Sioux Falls City FC

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Website: siouxfallscityfc.com

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Show Notes

Robert Peterson 0:28
Welcome to the Add valued entrepreneurs podcast, where we're on a mission to end entrepreneurial unhappiness. If you're an entrepreneur with a burning desire to change the world, this podcast is for you. We're here to help you transform your life in business so you can achieve the freedom and fulfillment you crave. This show is dedicated to entrepreneurs who want more out of their life, more meaning more purpose, and ultimately, more happiness. You deserve it all. And it's possible. I'm your host, Robert Peterson. Pastor turned life coach for business owners. I believe that success without happiness is not true success at all. But there's always hope for those who are willing to take action. Join us every week as we bring you inspire leaders and messages that will help you on your journey towards success. Thank you for investing your time with us today. Let's get started. What do you get when two soccer moms come together? An amazing mission to empower women through soccer. Meet Emily Thomas and Melissa Nelson.

Noelle Peterson 1:36
Emily is a community activist and mom of three. Melissa is a registered nurse and mom of three

Robert Peterson 1:44
men over 10 years ago on the pitch while their daughters were playing competitive soccer in their hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Combine these two with a crazy idea. And you have the Sioux Falls City Football Club and elite woman's pre professional soccer team in Sioux Falls, South Dakota,

Noelle Peterson 2:03
a first of its kind in Sioux Falls and South Dakota, together with their husbands and an amazing group of people. They're elevating the game of soccer in Sioux Falls and the surrounding area,

Robert Peterson 2:13
Robert and well learn from Emily and Melissa to women who are trying to elevate young women to the possibility of professional sports.

Noelle Peterson 2:21
Emily Thomas and Melissa Nelson are the entrepreneurs making the Sioux Falls City Football Club happen? A pre professional soccer team creating opportunities for women's soccer in South Dakota.

Robert Peterson 2:32
Well, Emily, Melissa, thank you so much for joining us, I will say that you are our first executive directors of a pre professional sports team. So we're excited to have this conversation. Thank you is. So I guess the best place to start is tell us what made you guys decide to take on ownership and leadership of a sports team.

Unknown Speaker 2:55
Yeah, good question. Right.

Unknown Speaker 2:58
Let's I'll let you take this because you were the one who started it. I blame you.

Unknown Speaker 3:03
Yeah, I'll take all the blame. I can handle it. Yeah, big shoulders. Well, I'll go back and we'll go all the way back. If somebody wants to hear the origin story, they can certainly listen to your episode with gave my husband because he did a great job of of kind of putting that out there and laying out the groundwork. So I won't repeat all that. But I will go back to the fall of 21. When he brought the idea to me, I think he had mentioned we were out for a walk. And he brought up the idea totally thinking I was gonna shoot it down, we would move on and and talk about something else. And I think, for me, it felt like something that something I really needed to think about it to me it was it was something we needed to explore. We don't have any women's sports teams in our city or state. We definitely needed a higher level of soccer. Both the Thomas family and our family have have soccer players. And that's what brought us together a decade ago. And so we're very passionate about the game of soccer, especially on the women's side. So we saw a need for it. And for me personally with three daughters. I felt like it was really important. It kind of almost felt like a call to courage for me as far as being a role model and creating something that my daughters could see as important work to support and lift up other women and give girls in our area something to really look at and aspire to be a part of. So for me it was it was kind of twofold. It was bringing soccer to the community which was needed plus something that I wanted to also put out there for our daughters. So that's kind of where I came from. So then I told Gabe Yeah, let's absolutely look into this of course You got to do the research. So he did that. And it just made sense. And that's kind of where everything just kind of made sense. As we went. We talked to the Thomases, they were the first people we thought of. And so we talked to them at dinner and really didn't get a chance to say that interested. All right, we just we just said, Hey, we're doing this, and we think you should join us. And it really lit it. Literally, we just started planning from there. And so and I know Emily will share, you know, she has different probably wise as to what led her to say yes to this. But we yeah, we jumped in with them. Of course, we applied, we were accepted in December of 21, to the league, and the holidays happen, so of course, nothing gets done. So we really, we really worked hard. And in four months, we raised money, we created an organization, we hired coaches, our coaches, recruited and had players and we had our first game in mid May of 22. So turned out to be quite an exceptional first year, and we've got a whole year behind us now. So

