Name: Abby Wambach: This is What's Next for Me
Uploaded: 2015-12-02
Duration: 14 min 56 s
Description: The American soccer star discusses her retirement plans.

Abby, you will not say this about yourself but you are a legend, not only in women's soccer but in sports. You are the face and the voice of an entire generation of female athletes. And I know we have a lot of women athletes in the room because they took a survey before an 25 % of the women in this room played college sports. [ APPLAUSE ] Amazing. You made it your career. After you guys won the world cup. You went to the White House and Barack Obama said this about the US Women's National team, He said this team taught all American children that playing like a girl means you're a bad ****. [ LAUGH ] The leader of the badass team is right here. [ APPLAUSE ] Okay. What did it feel like to win that world cup? This is something that eluded you your entire career and you finally got it. Well obviously anybody here knows it was amazing, you know, what an accomplishment. But I think what for me was more important was kinda how it transcended the sport. This summer was amazing because we had 12- year- old boys that were pumped, right, to meet the Abby [ UNKNOWN ] and Alex Morgans of the world. And that made me realize that that 12- year- old girl that goes to school the next day or the next school year, she can stand a little taller because that 12- year- old boy thinks that You know, our team is a little bit better than the men's team. [ LAUGH ] [ APPLAUSE ] I [ INAUDIBLE ] about that. Okay. Your team is better than the men's team. Yeah. The final for the Women's World's Cup was the most watched soccer match in the United States of any soccer match ever. This is more than any men's match. More than the NBA finals more than the NHL finals. Yet, your entire team, was paid $ 2 million for winning The World Cup. The men's German team that won the men's World Cup the year before, made $ 35 million. Just a give a little bit more about this pay gap. The total payout for women who won the World Cup was 15 million. The total payout for men $ 576 million. Did you have any idea how big the pay gap Was. [ LAUGH ] Yeah. [ LAUGH ] It's my life. I've been living it for 30 years. I've been playing the game, and just recently announced my retirement, coming in a couple weeks. And the minute I announced my retirement, I started to really reflect on my career and everything, and I started to get pissed. Because I look to my counterparts across the aisle and, resumes aside, talking about Renaldo, and the Messies and the Lennon- Donovans, they get to walk away from their sport battered and bruised. And not have to worry about what I'm going to have to do next. And so that's impassioned me for the last couple of weeks to lose a little bit of my soccer identity. And kind of create this new thing. And my agent thinks that I have ten heads cuz every day I call him with like a new idea and a new person I want to meet. And a new something. And Alissa alluded to it earlier, that there's some sort of molecular energy pull that's happening with powerful women. And I know you guys all feel it. Because I literally walked around the hallway into the lobby. And it stopped me in my tracks. The power I felt from the energy in the room when you guys were outside. It was really loud. [ LAUGH ] But the energy punched me in my face. And I just wanna say that enough is enough. [ APPLAUSE ] Enough is enough. How do we turn that into It's a tangible change. Well, we've been letting it happen. Everybody in this room, you haven't let it happen to you, specifically. You're the five percent that don't allow the inequality to happen to you, and We have to create something and so that's where I'm at. You know? I'm in the middle of this creation of something that's tangible. It's not a movement. We talked at the table, that maybe it has to become a law or something. But we have to just stop allowing this to happen. I don't know, if I have to be a face of it, then fine, I don't care. But it has to stop. You mentioned something earlier about how it was cool when the 12 year old boys were just as proud that the US Women's National Team won the World Cup as the little girls were. Do men have to be a part of closing these wage gaps and how can they play a role? Absolutely, and that's the thing. I'm not male hating, I believe that we need them too obviously. [ LAUGH ] But the reality is I think that people are so innately brought up to believe that women are less than, that we're not as strong, or not as powerful. It's something that's so deep inside you that you, don't even know that it's happening. And you don't even know that you're being mistreated. You don't even know it. And so, I'm trying to go around and talk to as many CEO's and get into as many companies, and in front of as many powerful people as I can just to start a conversation, for now, and I think that I want for this, this is why I'm here, you know. This is starting a conversation whether you, and it's so deep in some people. That the first question is well, how are you gonna do it? And all of that to me is saying I'm scared. So don't be scared, don't be scared. Going back, though, to how you got to where you are. Obviously you have the innate confidence. To become a world class and one of the best soccer players of all time. But were you encouraged to follow that dream, or were there people kind of holding you back and did you have to have this massive chip on your shoulder? I think throughout my whole life I was the youngest of seven, so my whole life I was clawing for everything. Food Food. [ LAUGH ] Attention from my parents, whatever it was. So I was fighting from an early age, but I did have a really loving and accepting environment. And when your five year old little sister is beating you at every sport, you gain a little confidence, then. When did you realize you were that good? When did you realize that you could, not only play soccer at a high level, but that you could become a professional and that you could become one of the elite players? I know this might be hard to believe. I have a sense of myself, but I never look at myself in the mirror and go, yeah, you are number one in the world. [ LAUGH ] Scored a couple goals last night. You're good. Because the reality is, is no matter how I am, or how good I am on the field, that doesn't mean I'm a good person. So I base