, because the purpose and the intimacy of coaching people is so deep, like you’re in their lives. You’re in their lives every day for multiple hours a day, and the way that you communicate to those people, if those are vastly different, or your purpose for being in the if you are just want to accomplish wins, that’s going to be very different than a coach who wants to develop people to become champions. Those are very different purposes and very different outcomes. So I always encourage people. First of all, I encourage women applying for coaching jobs. I’m like, Listen, if I told you the type of people and the type of men that applied for some assistant jobs that I’ve had open up like you would laugh with me, and I’m not gonna expose them like that, but like, I think statistically, men think they need to be, like, 45% qualified of the listed qualifications to apply for a job. And. Women’s close to, like, 95 or something like that, to actually just apply for the job. So I’m like, Girl, if you’re 50% qualified apply, and it was like, also you’re like 80% qualified, so go, you know, and then interview that.

Brianna Battles  10:12

Oh my gosh. I’m so glad you said that, because I think, like, there’s such an imposter syndrome for women stepping into leadership positions, whereas, like, a lot of times, men don’t second guess themselves at all, where they’re just like, obviously I’m qualified, but like, they’re actually like, not on so many different levels. Yet the more qualified woman will talk herself out of it, because, well, what if this, or what if that? And like they like highlight their own insecurities, versus like, if you’re interviewing them, that might not even be something you even, like, think twice about, yeah,

Julie Snodgrass  10:42

and I think, I think that idea of, like, I think I was, like, competently naive. And, you know, looking back, I’m like, I gotta appreciate the level of confidence my parents allowed me to have. And I think that’s a huge part of it, because, like, you know, I was having conversations about this head coaching job. And I was like, Yeah, I can do it. I can figure it out. Like, yeah, the recruiting part, that might be a little bit tricky for me, but like, I can ask questions. And the thing about it is, like, I really think people underestimate the power of your willingness to learn and embrace challenges. Like, if that’s you, if you’re a woman out there, or a leader or a person who embraces growth and embraces challenge challenges like you are the best hire. Case in point, like, yep, because I would hire someone who’s willing to grow any day over someone who thinks they know it all.

Brianna Battles  11:33

Oh, exactly like, and oftentimes women are so incredibly coachable. And you know that we both know that we’ve been coaching women for like, 20 years out in different capacities, and it’s like and that athlete brain can be leveraged into business, into leadership positions, and you just have to have like, that willingness to learn, willingness to adapt, willingness to just like, grow and evolve your ways. And I think that gives women a significant advantage. That can, that can, like, overplay a lot of the insecurities that come up with, like, imposter syndrome, and you just got to, like, leverage that athlete brain, you know,

Julie Snodgrass  12:09

yeah, athlete brain. Or just, like, sometimes I use this analogy with my athletes when I tell them a story, and I tell them the story about a girl who had been out on the dating scene, like she had a really serious relationship, and then she had a really bad breakup, and so it took her a long time to get back on the dating scene. She got back on the dating scene. She did the app method, you know, she swiped right? She finally, like, got the courage after, you know, getting all the red flags out of the way to meet in person, right? And she goes, and she sits there, and he’s a no show. He’s not showing up. She’s like, Oh my gosh. So she, you know, after 15 minutes, calls her friend, her friend, her best friend up, and she’s like, Girl, I think I’m being stood up. I must look ugly tonight. And I’m like, Yeah, her best friend answered the phone. And was like, I bet you’re right. You probably look atrocious. You did it on all my girls faces. Whenever I tell this story, I go into a little bit more detail, obviously, but they’re like, appalled. They’re like, her friend said that. And I’m like, I’m like, No, this is what we say to ourselves. So why don’t we do a better job of like, talking to ourselves like we talk to our best friends? Because we will hype up our best friends. We will celebrate all their highlights. We will play the highlight reel. If you have a good best friend, that is, you’ll they’ll play the highlight reel for you, right? And so it’s like, why don’t you just talk to yourself like you’re talking to your best friend. And I think, like, there’s some new recent neuroscience, like research coming out, that people who are the most resilient, like, end up talking, like, talking to themselves out loud, like you’ve got this like pep talk to yourself out loud, because you’re just constantly, like, encouraging yourself and changing the script.