Noelle Peterson 6:17
the standards high. Yeah, we started up here. But, Emily, well, I

Unknown Speaker 6:26
would say like, as far as standards being high, that was one thing that we said, When the four of us were talking was if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it. Right. And I think so, you know, Melissa was kind of talking about a little of how that all got started. And, for me, my, my, my journey is a little different, and my y's are a little different. Like Melissa said, and so our daughters played together, when they were little. And then my daughter wanted to she's always wanted to be a professional soccer player. And, like Melissa said, there's nothing in our area to make that happen. And so she actually moved away when she was 14. And she went to a boarding school for soccer, at the highest level, because that was the only way that she thought that she would get seen by all these college coaches and colleges kind of the pathway to get to the next level for women. Totally different for the men's side, but so she left and then through all of her experiences, which it was not easy. We went through a lot, we went through a lot of food and imagine, know what we went through a lot of coaching changes and league changes and having to figure out if she's gonna stay there and where she can play. It was just, it was a lot injury on top of that. So we've had a lot of experiences as far as like, what's what's really good. And then what's really bad. And I just have always hated politics in sports, as far as you know, oh, this person is going to play because their parents gave them money, or because they're, that makes me nauseous. And unfortunately, you know, we saw that happen. And I knew after, you know, talking to Melissa, we that we can make, we can do this different, like we can do this better. And, and so it's all of those experiences that I've lived through through my daughter, I've brought them to our organization. And, and, you know, it's through her that I've learned and thankfully, everyone's on the same team and on the same page, and we all want, we all want to bring something different and something better. That is just not normally thought of. And so it's really exciting. And like Melissa said, we did we set the bar really high. And we continue we we plan on just continuing that so yeah.

Noelle Peterson 9:21
Can you share a little bit of how I know you guys had great fan base, obviously pulled in coaches and players and just the community support. I know we talked a little bit with Gabe about the connections and how valuable that was because want to add a little bit to that.

Unknown Speaker 9:39
Um, yeah, so we really the four of us just started kind of digging in and first it was coming up with everybody that we knew. So we started you know, tapping into all of those resources right. And then our local soccer community of course, is where we both came out of with our with our daughters to get to the level they're at. So of course we had you know, on people and contacts there. And then we talk a lot to within the four of us just how things kind of organically happen. We had different people reach out to us, or would meet people through different organizations that we were involved in that were like, Hey, I would like to be a part of that, or oh my gosh, like, this is amazing. And, and we really created an amazing story. Really, it kind of all just happened, we I don't think we really realized it at the time. But this journey that we went on, and that we were sharing the story, we were telling, really, I think resonated with a lot of people. And a lot of people really recognize that it's needed, there needs to be changed, there needs to be changed, not only just in bringing, you know, higher level soccer to to our state, but there needs to be change in women's sports and women's soccer as well. And if we can make a tiny dent, tiny difference. That's I think we're a lot of people kind of joined in, and I'll let Emily add to that. But it just people started kind of contacting us as we started reaching out, and, and the ball just kind of kept rolling and getting bigger and bigger.

Unknown Speaker 11:09
Yeah, and I'll say, so for the for the connection piece. I think that's a big thing that my husband Eric and I brought in is having been in a different states and having all of those different levels of connection, we were able to bring that those connections to the table. And I will say that gave him Melissa had to take a huge leap of faith, and trust us with those connections. And so we learned from the very beginning of how to learn, like how to how to work together how to trust each other, and knowing ultimately, that we all have the same end game and the same values and everything in place that's helped, that's helped us and, and when we started, like I said, we all kind of agreed on the same thing. But we none of us realized

