Tips & Talk 78 -10 Things I Learned as a Chicago Bears NFL Cheerleader

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Hey, Hey,

perfect timing football season is upon us.

This cheerleading thing probably comes as no surprise to you.

If you've been hanging out with me for a while,

I'm an eternal optimist.

I love to cheer people on I'm okay with attention.

And I love football.

My entrance into professional cheerleading was prompted by my lack of

excitement for my career situation.

Right after college,

I worked at an advertising agency in downtown Chicago,

starting at the bottom and determined to rise up those ranks.

While I picked up a lot of great learning by observation,

my tasks were mundane and challenging.

I knew my stint.

There would be short-lived by my own choosing,

but I wanted to put in the time and get what

I could out of it.

So really this cheerleading idea was to add some spice to

my life because my slow career start,

wasn't cutting it.

The possibility of making a spat on the Chicago beers cheerleading

team was a long shot.

I admit it,

but who cares?

My parents were the only ones who really knew about it

since I was still living at home,

newly out of college and all they'd always supported me in

the past,

but I could tell they were uncertain about this plan of

mine. No parent wants to see their child hurt or disappointed,

but my attitude was so what if I don't make it

it's worth a try.

Anyway, I made the first cut.

Then the second only one more to go.

This really got my parents nervous because they knew my hopes

were rising too.

I was beginning to believe that maybe I could make the

squad, the pinnacle of my cheerleading career.

It would be really fulfilling to reach the top of that

cheerleading pyramid as I saw it anyway,

I tried to play it cool,

but clearly I wasn't.

The final day of tryouts.

I was so nervous that I left my keys in the

car and kept it running by the way,

as I walked away for the final tryouts,

without even getting a valet pickup ticket.

Luckily my car was still there.

When I returned hours later,

I was lucky in another way that day too,

I made the team.

It was pretty surreal with all the TV cameras interviews and

the new team photos highlighting the quote unquote new girls had.

I doubted my abilities or been afraid of taking the chance.

I would never have tried out at all.

Learning number one to accomplish anything.

You need to put yourself out there.

You need to take the chance.

I'll tell you more about my time with the Chicago bears

later, but let me back up to the beginning because as

I reflect my learnings started there as a child.

My time was spent taking piano and violin lessons.

My mom not so secretly wanted me to be first violin

in the Chicago symphony,

a passion.

I didn't share somewhere along the way.

One of my teachers said I had musical talent.

That should be pursued because of my mom's interest.

I was accepted into a violin focused study at Northwestern university.

I was nine at the time.

And mind you included in my program was an hour of

music theory,

an hour of quartet practice one hour in solo lessons,

not to mention daily hour practices every single day of the

week. That along with schoolwork,

didn't leave much time for me to expand my horizons,

to try other things.

This story could go on and on.

So I'm going to cut it off here and jump straight

to learning number two,

just because you're good at something doesn't mean you have the

passion to invest a majority of your life to it.

I love my mom,

but one of the happiest days of my youth was finally

breaking free of music,

which didn't completely happen until I was a junior in high

school. And I'll say a connected learning here is don't force

your passion onto someone else.

If it doesn't resonate with them now to pacify me,

my mom did let me take acrobatics at the local park

district. I love the challenge of working hard at a new

trick, pushing past the fear of getting hurt and finally conquering

it. Aerials.

Flip-flops all of that was so fun and rewarding,

but not in the beginning.

It took weeks for me to actually do some of the

tricks, much less perfect them learning number three,

you aren't good at things right from the start.

Although that development and expertise will click in my cheerleading experience

started at the early age of 10 early for those times.

Anyway, there were no cheerleading camps or competitions back then,

like there are today.

These were the days when you fought with your siblings over,

who could use the house phone in one of my hours

long chats with my dear friend Patty,

she asked me a life-changing question.

So can you do the splits?

Yeah. All versions.

I was in acrobatics.

Remember upon confirmation,

she explained that she was forming a cheerleading squad for the

fifth grade and asked if I wanted to be on it.

Yes, of course.

This was a life changing question because it led to so

many other things that happened in my life after that new

friendships and learning how to perform in front of a crowd,

our book,

two wonderful outcomes of my saying yes to cheerleading learning number

four, jump on opportunities when they spring up and five,

it is truly who,

you know,

I knew Patty.

She knew me and the offer was made.

My cheerleading career was launched.

It would be nice to say that it was all smooth

sailing from there,

but I hit a major road bump in seventh grade in

middle school.

That was the start of having to try out for cheerleading

teams much to everyone's surprise.

I didn't make it.

In fact,

I was the very next one on the list.

Devastated is an understatement.