Brianna Battles  13:39

Yeah, and I love what you said about like, your parents, like, instilled a lot of that, like, self belief. And I say that all the time, like, my mom believed in me so hard that I almost, like, didn’t know that there was another option, you know, because she was, like, so empowering to a fault, where I’m like, Mom, I actually wasn’t that good and I certainly wasn’t qualified. But like, you made you like, made me believe that so much that like, she gaslit me into believing I was like, way better and way more talented at everything at a young age. And I feel like that self belief from a parent is so powerful, and if it can’t come from a parent, man like coaches have such an incredible opportunity to instill that into their student athletes. Like that is, I feel like our superpower is like, breathe that life and that confidence into people, kind of, like, regardless of their actual ability, is like, like, hype them up in another category or in a very specific category of their ability, and like, they will hold on to that. And I still, to this day, I feel like any level of like, you’re so direct, you’re so confident, like, that’s just because like that was spoken into me from a very young age,

Julie Snodgrass  14:41

and it isn’t broken out of you either. And I will say that’s probably part and partial to your husband, Jared and like, because I see that, and I think I’m more I see that in my husband, Jeff, and I’m like, Man, choosing your partner matters, especially in a career, whether you’re an entrepreneur or a coach, anything that’s high relational, high. Capacity, high time intensive, the person who you choose as your partner matters, because so often, a partner will talk their spouse out of the heart, enduring the hardship like or they will like I’ve seen, I’ve seen other women who have, maybe not the healthiest marriages, right? Who their partner, almost like digs at them so regularly that soon they don’t believe in themselves, or they don’t feel confident in those things that they once did believe. And so I gotta say mad props to like for all these years of staying in it. I don’t joke with people when I say this, but I’m like your partner matters, because they truly are your biggest cheerleader. And just like your mom, you know, hyped you up and was, like, you’ve got this, like, my husband is the biggest one. Like, Julie, you are doing great. You’re an awesome coach. Like, you have got this, like, in those moments, because there’s definitely those moments I say as a collegiate coach, there’s like, three times a year. You generally three times a year you want to quit your job, you know, yeah,

Brianna Battles  15:58

no, absolutely. And like, they ride, like, they see, like, all the behind the scenes, all of the frustrations, all the things that you can’t vent to anybody in your like circle. And like, they might not fully get it, but they get it enough because they have seen maybe the cycle repeat, or just like they’ve seen you work through other hard things. And it’s like, this is just the next iteration, like, you know, like everything is figure outable. Like, we’ve done this before, just like, in a different capacity. So it’s like, yeah, that again, that like, just Yeah, standing by and talking you off, you know, and you’re when you’re kind of losing it, you know, at different points and times. Because coaching just takes so much energy from you, like, for sure, sharing, teaching, educating, feeling that responsibility of like, not like other people’s like livelihoods, but like other people’s like life experiences, like, you know, like you play a really powerful role in these girls lives. And you know, that’s just like the nature of coaching in general.

Julie Snodgrass  16:53

I think that’s the most scary part about coaching, is your words matter. Your words matter all the time. And I’ve had, you know, in that season of life where I became a mother of four and two calendar years, only gave birth to one child, but, you know, had three, joined the family through foster and adoption. I, legitimately, I survived those years, like there are just the keep your like treading water. Survived, honestly, that was a lot of change. And there were things that people were like, they’ll go back in those years. So this is like 2012 to like 2014 and they’re like, oh, remember when? And I was like, I have no clue what you’re talking about. There was even one story. It was like someone went on a vacation with us, and he was saying this thing, like one of the kids diapers exploded or something. And I was like, for sure, don’t remember a diaper exploding. And I was like, the thing I didn’t tell him was, like, I didn’t even remember you were on that vacation with us. Like, that’s how in the days I was of like, survival mode, right? Oh, yeah, but, but it’s like, there was a girl in the same frame who was like, Coach, I just remember when you said this, this and this, and it meant so much to me. The converse is also true. I’m just out here unfiltered, saying something, thinking I’m instructing someone, and I say it in such a way, you know, I say one word that just twists a knife or, like, digs the heart, and you never know. The scary thing about coaching is like, like, you never know when your words sink deep for the good or for bad, like you could not be. Man, twice about it, and it’s digging at one of the biggest insecurities a girl has in her heart. And you just have no freaking clue, because for you, it’s just an instruction, you