Noelle Peterson 12:11
how big it was going to be, and

Unknown Speaker 12:13
how important it was going to be. And that I had no idea going into this, that it was going to be this big, I don't know this really big important thing for for women and little girls and, and boys to see women in these, getting these opportunities as well. And, and so when we talk to our branding person who's amazing, he just kind of said, Your what you're doing is important. And it's needed, and I can't believe it hasn't been done yet. And so, at that time, all of us just kind of went, Oh my God. But we've embraced it. And we are very, very much following our pillars of I mean, we decided the four of us that we were going to be authentic, and you're gonna be full of integrity, and everything we were going to do is going to be full of purpose. And that has guided us. We are very inclusive team. We everyone is everyone's invited. Everyone is we want to hear from everyone, like everyone's voice matters. And I think that has kind of, we didn't know that that was going to be so important as it is now. And so, me personally, that's a really like that makes me I think the probably the most proud is what we're doing, and what kind of platform we're giving these young women and how we're supporting them and doing good things that are right. And so it's just, I don't know, it makes me it makes me happy.

Robert Peterson 14:00
So you mentioned the trust, and obviously two families coming together. So let's talk about the roles. Obviously, as a couple of working together, we recognize the challenges of of working together as a couple. You guys have doubled the challenges, which really means you've probably for exited because now you're two couples working together. So how do we decide roles? And, and obviously, I'd love to get into how you decided what what these core values were as well.

Unknown Speaker 14:30
Well, as far as Yannick we really Yeah, I mean, honestly, we have worked through just identifying strengths. I mean, we all like Emily said have the same purpose. We're going in the same direction, but we all really have different strengths. And so it's taken time. I mean, it definitely didn't happen overnight. We really had to have some hard conversations and work through some things to figure out you You know, to figure out each other and to help identify our strengths and work through different situations. So I think that's been really a huge part of it is working through our strengths. And I know I won't speak for Emily. But But we both are working really hard on our leadership skills as women, I think it's really important. You know, we're, we're here to show up for not only our own children, but for these players on the team. And so, you know, we've been working through leadership programs of our own independently so that we can come in and be strong and be effective. And so that's also been very helpful to to help guide kind of where everything's going. But definitely, it's it's work. I mean, it's not easy. In the past, Gabe and I had worked together when he first started his and in the insurance world, and the property casualty world, I worked with him. And so we've had some experience working together. So that I guess wasn't totally new. But then yeah, joining forces with another couple, it's definitely been eye opening, we've learned a lot, I think we've come a long ways.

Unknown Speaker 16:12
Oh, my goodness. Yes. People personally, and just as a, as a group, I have not worked with my husband before. And I tell everyone, this if we weren't being as together with the amount of time and just, you know, what, what did you do today? No one else understands. No one else gets it. And so if I were to, you know, if I were to come home, and they were saying like, Oh, I've got another meeting or whatever, it would not go over well, so it's it's very fun. Actually, it's brought us a lot closer doing this together to share this, Pat. I mean, it's, it's truly a passion project, at this point. And, you know, I have to, we have to laugh, because my husband was the was the very beginning. You guys go, I will just be in the background. And yeah, like, I'll be involved in some in the decisions, you know, that we made, but I'm not doing the day, the day to day grind. We can't get him to leave the day. It's just been fun to see everyone. We never knew what each other's strengths were. That is kind of just progressed, right? Like we the R word is organically. It's just progressed. And I've learned that I am not a detail oriented person, Melissa, it's And so together, we get a lot done, we're gonna I was gonna say something else. This is a family show. We've realized that and we're working towards that. And like, like she said, we're both going through these leadership things. And the biggest thing is like believing in ourselves, because we each believe in each other. And I will tell you, you all, personally, Melissa has an ex filter this, this is not new to her. But she has helped me kind of become my true authentic self love that scared to do the hard, the hard confrontations that sometimes have to be done. And we have had some it's not like we were best friends. When our kids were going to when they're playing together, we hung out but we never like hung out outside of soccer. And so then after 10 years, we get this call. And so we're we're kind of relearning each other again, but it has been like she Melissa has helped me grow like tremendously with my own journey. So I could not imagine doing this with anyone else.

Unknown Speaker 19:20
I will say the same. I mean, it's it's amazing what we have learned from each other and about ourselves working with each other. Absolutely.

