The Pressure of Live Sports with Rebecca Lowe: Ep 12
Highlights from the episode:
The hidden toll of mom guilt in high-profile careers
Why nerves never fully disappear, even after years on live TV
The unseen preparation that fuels composure on air
Balancing ambition and family in the spotlight
The courage it takes to stay vulnerable in a pressure-filled industry
Podcast show notes:
You may know Rebecca Lowe as the sharp, unflappable voice of Premier League mornings on NBC. But what struck me most in this conversation wasn’t just her broadcasting skill; it was her candor about what it really feels like to sit in that chair, live, with millions watching.
Rebecca opens up about mom guilt, nerves, and the kind of preparation that doesn’t always silence self-doubt. She’s been at the center of some of sports’ biggest stages, yet she’s refreshingly honest about the pressure, the mistakes, and the ways she’s still learning to breathe through it all.
What You’ll Hear:
The path from London to hosting live sports in the U.S. (04:12)
The surprising ways mom guilt shows up in Rebecca’s career (15:03)
Behind the curtain of Premier League mornings (22:41)
How Rebecca handles mistakes in real time (34:18)
The quiet discipline that keeps her sharp on camera (42:10)
What Rebecca wants her son to know about her work (52:47)
Rebecca’s story is a reminder that even the pros who seem calm under the brightest lights are still human: navigating nerves, balancing family, and finding their voice in real time. If you’ve ever wondered what it really takes to perform live, this episode is for you.
Connect with REBECCA LOWE
Follow Rebecca on Instagram.
Be sure to subscribe to Things No One Tells You—Lindsay’s podcast all about the real, unfiltered conversations we don’t always have but should. From big names to everyday voices, each episode dives into the moments that shape us. Listen wherever you get your podcasts!
Follow along with Lindsay below!
Full Transcript
[00:00:00] Rebecca: There are moms in every walk of life, not just sports broadcasting, that go through this. And some of 'em have it a lot harder than I do. You know, I get to be home Monday to Friday with my child. Do every pickup, every breakfast, every soccer or practice. Yes. I miss three weekends outta four. And that's rough.
[00:00:15] How much are we allowed as moms and as women to push for ourselves and our careers and our futures? And how much is that selfish? It's a really hard, you know, 'cause I remember growing up, my dad was a newscaster and I was so proud of him. I didn't, I, when he was on TV, I was like, oh, it's my dad. I wasn't saying, Oh, Dad, I wanna spend more time with you.
[00:00:32] Not 'cause I didn't, but because I was, that it was his job, and I just, and I was proud of him. And with my mom. She had a job, and she was so busy. I loved spending time with her, but it wasn't like, Oh, why are you working too much? I need to spend time with you. I don't look back on my childhood and think I was like deprived of time with my mom.
[00:00:47] She had a job. So I'm hoping, yes, that it's okay that we go for it as long as we're also as present as we can be.
[00:00:57] Lindsay: Hey everybody, I'm Lindsay Czarniak, and this is Things No One tells You. This is a podcast about the behind-the-scenes moments that shape who we are, those things that are also really relatable and really connect us.
[00:01:08] So each week I'm gonna talk with Newsmakers Trailblazers in the worlds of sports, entertainment, all things, but also everyday folks, people who are talking about the real stuff that no one tends to share. Follow me at Lindsay Czarniak and be sure to subscribe, rate, and review things no one tells you wherever you like to listen.
[00:01:28] Hey everybody, and welcome to this episode of Things No One Tells You, or TNOTY as we love to call it. I am so glad you're here. We are. On the cusp of being back in a school routine, and I'm kind of excited about that. I am equally excited about this episode because my guest today is so much fun.
[00:01:49] She is the wildly talented and popular host of Premier League Live on NBC, Rebecca Lowe. Premier League Live just got back underway as the football season began. My friend Rebecca, actually, has a sidebar story. Used to live in the town where I live, and you know, if you're a sports journalist, you oftentimes will use similar hair and makeup artists getting ready for your shows.
[00:02:14] That will work on a lot of different networks. So there were like two different experiences I had where when people found out the town that I live in, in Connecticut, they were like, Oh my gosh, Rebecca Lowe lives there. Have you met her? She's like the coolest person ever. And I didn't get to meet Rebecca until I met her at the Kentucky Derby, and covering the Olympics, and it's as advertised.
[00:02:32] She is so cool, so fun. So really specific in the way that she works, and I think that is so awesome. Before I go further, I do wanna share a joke of the day for those who enjoy it, in the football theme, why do the soccer players sit on the bench and knit? Because you wanted to tie the game. My daughter chose that one.
[00:02:58] So I wanted to oblige. I like it. I mean, obviously, you don't wanna end in a tie, but you, you know, you wanna get there so that you can eventually win. Thank you, Sybil. I appreciate it. Rebecca, though, is about to enter her 13th season with NBC Sports. She is, as I said, just a tremendous broadcaster and journalist.