Brianna Battles  18:29

know that? And like, I think back to like, that era, because we were both, we were young, we and we had just become moms. And like, I don’t say like young like we were, you know, early 20s, but still, I feel like we’re just like, we were so young as coaches at that level, where the girls weren’t that much younger than we were at that time. And there’s so many things I look back on, and I’m just like, it’s cringy, right? You’re like, I can’t believe I said that. I can’t believe I was doing that, but I was like that. And then you add in, like, the layer of, like, being a new mom, where, like, I was just trying to survive, I was so incredibly depressed and trying to, like, perform at a high level with certain responsibilities that were on me to, like, you know, just hold a lot of weight in my role, but also doing that, like, in the midst of, like, significant depression. But you can’t show that, because you have to be in this, like, leadership position and, Oh, you gotta have to be, like, inspiring and be a good role model to these girls, I look back and I’m like, I was such an unhappy version of myself, and like, how that was managed, there’s just so much like guilt around like, that version of myself when I had the responsibility of I, like, feel like I wish I would have been in a different state of Mind, would have done things differently. And just like the grace that you give yourself when you’re like, I was a totally different person than as like my maturity process as a woman, as a coach, as a mother, all of it, and then just realizing, like we all evolve like none of us have it figured out, and it’s important for them to see you when you’re raw. And to have that perspective years later, because I’ve also had some girls reach out and say, like, I get it now I get some of the things you were talking about, or I can’t believe that you were doing this, because now I get it. And I’m like, Yeah, I can’t really either, it was insane, right?

Julie Snodgrass  20:13

Yeah, yeah, I don’t know how we did it, either, yeah. And I think too, I think, like, to your point, like, it’s way better to look back and say, I’m a much better coach now five years ago and five years before that, than to look back and be like, I’m coaching the same way I started. I do not coach the same way I started coaching 15 years ago. I don’t athletes are different. Like, you know, the times are different, the needs are different. You know, the expectations are different. Like, everything’s different. The whole system of college sports is now different. So it’s like, oh, it’s so different. You’re gonna be, hopefully, a different version of yourselves every five years, every three years, you know, because, like, Absolutely, you’re growing these athletes from, you know, from the most neurologically important identity development in their lifetime, actually, yeah, and I think that’s such a treasure. And right before I hopped on this call, I was actually working on some winter training, like non water polo content, then taking through each class through like, a little discussion guide for specific areas of their growth that they’re going to be going through to be awesome women. Because I don’t just coach to coach winners like I want to build awesome women who are bold and confident. Because, you know, we need more bold, confident women out there in this world who are willing to step into those challenges and and there’s so many needs out there, whether it’s in the working world, the coaching world, the, you know, service world, the whatever world there is a need for for every, every human, every human has an ability to make an impact where they are.

Brianna Battles  21:48

Oh, and I think that’s awesome that you bring that perspective into coaching, because it is so intimate. And you know, like when you can zoom out beyond the record and beyond just the season, or even beyond, just like the four years you’re going to have with these girls and saying, like, who am I preparing you to become when all of this goes away? Right? Because water polo, like, for the most part, you’re not going on and playing pro. And even if you do, that’s a very short, short, short lived situation where you’re not making money. So like, Who are you when all of that comes to an end? Because you and I both know whether we saw it with people we played with, or we’ve seen it through people we’ve coached, like, some thrive and others struggle. And so how are we helping women at that you know, once they graduate and they have moved on from this sport, who are they outside of that sport? Who are they outside of a college setting, right?

Julie Snodgrass  22:36

Yeah. And I like, how you like, say, your athlete brain? Because I’m like, you know, once an athlete, always an athlete. I mean, I’m still not, I’m not competing. And I just told my husband the other day. I’m like, you know, I can’t use my I use so much of my competitive energy towards my coaching that, like, my working out is just like working out to get it done and like, but if I ever stopped coaching, I think I’d have to, like, compete in fitness again, in some level. Because, like, you know, you’ve inspired me to try Jiu Jitsu. I tried it, and I was like, I was

Brianna Battles  23:02

like, I was just gonna say, girl, you should I don’t like getting hurt,

Julie Snodgrass  23:06

I know. But I was like, I don’t have the energy to get hurt right now.

Brianna Battles  23:09

So, yeah, I mean, I don’t want you to get hurt, but I also feel like water polo and Jiu Jitsu, there’s a certain pipeline there too, because you’re, like, kind of used

Julie Snodgrass  23:17

to that physical momentum. Yeah, I didn’t, I didn’t dislike it, I will tell you that. But I was just like, I know this is going to take so much time commitment to get good at, and I just don’t want to commit to that right now.