Noelle Peterson 19:29
Yeah, there's so many ways we could go with this. And it's just you guys have such an amazing story. And I do see the correlation to building a business. When you're building a business by yourself. You don't have those conversations. You don't have the innate organic way to work through those situations. But you still have to write have to figure out your strengths. You have to figure out what to delegate you have to figure out what the plan is you have to figure out what your core values are. You still have to go through all those things. I think there's a lot of correlation to what you guys have done in only what 18 months On set most to get to this point. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 20:06
Right. Yeah. Cool. That sounds great.

Noelle Peterson 20:10
So one question is, how did you guys figure out the goal, the same direction that you guys talked about?

Unknown Speaker 20:15
Well, when we first went to, what was that,

Unknown Speaker 20:20
unless that's changed a little? Yeah, not really, I guess, for me,

Unknown Speaker 20:25
it was about it, obviously was about soccer. For women, it was about a higher level, and then it was okay, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this, right? We're not going to just, you know, half asset, we're going to do this right. And then one thing that we did really early on, and honestly, like, I'm so impressed with us, because, you know, you know, Gabe, of course, has, you know, he's, he's been in business planning. But the four of us came together, and we sat down, and we came up with our three pillars, we wrote our mission of empowering women through soccer. Simple, its straightforward. And then we came up with our mission. And that included those three pillars of authenticity, integrity, and purpose. And we really got clear on those values right from the beginning. And those are things that have guided us, they have given us that sense of purpose. And they have really been our filter, whenever we have had to make a decision, whether it be working with a partner, or what kind of culture we were going to create. That's we drill it through that, that filter every time. And sometimes we have to even like say it back to each other just because that's, that's where we're at. And we're all really committed to that. And that has also been very helpful. So that's, I think, how we were able to come together, we had a basic premise, we drill down right away, made those clear values, and we have really not strayed from those and those have guided all of our decisions for the last 12 months.

Unknown Speaker 22:05
Yeah, and everyone else in the organization to have our all mean 100% bought in and understand and, yeah, that's made it easier.

Robert Peterson 22:18
Yeah, well, and having those boundaries having that you mentioned that the same direction. And, and having those pillars as as guideposts for decision making, is is so powerful. And, and I think some people don't do that work ahead of time, they don't do that work in their business. And they're caught just trying to run a soccer team, or they're caught just trying to run a plumbing company. And, and without those pillars, they make their decisions based on how they feel in the moment. And it leads to different choices, right? And so I think those pillars, and that, that direction of empowering women Docker is, is so powerful, and it obviously makes your job easier on the one hand, but yet harder to stay loyal to those pillars. Absolutely.

Noelle Peterson 23:08
I'll compare it to the Bible in the story of building your house on the rock versus the sand. And having that strong foundation makes a difference.

Unknown Speaker 23:16
It Yeah, it's huge. 100%. And in I think the thing that we pride ourselves on and we will call each other out, we will question each other, you know, our social media, we all are in agreement. But then you know, our social media manager will say, Well, can I put this out? Does this align with our I mean, we've we've gone back and forth on how that looks, you know, and that represents not only us, but our organization and the players now who play for us. And so it's it's, it's bigger than just us now. And sometimes it's stuck. It's a struggle, because there are some that don't necessarily agree with with it. But we are really, really trying to not only just walk the walk, or not only talk the talk, but walk the walk and so far we've done it, we've done it, and I'm proud of us.

Robert Peterson 24:20
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Noelle Peterson 25:12
The word that's come to my mind a couple times already in this short 20 minutes is passion. I think that the fact that you guys are aligned, and the passion that you share in your story has to be part of the reason you've got so much success in 12 months. And you can see that passion just shines through everything you do has to make real.

Unknown Speaker 25:35
Yeah, and you're not wrong, we are, we are super passionate about this. And, you know, for the platform that we are giving to these young women, to be able to play soccer and to get better and to have a voice. You know, that's the other thing too, that we, again, didn't really plan. But it just kind of happened that we started, you know, having awarenesses that we brought forward for each of our games, and this was stuff that was important that we that the ladies on the team were all involved in deciding whether they were involved with it or not. And creating that platform for them to use their voice has been really powerful, really powerful. I mean, that, to me was something I did not expect. But I am also, you know, very proud that we are we are giving that to these young ladies and you know, helping them be strong and lift them up so that they will in turn lift up other women.

