At the Wrestle Like a Girl Summit, Katie Kriebel with USA Wrestling introduced me to a tradition I haven't stopped thinking about.
The athletes give bracelets to someone else. But they don't just hand one over. When they give the bracelet away, they tell that person something they admire about them.
I was fortunate enough to receive one from Heather Stapf at Resilite. The words she said actually brought tears to my eyes. Unless you are business owner, no one realizes the blood, sweat and literal tears you pour into your business. To have someone notice and tell you that you are inspiring is priceless.
And then came the catch:
I had to pass it on.
As the founder of Yes! Athletics, I spend a lot of time thinking about how we empower female athletes—especially girls and women in wrestling. We talk about confidence, courage, leadership, and creating opportunities for girls in sports.
But this tiny bracelet reminded me that sometimes empowering a girl starts with something much simpler:
Tell her what you see in her.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about who should receive my bracelet. And I realized pretty quickly that I couldn't choose just one person.
Because the three young women who inspire me most call me Mom.
So I'm passing this tradition on to my three daughters.
Grace — You Made Me Want to Be Better
Grace, I admire the woman you've become because, quite simply, you are a much better person than I was at your age. My world revolved around Happy Hours and parties. Your life revolves around God and how you can bless others on a daily basis.
Your faith is genuine. Your heart for serving others and mission work isn't something you simply talk about. It's something you live. Your dad had this same sense of mission
You also had to grow up faster than I ever wanted you to.
When your dad died, you were still a kid yourself. But as the oldest of three girls, there were times you stepped into a role you never should have had to fill. You helped. You protected. You loved your sisters. You carried things that were far too heavy for your young shoulders.
Yet somehow, those experiences didn't harden your heart.
They deepened it.
Watching you has reminded me that strength doesn't have to be loud. Sometimes strength looks like faith. Sometimes it looks like service. Sometimes it looks like quietly showing up for the people you love.
Grace, I admire your heart.
Rae — You Taught Me to Love Fearlessly
Rae, you love people with your whole heart. You have made it very “normal” to say “I Love You” to everyone.
And I admire that more than you probably know.
For a long time, I was guarded. Life had taught me that loving people deeply also meant giving them the ability to hurt you deeply. So I learned to protect myself.
But you approach life differently.
You love fearlessly.
You laugh loudly. You find joy. You care deeply about people. You aren't afraid to let people know they matter to you.
Watching you has challenged me to reconsider what strength really means.
Maybe strength isn't building walls so nothing can hurt us.
Maybe strength is having the courage to keep loving anyway.
You have inspired me to live with more joy, to love people more openly, and to stop being so afraid of what might happen when we let people into our hearts. I have learned that being vulnerable takes much more courage than being closed off and guarded.
Rae, I admire the way you love.
Annie — You Remind Me to Be Brave
Annie, you are fearless.
You are brave.
You have a willingness to step into hard things that continually amazes me.
You don't need everything to be comfortable before you try. You don't need guarantees that something will work before you step forward.
You just go.
And every time I watch you do it, I'm reminded of something I say all the time:
Say Yes! to hard and scary things.
The funny thing is, sometimes I wonder whether I taught you that—or whether watching you taught it to me.
Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's deciding that fear doesn't get to make our decisions for us.
Annie, I admire your courage and your grit.
Raising Strong Girls Means Telling Them What We See
As parents, coaches and mentors of female athletes, we spend so much time thinking about what we're supposed to teach our girls.
Be kind. Work hard. Have faith. Love people. Be brave. Do hard things.
But somewhere along the way, something beautiful happened.
My daughters started teaching me.
Grace has taught me about faith and service.
Rae has taught me to love without being so afraid.
Annie has taught me to be brave enough to step into hard things.
And maybe that is one of the greatest gifts of motherhood.
We raise our daughters, but if we're paying attention, they are shaping us right back.
Empowering the Next Generation of Female Athletes
This experience also reminded me why we built Yes! Athletics.
Our mission has always been bigger than women's wrestling shoes, singlets or apparel.
We're building a brand around the belief that girls deserve to know they belong.
Female athletes need equipment designed for their bodies. They need opportunities to compete. They need coaches who believe in them and communities willing to invest in women's sports.
But they also need something that doesn't cost anything- Kind Words.
They need us to tell them what we see in them.
Tell her she's brave.
Tell her you notice how hard she works.
Tell her she's a leader.
Tell her that her kindness matters.
Tell her you admire her resilience.
Tell her you're proud of the way she handles adversity.
Tell her she inspires you.
Don't assume she knows.
Because one sentence spoken at exactly the right moment might become part of the way a young woman learns to see herself.
Suicide Awareness is a cause close to our family. We are passionate about eliminating any stigma around mental health. What if your kind words truly becomes a life or death decision for someone?
Pass It On
That little bracelet I received at the Wrestle Like a Girl Summit probably isn't worth much in dollars.
But the idea behind it is priceless.
See something good in another woman or girl. Tell her. And then ask her to pass it on.
I went to the Wrestle Like a Girl Summit believing I might have an opportunity to inspire someone else.
I came home reminded that three of my greatest inspirations have been right in front of me all along.
Grace. Rae. Annie.
These bracelets are for you.
Now it's your turn.
Pass it on.