Brianna Battles  23:29

Yeah, you got to dose it appropriately. Yeah.

Julie Snodgrass  23:32

I want to put my energy towards other things so, but I think, but I think to your point, like when people transition out of high level athletics, it’s like you have to find, you have to have a high energy hobby. You have to or passion, right? You can’t just go to like being a couch potato and feeling like you have purpose and efficiency. And so whether it’s like a very meaningful purpose to you or very something you’re super passionate about, that you’re gonna, you’re gonna thrive in that. So once if sport is completely removed. So that’s what I think about myself, if sport was completely removed from my life, removed from my life, and I didn’t, I don’t want to live vicariously through my kids and their sport. I really don’t want to do that. I try all my power to just be like, I love watching you play, and then highlight how they read the field, or how they dribbled down the court, or how they improved from game a to game B, right? Not trying to focus on Yeah, you finally landed that three point shot, or like you scored the touchdown, like you’re so great. It’s like, it’s not about scoring the touchdown. Like, those are going to happen because you’re doing the little things right and so, but I don’t want to live vicariously through them. And so I think for athletes, strong athletes are strong women who like, transition out of sport like that, that wandering, that, that people experience is like, I need to have some level of intensity in my life, because this very high level of intensity I experienced is no longer appropriate, and for me to exhibit anywhere else in my life, right? And I need to do that, yeah.

Brianna Battles  24:52

So I tell everyone like, you know, the athlete to entrepreneurial pipeline is so good, but also like the athlete to like, endure. In sports, CrossFit, jiu jitsu like that also serves as, like, a really healthy outlet. And then we know that, like so many of like the C suite executives like they have all come from athletics, and usually at a pretty high level. So it’s like that, you’re right, that energy transfer, it needs to be like leveraged well, because at the very same time, it can become toxic if it’s not right, right? It can be, like, very self sabotaging, yeah, eat you alive from the inside, for sure. Yeah, yeah. And we’ve, we’ve certainly seen that live, that, you know, just different ways of like, how do we again, stay in the game? How do we support other women through the game and then beyond? And I think, like, You’ve obviously done a really good job of that. You’ve been coaching for a long time, and you mentioned there have been changes that you’ve observed throughout different eras of your coaching. What are some of the most significant changes you’ve almost seen, like culturally, among college aged women in sport? Yeah.

Julie Snodgrass  25:59

Okay, so I think if I look at, I think if I look at, I have to zoom out to see, like, the suicidal changes, right? So now I’m coaching people who went through school, through through the covid, covid babies. They’re, they’re, yeah, right? And they were, like, in middle school when that happened. So, so it’s interesting. It’s interesting to see the, you know, I think there’s a shift of, there’s a much more desire, okay, there’s more knowledge and less wisdom in this. There’s, like, over saturation of emotional intelligence, but there’s way less practice of it in that. Like, I know this is manipulation, but I’m gonna do it and not call it manipulation, but I’m gonna call you out on your like, on on this thing, or or vice versa, or like. So there was a there’s this shift in knowledge, but not application of the knowledge and wisdom, and then, so as a coach, it’s restating the knowledge and giving an opportunity or a practical application of how to apply it. So I’ve always had like, conflict conversations with my athletes. I think that’s just something you have to learn in college, how to have a proper conflict without being a mean girl or being petty, right? And so we learn this in group settings. We learn this in one on one things. Because I always tell my recruits, I tell my athletes, it’s not a matter of if we disagree like we’re I used to have a roster of 30, and it came down to 24 this year with the new NCAA guidelines. And I’m like, There’s 24 women. It’s a matter of when. Sister, it’s not, it’s not, there’s a conflict. It’s going to be a matter of when. So having that conflict. So I think that that change of the the the realization that there needs to be more instruction on the wisdom and application and accountability of applying these things that you know, you know of because you’ve seen them on Tiktok or you’ve seen them on Instagram. Now you need to do them, because if you just know them and you’re trying to point them out. Now this is what I call, like the plank spec syndrome. I have a plank in my own eye, but I’m going to point out the speck in yours. And I’m like, well, we just got to own our own stuff. We got to own and clean our side of the street. That’s the only side we’re responsible for. So I think that dichotomy has been a big one, and then the other one that I think has been more challenging for me to negotiate as someone who really, I lean towards truth, like truth and love are big things that I’m like, okay, want to speak the truth and love, but like, when in doubt, like I’m a coach, I speak the truth and I’m like, Look, this is just the fact of the situation. But I think the the transition from not just like knowing my truth or living my truth, to my feelings are the capital, all capital the the truth and and now your feelings about the situation is the truth of the situation. That is not reality, like we’ve got to actually get to the point that your feelings are a pinprick and something on the scale of like they are one item on the scale of reality, but they are not the only truth. So you felt dismissed when I said, go back to the bench, you know, and I was just trying to coach six other people over here, and I couldn’t have that noise, so now you felt dismissed, and I’m a terrible person, but that’s not the truth, the whole truth, right? And that’s just like, not an actual example. I’m just, you know, throwing things out there of we’ve got to like, and so taking maybe a more instructional approach to listening, because they do need to be a lot more. They do need to be heard more. But also instructing with application, real world application, not just this heady knowledge and more coaching through reflection and asking questions more more than directive. And so I think those are some of the changes that I’ve made in the most recent years of just kind of seeing that transition of needing to be heard, meeting needing to be held accountable, needing needing to create a bigger picture. Because I always tell myself it’s neurologically appropriate for college students to be self focused. It is, but we need to work. It’s also a necessity to learn how to expand that if you’re going to be a responsible human.