Unknown Speaker 26:37
Yeah. And I think along those lines, you know, we had these causes. And we learned, I mean, I would say that all of us are very open to learning and love to learn. And we know we don't know, anything, we are just literally doing the best we can knowing like leading from our hearts. And just because we truly believe in what we're doing. And so we we knew that, you know, there are going to be some times where the players don't necessarily see eye to eye, you know, and that's what happens in life. And so I am really excited this this coming season, we have we've created a player's Council. And the players Council will then talk about these issues and these causes that the team you know, wants to stand for and to create awareness of. And I'm really excited, because I know, like, in the other some of the other work that Melissa and I both do, there's a lot of like, there's a lot of shields and defenses that go up and people just are just closed off to even listening. And so I'm super excited to have, like, basically the bridge and just learning to communicate and to meet each other where they are. And to just, I don't know, just really learn why, why they're at the place where they are. Because I think that's so important. And I don't think it happens enough. And so I just I'm excited for that. And for them to be to know that they're supported, you know,

Noelle Peterson 28:21
you can help them and lead them if you don't know where they're at. It's a lot easier to take. Nowadays talked about how you weren't best friends, when the girls were little. How has it working together changed your relationship?

Unknown Speaker 28:34
Oh, we're so much closer now. I mean, we have conversations with each other that we probably have, at least from my, my perspective that we that I probably have deeper conversations with Emily than I have with most other people.

Unknown Speaker 28:47
I will definitely second that. My bad day. was the first person I talked to you. Yeah. So I mean, it's it's a different is it? I have learned through this whole thing, that connection is very important to me. And I get that with Melissa. And so it's definitely I mean, I consider her one of my best friends now. So yeah,

Noelle Peterson 29:12
I think that just adds to the influence you have on these girls, you want to empower them. And this team is just an amazing way to give them support and guidance. And they it's the boys, just the picture that there's something out there that they can attain to, that we don't necessarily get when we were kids. But the relationship you guys have I think is also a very vital thing to look at and make sure that that you know, to acknowledge that you guys are influencing them in that through that as well.

Unknown Speaker 29:39
Yeah, no, I think so. I never thought about about it that way. And that's yeah, I love that.

Robert Peterson 29:46
You mentioned you mentioned causes you mentioned to players counseled to see what the team stands for. What what does it meant to the organization in the opportunities to give back

Unknown Speaker 30:00
That's, that's been important to us. That's been something that also didn't really plan on in the beginning, but has kind of naturally evolved. We have tried to create opportunities. So last spring when the players come to us when they get done with their school year, so in May they come and it's a short season. Usually, it's by end of June, early July, that they're, they're done with their team and the W PSL. And so we tried to come up with as many opportunities to volunteer in the community, whether it was reading a book in a school or working at feeding South Dakota, or helping volunteer in the soccer community. And so we did some of that, and that was very well received. And we're working to make that even better this year for our players. So we're working on opportunities there. And then something else that we created, that kind of was an idea. I mean, we're, we like I said, we, we don't know everything, and we'll be the first to admit it. So we are surrounding ourselves with people that do know the things. And I'm looking to other other teams and other people and other inspirations. And so we did see an idea and started kind of our own version of it, we formed the city crew. And what that is, is it simply volunteers that can be our staff, it can be us owners, it can be the players, it can be our fans that come together and give back in the community. So whether it's supporting a suicide awareness, walk, whether it's wrapping gifts for donations back to a Children's Shelter, we are working to find those those things in the community so we can be a part of it and Sioux Falls City can can be in the community and giving back because we do ask the community to support us without that support, we wouldn't be able to exist. So we have made that an important component. And that does fall under our pillar of purpose.

Noelle Peterson 31:56
Yeah, being the part and you're you're you're raising these girls to be the best person they can and well rounded in all the different ways it that's just all part of it. I do want to ask you, you're mentoring them, you're influencing them. What have mentors meant to you to? Everything?

