Thank you, Ms. Debbie Gonzales for writing your awesome picture book, Girls with Guts: The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records (Charlesbridge, 2019) and for inviting me on your debcast that features female athletes.

I also appreciate your interest in iEmpowerKids and our work to raise awareness of child trafficking, as well as your pitch about our star and heart ornaments. We have already gotten orders!!!!!!!! So a super huge thank you from me, my sister, Aubrey, and the girls in Thailand who handcraft the holiday ornaments to help transition out of their old life! Your sharing what we do helps raise awareness of the problem.

I had so much fun doing this podcast interview with Ms. Gonzales. She deserves a big shout out for her book and all of the work she’s doing to highlight female athletes. I only wish her book had been published sooner. So, if you know a little girl or are interested in books about girls who aren’t afraid of pushing boundaries, Girls with Guts is the book you need to read and gift. It’s a great girl empowerment story.

And thank you to all of the female soccer players–Julie Foudy, Megan Rapinoe, Michelle French, Marta Vieira da Silva, Christine Sinclair, Abby Wambach, Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Brandi Chastain, and so many others–before me who paved the way for my generation and generations to come. These are only a handful of amazing female soccer athletes you should invite onto your debcast, Ms. Gonzales. They have done so much for women’s soccer and the path soccer is on today.

Whenever I have a big game and need inspiration, my sister and I like to watch the movie, Dare to Dream, about the first women’s national soccer team and their struggle to raise funding to compete at a high level. Watching their rise to stardom, despite the obstacles, always pushes me to do my best on the field. Every little girl (and big ones too!) who love the game of soccer should own a copy of Dare to Dream and watch it frequently. We should never forget what these players had to do–and continue to do–to earn recognition and equality on and off the field.