Brianna Battles  29:58

So this is so brilliant. Why, like, sports are just so incredibly powerful as teachers, especially when the sport is being leveraged by somebody like you who has that insight where it’s like, it’s not just the tactics, it’s not just like the game plans and things like that. It’s like creating a cohesive team and successful humans comes from navigating hard conversations and balancing different energies and getting along with people that maybe wouldn’t traditionally opt into being around. But like, You got to figure it out, because that is also the real world. That is also the corporation you’re going to go into, that is also people in your circle that you’re going to have to learn how to deal with. And you’re right with, like, looking at the current culture, where maybe there’s a lot more, like, sensitivity to things without, again, that like self ownership piece, or that practical experience sport and what you’re doing is so powerful to help reinforce some things that they’re going to need in, like, the real world, once they’re out of the bubble of college and sports, where there’s a lot that’s sort of like, you know, confined. They’re kept in a bubble for a reason.

Julie Snodgrass  31:05

Yeah, and I just embrace the weirdness. Like, I’ll say weird things or do weird activities. I’m like, Okay, guys, you know you’re gonna laugh at me or love it or hate it, but you’re gonna do it anyway, because this is important, and you might remember it 15 years from now. But I just like, you know, whether I make it serious or, like, bring it in like that, because it’s like, a hard direction shift or something like, it’s got to happen. And I think, you know, like you said, athletes are coming back to you being like, I get it now, you know? And some have, you know, some are, some are appreciative. Some are, some are just like, wow, you

Brianna Battles  31:33

know, you get a mix, for sure. Yeah, that’s hard, too, as a coach, where you’re just like, you know, like, you did the best with the information you had, or the knowledge you had at the time, and who you were at the time, and then you have to just like, know that everybody’s on their own, like, pathway of figuring things out, and it’s really easy to judge like, it’s easy to judge teammates, it’s easy to judge coaches. It’s easy to like, you know, I would do this, you know? But like, in reality, unless you’re in that position, you just don’t know, or, you know, yeah, yeah.