Unknown Speaker 32:16
Yeah, I think I just started, you know, through this, I started a and I'm gonna, I'm gonna give a shout out if that's okay. fearless and capable. I am a part of that platform. And that is basically women in sport. And we, I have had such great connections and great conversations and just being able to listen and ask questions and be, I don't know, just steered toward something else that can help you. And it's another woman that understands, you know, being a mom, you know, you you wear your mom hat, and then you have to wear your ownership hat. And then you have to wear your wife hat. I mean, there's so many hats. And it's how it's been very eye opening and very just encouraging to be a part of that. So I've loved I've loved it. Melissa, I know you've done something different. So

Unknown Speaker 33:20
yeah, I did. I'm in the process of doing a deer to lead program. And that's a leadership program. And it's a facilitator that's been trained through the Brene, brown work that she has done. And so that has been really eye opening, I, I've learned a lot about myself about how I work with others. So I'll continue on with that. And the other thing too, that I think Emily and I have done again, by realizing we don't we don't know everything. And so we have tried to reach out to others in different communities, we've had zooms with, with people in different realms to help us understand to kind of help us educate different sectors of the community, and how to be more inclusive, and what that looks like. So we've been working on that, and that will always be something that I think we we move forward with. It's just it's just so important. There's just so much that we don't know and we're both just and fortunately, we're both just really excited about learning and growing and and just only getting better. So

Robert Peterson 34:26
I think it's Yeah, I love that you mentioned growing and learning as a as a mean, it's almost a core value that you're both committed to continuing to grow and continuing to learn. And, and just the the ways that you've stepped out into that. Now, you mentioned obviously serving the community because you need the community you need fans. And so let's talk about how how does that how does a brand new soccer team with women get fans in an industry right now that so far as an attractive

Noelle Peterson 34:56
fan, a state that doesn't have sports

Robert Peterson 34:58
in the standard state that has Has any sports at all?

Unknown Speaker 35:01
Well, I will say we do have sports and are in the people of Sioux Falls in the surrounding areas are amazing for supporting our teams. And so a huge shout out. And that's, that's part of the reason we decided to do this is because we knew that the community supports local teams. And so that, that really helped us say, okay, yes, we can absolutely do this. I think that we, being the first pre professional women's team, you know, anything new is always something fun, you know. And, and then I think we put on, I mean, we had great game days, the, I mean, we just tried to provide the best experience for the fans, for the players, we've really tried to make it professional, I mean, everything we've done, because that is ultimately our that is our ultimate goal is to bring a professional women's team to South Dakota. And so we've always treated it as such. And so I think it was just exciting, because all of these girls and, and I have a younger daughter, who's who is she's 15. And she plays for the youth team still, and just to hear some of the comments of those girls like, wow, I can play for Sioux Falls City someday, like that is like that just fills us all up. Like, that's exactly what we want them to be able to say is that, and so, I mean, those are kind of some easy things, you know, being new and the only when, you know, women's sport. But I think it's really the more we've talked to people, they really believe in what we're doing. We firmly believe in partnerships, we want these to be win wins for both the you know, whoever partners with us, and then us, I mean, we, we really care, like we really want these connections, and they mean everything. And we want every single business in the community to feel like this. And our motto is, this is our city, meaning that this is everyone's team. And we want them to be proud of us. And in vice versa. We want to be proud to be represented by them as well. So yeah, communities, huge, huge, and it's been fun getting to know people too.

Noelle Peterson 37:42
I'll connect it back to entrepreneurs, again, I can see that customer journey, if you if you think about what the customer journey is, and what your bands are experiencing. And you put yourself in their shoes, or whatever it makes a it does make a difference in the experience.

Unknown Speaker 37:56
It does. And we took all that into account when deciding on our venue, we we ended up going with a stadium, that is a true stadium feel it's a football field that we have painted. So I mean, you got you've got the the full stadium feel to it, you know, you've got concessions, we've got the lights when they are needed. We've got a great sound system. It's we really made it have that professional level, like we mentioned, we are doing it right. And so that coupled with all the things such as is cool merchandise, I mean, we had someone we worked with from the very beginning, who really also has a credit for pushing us in the right direction to create something he said you are not just putting a team out there, you're creating a brand. And this is important work. And so he was one of the first that helped us see how big this responsibility really is. And so with that we had cool merchandise and all the volunteers that came forward to help. We had our local news that did that televised and live streamed it. I mean, it was just everything was was just top notch. And people recognize that and the other teams coming in those families and players recognize it as well.