All my friends were on the squad and you know how

it is in your teen years,

friends are everything.

Not only was it embarrassing?

I was afraid I'd lose the closeness that we had established

because I'd no longer be spending hours with them at practice

and the games to my good fortune.

I was offered the job as manager,

not my favorite thing,

but at least a way to stay involved.

It was hard though.

I have to say seeing my friends in their uniforms on

Fridays and being with them,

but not if that makes any sense.

Plus I just loved the cheering part.

This part of my journey ended well though.

Oh, maybe I shouldn't say that.

One of the girls,

my dear friend got hurt and had to sit out the

rest of the year since I was next in line,

halfway through the season,

I was on that basketball court cheering again.

In those days you cheered for both football and basketball,

learning number six,

work through setbacks and swallow your pride.

If you have to in pursuit of your goals,

I'm happy to say that from here on out,

I made every team I tried out for,

but due to the experience of not making the team,

I never took for granted that a spot would be mine.

I worked hard before every tryout stayed humble.

When my name was on the list and lifted up those

who had their heart set and didn't make it.

I knew how it felt.

I'd been there learning number seven,

the work doesn't end when an achievement is reached,

you must continue to put in the energy to stay where

you are and even more to advance and learning number eight

don't ever get so overly confident in your position or expect

the same results.

Time after time.

They're not guaranteed.

I cheered all the way through high school and put myself

out there again in college.

That was a scary proposition because it's a level up.

I was an unknown amongst everyone else.

So my chances of claiming a spot dropped back to neutral,

at least in my prior years,

I had a track record going for me to migrate fortune.

I made it Eastern Illinois,

pink Panthers here I come at the university level.

It's different.

Again, new friendships were formed and my love of cheering was

still there.

Something else came to the forefront then to my interest in

leading the team,

being a captain,

actually, there were always two of us.

Co-captains being in charge,

having responsibility over actions of others,

learning to manage and work through interpersonal issues were all skills

that I learned then that served me well in my professional

world, I was a co-captain for three years,

so had plenty of time to do things wrong.

Perfect. My ways and test my leadership capabilities that leads to

learning number nine,

observing the role you naturally gravitate to in group settings could

lead to new opportunities that you may not have considered before.

And finally,

let's get back to the Chicago bears experience.

This is the big leagues,

right? The golden nugget,

the pinnacle of success.

Okay, true.

And I did enjoy my time on the squad.

There were nuances of being on a professional squad that were

fun, way more upscale and sophisticated dance choreography,

which I found really challenging and exciting stretched my limits.

Being in the limelight and being asked for autographs and recognized

on the street,

gave me a peek into being a celebrity on a small

level. Didn't feel comfortable with that at all.

Too much.

Recognition is a little unsettling to me.

I will say that being on the field and the energy

that you only understand if you're there was unbelievable.

The impact of pads on pads is really intense when you're

close up to the action.

And our locker room at soldier field was right across the

hall from the opposing team.

So running out onto the field with them was so exciting.

Their size and strength was incredible.

Here we are these small girls moving alongside these massive beasts.

And I say that in only a good way,

these were experiences.

I am so happy to have had.

And then there was the business end of being an NFL

cheerleader, no fraternizing with the players because they have a much

bigger job to do.

Of course,

the rules,

the unhealthy girl,

competitive drama,

and the safety concerns that I hadn't expected.

This comes with the big leagues of any profession,

I guess,

but it's the first time I encountered it,

which leads to the biggest learning.

I want to tell you,

I discovered in my cheerleading journey,

the farther along I progressed,

the more complicated and less fun it was my grade school,

middle school and high school,

years of cheerleading where the best college was fine too,

but it didn't have the same feel as before.

And being an NFL cheerleader was also fun,

but truly a job.

One that I didn't control,

do I regret doing it?

Not for a second.

My pompoms still sit in my basement and many decades later

is this.

And it's also really helped me to understand something super important.

Learning number 10,

the value is in the journey.

It's not only discovered when you reach the destination,

no matter where you are today in your handmade product business

experience. Please take the time to reflect and bring joy to

each stage.

It's not necessary to rush,

to get to the next level and do a happiness check

along the way.

Unlike my final stop with the Chicago bears,

where I had no control over the demands,

we were required to live up to.

You have complete control over your business experience,

check in with yourself regularly and make sure it feels right,

that you're still excited about the possibilities.

And if not make some changes,

that's the true beauty of owning your own business.

There's reward at each step,

along the way and enjoying it all is the key to

fulfillment and joy in your journey.

That's a wrap.

I'm a get to the point kind of girl.

And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek

sessions. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream

of yours.

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