Julie Snodgrass  32:05

I think one of the biggest needs for me as a coach in this process, especially with how some administrations do evaluations, is to be a very how to to posture my heart for the amount of feedback given and the style of feedback given, because some administrations allow interesting levels of feedback, aggressive levels of feedback, anonymously, aggressive levels of feedback. And, you know, without filtering it for you, they’re just like, here read these terrible things people say about you, and looking through that and being like, not taking it personally, just but like, Ooh, you know, your heart rate still increases because you’re like, that’s not true. Like, you’re automatically defensive, and you’re just like, you know, I have to talk myself. I’m Julie. I’m like, you know, what? What can you take from this? What can what can you grow? What is the reality? What is it like to be coached by you because you’re intense, you’re direct, like, maybe it’s not the greatest experience for people. So when I take a this is now I’ve taken over a second program, and I’m on, like, year four at a second program, and and that transition time is hard for the athletes, you know, they’ve got, brought on by a different coach, they had a different expectation, and now you’re coming in with a whole new level of need, a whole new expectation, a whole new culture shift. So, yeah, I like, you know, the girls that just like that, have gone through this culture shift with me. I think the the last year of people I didn’t recruit is, like my current seniors. And, you know, the last couple years I’m like, You know what you guys are like, You guys have gone through a lot, and I give you props, you know, whether they did that with grace and, like, compassion, or whether they had their moments of, like, really irritation and aggression, or, you know, it’s like, you know what you did, you did the best you could given the situation you were in. And I’m trying to learn and grow and do the best I can with the situation that I’m in, and I’m trying to make the best decision every day. And all I can ask for you is that you try to make the best decision for this team every day. And so I think that, like in those transition years, when we just got to remember that culture shift takes four to five years, you know,

Brianna Battles  34:09

it’s a very long time. So absolutely. So we talked about, like, early motherhood and, you know, becoming a mom to four in a very short period of time. How has your motherhood grown alongside your coaching? And has it complemented? It? Has it comp, like, complicated it like a little bit of both. How do you feel coaching and motherhood have like, I don’t know, co existed, yeah,

Julie Snodgrass  34:37

different ages and stages require different things as a mother, right? So I was really fortunate. My my first university was super supportive. There was one conversation that I had with an administrator that I was like, I did not like how that felt, but I asked some advice from another female at the time, and she was like, yeah, that’s borderline. Illegal, how he said that, so, you know? And I was like, I know it’s coming from care, but I still don’t like the fact that he brought my kids into an evaluation, or, like, as a concern item. And and she was like, just go back, ask these two questions. So the questions that she asked me, or told me to ask, was like, Hey, would you have asked that question to a male coach? Because it just kind of like, it just kind of hit me a little different. I’m just curious, would you ask that question? I think the question was like, you know, I know you have two young kids at home. I’m just, you know, I’m just concerned that what your capacity is. And I was like, the baseball assistant coach just had twins this year too. I mean, he didn’t give birth to them, but, like, I didn’t give birth to my two little ones either. I just gave birth to one of them, you know. So that was the internal dialog. But credit to my administrator at the time, he was super gracious. He was like, you know, I didn’t word that very well. I’m so sorry. You are right. I shouldn’t have worded that that way. I would, I would have asked a sim, I would have asked that question to this coach over here, and he made the baseball coach with Tims. He was like, because it does come from a place of care, but you are right. If it’s not impacting your actual workload, I should not bring it up in this meeting, you know, yeah. And I was like, you know, props to him for handling it that way, but I was able to have a little bit more like overlap. There. At different universities, there’s a different level of like overlap available, whether that’s your proximity to where you know your coaching, or the administrative like rules and regulations and things like that. But I would say that the way that coaching has empowered my motherhood, I guess, is and I have a very unique experience, because, like I said, I did teenage and then infants, and then, you know, and then I’ve been coaching college kids this whole time, so I remember so my 18 so I have my 18 year olds are twins, boy and a girl, fraternal. And my son was like, at the dinner table one time, and I just said something. I can’t remember what I said, but it was like something flippant that I assumed he should have heard in his lifetime. And he was like, I’ve never heard that. That’s a really good point. And I was like, you’ve never, you’ve never heard that. And he was like, No, but I love it. I’m just gonna like, you know, and I can’t remember what little saying it was. And then, you know, two weeks later, I’m like, I’m just gonna start saying these things to my current one and a half and two year old, because I want them to be ingrained in their souls by 18. And I think it was like something like, something about confidence and and, and recognizing that the belief you have in a person, in an athlete and your children, inspires or diminishes their ability, right? Like, like, or you’re, you’re looking for confirmation bias all the time. So if I think, you know, my athletes are going to be great and they’re hard workers, then I’m going to be looking for confirmation bias that they’re hard workers. If I think that they’re lazy, then I’m going to be looking for confirmation bias that they’re lazy, right? Similarly, with my kids, if I see this behavior as super disrespectful, when it really just means you need more activity, like, then I just need to provide you with the appropriate activity and stop yelling at you for being a rambunctious boy. So, like, you know what I mean? Like, it’s, it’s kind of like giving people what they’re there and honestly, just recognizing different needs and characteristics, bodies, biology. It’s like embracing the fullness of who people are, who my children are, has given me a little bit more grace and understanding with my, you know, and with my college kids, of like, I don’t know if they’ve heard this before. I don’t know what parenting or cultural upbringing they’ve came from. So I’m just gonna say the obvious thing. I’m just gonna repeat the obvious thing. I’m just gonna, like, make these little stupid colloquialisms like, leave people in places better than you found them like, I’m just gonna make them like, I’ll say it when we pick up trash, and I’ll say it when we’re doing like, you know, something meaningful with relationships, you know. So, you know, whatever that is, it’s like, we’re gonna whatever we’re trying to instill, we’re gonna instill it with a attitude of belief. And so I think that both parenting, parenting my children, and learning how to set boundaries for different people and my children has helped me set boundaries and expectations and communicate and communicate boundaries and expectations better. And then the longer I’ve been coaching, the more of clarified, you know, communicating those expectations and not consequences, but accountability, right? These are not these are not me punishing you. There is a punishment. If you do something way out of line, there’s going to be a punishment. But most of life is just natural consequences, and that’s just a result of your own action. So those types of things just getting different language around it.