Robert Peterson 39:12
Yeah, well, I mean, you don't even imagine right when you take on we're going to put together this soccer team now. Now we're now we're in charge of concessions and making sure fans have an experience with a hotdog and a soda. Like that was a long that was a long ways from from giving girls a place to play soccer. Yes. Yeah. Well obviously branding and merchandising really important. Naming the team even you know, had to be a huge, huge part of that a logo, all of those things, but right who to imagine we'd be in charge of how do we figure out how to feed these fans?

Unknown Speaker 39:50
All those decisions are Yeah, how

Robert Peterson 39:52
did we how do we solve this Kadesh concession problem?

Unknown Speaker 39:58
Well, we find somebody that does the concessions and knows how to do it again, surrounding ourselves with those people that know how to do those things.

Noelle Peterson 40:07
Focusing on your strengths, you do what you can do and you outsource what you don't want to do or can't do.

Robert Peterson 40:14
Yeah. All right. So obviously play as a part of the team's activity. But let's talk about the leadership. How important is playing fun for leadership?

Unknown Speaker 40:26
I mean, you've already talked a game. So you know the answer to that is,

Unknown Speaker 40:30
yes. Anyone that knows game knows he is about fun. So So Emily, and I knew right away for sure we were going to have fun. I mean, hands down. So yeah, I think I think we are working, we're having fun, but we're also figuring out that balance of work and fun, because there's a there's a lot of work. And like Emily said, I'm the detail person. And so sometimes I you know, I'm like, man, we gotta we gotta get this stuff done. That's, you know, I'm sometimes the one hater, but I'm getting better.

Unknown Speaker 41:03
Any, for me the biggest, you know, I've never done anything like this before. And so it's turning it off its boundaries. It's, and that's something that I am not good at. That is my word of the year. I'm working on that. Because it's there's always something right. And so it's, I think, having all four of us kind of on the same page. With that, that's, that's helpful as well. Yeah, yes. No, I mean, fun is never a problem.

Robert Peterson 41:37
So apparently, turning fun off is a challenge.

Unknown Speaker 41:41
Pretty much. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Part of this is also fun. And I think that's a prerequisite, even though we didn't really have that, as listed.

Noelle Peterson 41:54
You get to focus on each of your strengths. And when something comes up, you're taught, you know, you go back to filtering the boundaries. You're not saying no to fun, or you're not saying no to the details or the work. You're saying, yes, what has to happen? What follows those boundaries, and that filter? So you're, you have that guide, rail, guardrail, or whatever to help guide you.

Unknown Speaker 42:14
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I would say that we're still working on that. I mean, that's something that I think I think you're constantly working on, is that balance? And, you know, if Melissa, if I know she's working until 10 o'clock one night, and I feel bad, because I'm not I mean, it's all of these things that we have to, you know, that we're figuring out. And it's, I would say that we're both enjoying the process. So far. No.

Noelle Peterson 42:43
I know, you guys had a lot of success. It's been an amazing year for Sioux Falls City. What has been the biggest challenge?

Unknown Speaker 42:51
Last year was time for sure. I mean, with four months to raise money and put the team on the field last year was definitely time. This year, I would say for me, it's it's being creative, like figuring out how to be creative to really create that best partnership or that best experience. Yeah, that's, that's kind of what I'm, what I'm kind of focusing on is trying to really be creative with what this looks like, and thinking outside the box. And like Emily said, we're, we're trying to do things different. And not just how it's always been done. So, yeah, and let you add to that,

Unknown Speaker 43:35
um, definitely time, this time and every day. That's, that's challenging, because we both also do other things as well. And so, as much as we want, I mean, I could spend 24 hours a day doing Sioux Falls City stuff. I think for me, my my biggest challenge is I have all of these ideas. I don't know how to make them work. I need I just, I have all of these amazing thoughts, and I just, I need to figure out how to get him to fruition. implementer I haven't had one, it's Melissa.