everything I do on who I am internally and not what I do externally. And that's really important, ya know, having some sort of balance and being able to hold yourself accountable. You know I think that everybody tries to please other people and holds themselves accountable only by what others think. Mm- hm. And I just hold myself accountable to what I think. That's interesting though, because you are a huge role model. So is there sort of a double edge sword, that you can hold yourself accountable, yet you know millions of people are looking up to you. What are the challenges that come with that? Well, I always, I've gotten this question a few times. People are like, oh social media. And how do you know what to write and what to say, yadda, yadda Well I'm a good person. [ LAUGH ] So if you're really trying to censor yourself then there is probably something going on there. [ LAUGH ] I'm serious. I don't get it like I'm right on Twitter and social media. How I'm feeling right now I'm having a muffin egg addiction. I can't break it. [ LAUGH ] So I'm socially shaming myself every time I eat a muffin. I take a picture and I post it on Twitter. I feel like you earn a couple muffins after all the training. That's what I want to keep saying. But when you're done playing. You got to be a little more careful. Okay, so let's talk about [ LAUGH ] Just being honest. Talk about now being done playing because you have obviously a lot of goals and a lot of things you want to accomplish. You want to build on the legacy you've already created on the soccer field, but I know because I've interviewed a lot of athletes, retirement can be very difficult. Retirement can be tough, because it takes away everything you knew And just throws that into a complete tailspin. Have you thought about that, and how you're gonna try and overcome that? Well, I think that for 30 years I've identified very much as a soccer player. And every second since I've announced my retirement, that identity kind of gets shed, and I think for the last couple of years I was little bit terrified of what the next thing be. And now that I said it out loud, it's like this whole new world opened up because I was so track minded that it was just all Foot soccer and eating right and staying fit and everything. And there's like a lot of stuff that needs to change. And since I retired I've gotten really impassioned and people ask me what are you gonna do next? And I'm like well, I'm gonna change the world. [ LAUGH ] [ APPLAUSE ] And people are like [ APPLAUSE ] And people are like, how? How are you gonna do that? I'm like, doesn't matter, I'm just gonna. I'm gonna figure out a way. I'm gonna find a way and I'm not scared to say that. People don't understand that I'm not scared to fail once, twice, three times over the next three years because the failures are the things and the reasons why I was able to be so successful. Playing. The failures are the things that I focus mostly about. I never won a state high school championship. I'm still pissed about it. [ LAUGH ] Seriously. [ LAUGH ] I hope you can let that go at some point. We're gonna open it up to the audience. Athletes. We're gonna open it up to the audience if anyone has any questions. I can see you in the back. Yes? [ INAUDIBLE ] You're welcome. How can we help you? How can we help you? Cuz that's what sisters do, that's the beauty of powerful women is the sorority that you have here in this room. How can we help you? Great question, and I think that it's been a law of attraction thing ever since I said I was gonna retire and I've said kind of out loud that I'm gonna change the world, and all of this stuff kind of has happened. And it kind of resonated me big time when I turned the corner and felt the energy. And the reality is, is this is like a little sorority we have, and I think that we just need to keep a conversation going and I'm gonna figure out something tangible in the near future. But I think what you can do is in your businesses and your industries, just keep the conversation going and have Have. Because do I believe right now it's gonna change [ SOUND ] like that? No, but I think that enough is enough. Not just the gender pay gap. I think that it's just the opportunity and having female board members making decisions about what's going on. And you guys are the group and You know, my agents in the back, you can give, everybody can give him your card, I'll just call you individually. We could hook up but the reality is for me is I will be and do whatever is necessary to make sure that by the time that I'm dead that this is no longer an issue. Period. [ APPLAUSE ] And time for one more question from the audience. One more question from the audience. Yes. Hey, Poppy. Hi, I'm Poppy from CNN, I've interviewed a lot [ INAUDIBLE ] in the last few years [ INAUDIBLE ] repeatedly that they feel like they can affect more change outside of Washington and that makes me sad to think that there is less and less of a belief in our political system. And you are so impacting and you have so many young people that look up to you and older people and I'm just interested if you've ever thought of Atleast a little bit of time in politics if that crosses your mind in terms of how to effect change or << Do you want me to run for president after Hillary? [ LAUGH ] I'll run for president after Hillary << That's not starter for you but just interested in your perspective about government verses private sector to effect change? << Yeah I think your right the The millennial generation, I just missed it, so we can talk about them in here. [ LAUGH ] They're so against politics because they just haven't really seen it change much. And I think that now socially we're in a different landscape with the social media. There's so much more information and There's so much scandal and all this stuff, the politics seems a little dirty but the reality is, like Alyssa was saying earlier, one moment can literally create a movement and I think that for me, my moment was realizing that I accepted Being paid and being treated equally for the entirety of my career and I'm going to make that different, I'm going to make that different for the next generation. Amazing. Abby, your last game is coming up December 16th in New Orleans. Thank God. [ LAUGH ] Well Abby Wambach, thank you so much, thank you, thank you. Thank you. [ APPLAUSE ]

The American soccer star discusses her retirement plans.