Brianna Battles  39:42

I love that. And I always say like, coaching was probably the only thing that even remotely prepared me for motherhood. But motherhood has been the lens in which I feel like I’ve you just, like, gained so much perspective that you’re able to like, share and teach and communicate so differently. And I think that especially in the role. That you’re in being a heavy influence on the next chapter that these ladies are going to be entering, whether it’s like in six months or within the next few years, your role is really powerful. And I think just your insight here is really inspirational for other coaches to hear, for other young coaches to hear, for female athletes to hear, and frankly, for mothers to know, as we are raising this next generation of of young athletes and what they’re going to be experiencing and how we can help prepare them. So Julie, if people want to follow you, is there anywhere that you’re comfortable sharing where they can follow you?

Julie Snodgrass  40:38

I mean, I don’t post that much right now. I mean, I’m Julie, at Julie Snodgrass on Instagram, I’ll sometimes post like, funny reels with my kids, or just like little tidbits of like words of wisdom, you know, just like something that comes to mind. I, you know, tend to have weird ideas hit me when I’m in the car and I’m like, you know, the world needs to know this. And so it’s little sayings like that right now, but coaching is my main priority right now, and that’s where most of my energy and focus is going. But, yeah, that’s a lot of fun.

Brianna Battles  41:06

Well, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. It was so good to, like, reconnect with you, and I’m proud of you for staying in it for so long, and for the growth that you’ve helped create for more women being in coaching, especially within the water polo space and like, it’s just a lot to be said for for the example that you’ve set in so many different ways.

Julie Snodgrass  41:24

Well, thanks for having me on, and you’re an inspiration. I love watching you grow and learn and do all the things and take on all the challenges. So it’s really fun to, you know, cyber follow you all the time, to reconnect digitally in person too. So love it. Oh, so good.

Brianna Battles  41:37

Well, thanks, Julie. Have a good one. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Practice Brave podcast. If you enjoyed the show, please leave a review and help us spread the work we are doing to improve the overall information and messaging in the fitness industry and beyond. Now, if you are pregnant and you are looking for a trustworthy exercise program to follow. I have you covered. The pregnant athlete training program is a well rounded program for pregnancy with workouts for each week that are appropriate for your changing body. That’s 36 weeks of workouts, three to four workouts each week, and tons of guidance on exercise strategy. We also have an at home version of that program if you are postpartum and you’re looking for an exercise program to follow. The eight week postpartum athlete training program would be a really great way to help bridge the gap between rehab and the fitness you actually want to do. From there, we have the practice brave fitness program, which is an ongoing strength conditioning program, where you get new workouts each week and have a lot of guidance for myself and my co coach, Heather Osby, this is the only way that I’m really offering ongoing coaching at this point in time. If you have ever considered becoming a certified pregnancy and postpartum athleticism coach, I would love to have you join us. Pregnancy and postpartum athleticism is a self paced online certification course that will up level your coaching skills and help connect the dots between pelvic health and long term athletic performance, especially during pregnancy and postpartum, become who you needed and become who your online and local community needs by becoming a certified pregnancy and postpartum athleticism coach. Thank you again for listening to the practice brave podcast. I appreciate you, and please help me continue spreading this messaging, this information and this work.