Noelle Peterson 44:23
These conversations, thrown out the ideas and this is just hurriedly trying to figure out how to make them happen. Exactly

Unknown Speaker 44:29
what happened. My next question is okay, and how's that? How much is that going to cost? Because that's Yeah, yeah. Well, I

Unknown Speaker 44:38
challenge you. I mean, I would say that as a challenge is obviously we want to give the best experience for the players. We want to do this professionally. And that costs a lot of money. And so you know, just getting and we only you don't We don't know everyone. So With also having the time to go and meet with people, and to share our story and to, and to get people to buy into what we're trying to bring to Sioux Falls, you know, and that's been, that's been a challenge for me as well.

Noelle Peterson 45:17
And I, I just want to acknowledge that you guys are taking the time and you're going out and you're making this difference for these girls. And having that focus, I think, is not only in Sioux Falls City, that is going to reach far beyond the borders of South Dakota, in girls across the nation, are going to hear about the Sioux Falls City soccer team, and think they have a chance at doing what they want to do.

Unknown Speaker 45:48
That's really the goal. I mean, like, this is a passion project. It's something we feel strongly about, you know, if we can empower as many women as possible. I mean, that's a huge win. In my book,

Robert Peterson 46:01
I just want to acknowledge the power of a dream, right? It gave just had an idea and you have a conversation on, you know, on a path or sidewalk, you know, walking the dog and, and now it's come to this, this incredible thing that's impacting so many lives. It's impacting a city, it's, it's impacting women at all levels, and in the power of just taking a dream and saying, not saying no, you know, verbalizing it, writing it down, making it real, is so incredible. And I encourage people all the time to design the life that you want, and then figure out how to make it happen. And, and you guys have done that with this with the soccer team. And that's incredible. And your dream of bringing a professional soccer, women's soccer team to South Dakota is just incredible drive and motivation. And, and I know you're gonna make it happen, because obviously, your incredible dream actuators and so that's, that's amazing. All right, so we typically end every episode with our guests words of wisdom. So are each of you can share, you know, for our entrepreneurial folks listening, you know, just share, what would you share? If you just had coffee, and you want to leave them with that one nugget that's gonna let them start their own soccer team.

Unknown Speaker 47:22
Start their dream. Yeah, well, I guess my two words or nuggets would be, like I mentioned earlier, get really clear on your values that will take you so far that will guide you when things get dark, and, you know, help you find your way. The other thing is, I would say Brene. Brown says embrace the suck. I think that is really important. I've worked on that this whole year, getting comfortable being uncomfortable, and kind of leaning into it. So that's, I guess what I would share.

Unknown Speaker 48:01
And as someone who never envisioned herself being an entrepreneur or anything, I would say it's never too late. You are sometimes given opportunities that you never thought you would have and take a leap. You know, that's kind of our thing is to take a leap with us, please and take a leap of the unknown, but then trust yourself and your Yeah, I mean, just trust yourself that you can do it. And then stay true to yourself. Don't Don't let others try to sway you in another direction. But yeah,

Noelle Peterson 48:43
please back to those values. Thank you, ladies for joining us. It has been a wonderful treat for us to hear your story and passion and just the drive you have to empower women. Oh, well,

Unknown Speaker 48:55
thank you for letting us speak on that and giving us a platform to do so you guys are great. Thank you.

Unknown Speaker 49:01
Thank you. Thanks for letting us share our story.

Robert Peterson 49:05
Thank you for tuning into this episode brought to you by the power of intentional decisions that lead to massive action. Those aren't just buzzwords. They're qualities that can help you take control of your life and build a successful business. To support you on this journey. We're offering you our most popular survey to help you establish a baseline visit enjoy biz life.com to check it out and take the first steps towards changing your life and we often make things more complicated than they need to be losing sight of what's truly important. This tool will help you refocus on what matters most so that you can start doing the things you've always wanted to do, like spending quality time with loved ones. And if you enjoyed this episode, please show us some love by liking, subscribing, or leaving a review, but most importantly, share it with someone who needs to hear it. In our next episode, our chat with Lady JB Oh A serial entrepreneur who loves empowering others to telling their stories. She believes in igniting humanity through stories and planting.

Noelle Peterson 50:09
She knows entrepreneurs will save the world and she's doing more than her part to empower them to success. Lady JP shares parts of her business journey and how she was inspired by your own success to help others be successful.