[00:03:14] She's so real, she's uber confident, she is always prepared, and she is really about to share a masterclass. This is like one of the things no one tells you in what it takes to do live tv, but also what it takes to just, I think, be the best in any respective field that you might be interested in. this is definitely for people that think they might wanna do something in the sports world, but it's also for people who just love entertainment and like to have fun and laugh.
[00:03:41] And if you haven't followed the Premier League or if you haven't paid attention to soccer ever. That does not matter. This is exactly what you need to hear because I love the way Rebecca broke down, why people should care, and what they need to do to get started. And in fact, my son actually did one of the exercises that she suggested.
[00:03:59] So I cannot wait to tell you which team we may now be fans of. So in this conversation, we're gonna talk about what really happens behind the scenes of live sports television. Also, how Rebecca handles nerves and high-pressure moments, and why the balance between a career you love and the family that you adore is both rewarding and complicated.
[00:04:20] So TNOTYers, I give you Rebecca Lowe. I absolutely adore Rebecca Lowe. Rebecca, thank you so much for joining us. This is so, it's so fun to be able to talk to you.
[00:04:32] Rebecca: Lindsay, it's such an honor. I said to you before we started recording that I've been loving your new podcast. I love a podcast with a hook.
[00:04:39] I love the conversations you've been having. So, really, really honored to be on. It's so lovely and I love you as well. My highlight of my Olympics was when Craig and I FaceTimed you, well, actually, Craig FaceTimed you, and I just slightly FaceTimed bombed you. I'm not quite sure if that's a phrase that was so fun.
[00:04:57] Just so I gotta speak to you very briefly.
[00:04:58] Lindsay: That was so much fun, and I loved that because I kind of felt like I had this extra, like, friend set of eyeballs that was able to just like fill me in on how he's doing and whatever that. It was so fun. But also, what became very clear was I felt like he was kind of like, oh, I'm dealing with another version of my wife.
[00:05:18] Rebecca: Like I could tell, yeah, I gave him some stick, as we were saying in England. Yeah. Oh hammered every day. So, of course, he would arrive late because he did the Today Show. I just used to, but that's fine, 'cause he did The Today Show. Okay. But I just would ignore that and be like, I mean, every day I was like, what kind of time do you call this?
[00:05:34] I've already been on air for two hours. And then the funniest thing that he would do was, there would be occasional moments, days where we would be like, pretty much done, but maybe we had like one more, two more links to go. And we'd been there for like, and he'd be like, yeah, I think, I think this is me done.
[00:05:50] And he'd start taking off his microphone. I'd be like, sorry, Craig, we've got one more link. And he'd be like, Youu got it. He's like, I've done everything today. And to be fair, he had very long days. And then with The Today Show, being the Today Show. He would then have to go to like a dinner in the evening.
[00:06:03] Yes. And I'm like, how did that, how does he do that? I was in my pajamas with my room service by 7:00 PM.
[00:06:09] Lindsay: Okay. That's so funny. So, for those of you who don't know, Rebecca hosted an Olympic show with my husband. I call him Melvin. With Craig Melvin. And it was in Paris. So you guys were in Paris, which was amazing.
[00:06:22] Yeah. But what's so funny about that is a, that's so rude that you leave early. I understand. And you're right, you're right. That is reality. He had a very long day. Yes. But, it's so him and it's so funny. But you're right about the dinner thing because the reality is, and he has talked about this a lot, and we, he shared this on the podcast and just in general, but like, you know, one of the things no one tells you in his world is like how much of that stuff you have to do.
[00:06:49] And it's really important because it's, in essence, it comes down to the people. It's all about the people, right? So you're just, you're meeting with certain people, you're having fellowship, what have you. You know, I, I, people don't realize like the amount of time he's been up already. Right? No,
[00:07:03] Rebecca: And I think also it's important for the relationships.
[00:07:05] 'Cause it was always him and Al and Savannah and Hoda. It would be everyone together. But at the beginning, I used to give him so much stick in those first few days, it'd be like, come o, you, you've only done two hours a day, you know, which I'm sure everyone assumed, right? And then I started, as the week went by, I was like, oh, actually, it kind of works quite hard.
[00:07:21] Like, and then he said he has an assistant, so I had to give him some stick for having an assistant. I was like, What do you need? And then again, as the week went by, I was like, yeah, yeah, I can actually see why he has an assistant. So I had to tone down the meanness, but I was pretty brutal with him over the course of two weeks.
[00:07:34] Just gotta, you know, just gotta keep and also keep the vibe up in the studio. You know, it's likeyouu gotta have some fun.
[00:07:39] Lindsay: Yeah, no, he needs it. And you know what's funny is I actually had someone with an NFL team recently say to me someone that was on the staff, say, you know. With players and with anyone who has reached a lot of success, and you know, you're in that bucket.
[00:07:51] I would put a lot of people in that bucket. He's like, you've gotta stick with, I think he said it's either the 10% or the 20% rule, meaning that you, you know, you're a listener, you listen to this person, but then you need to be the person that's gonna just be honest with them too. Because his point was these athletes he deals with, it's like when they've gotten to that point, no one's telling them like, oh, that's, you know, everyone's sort of saying what they wanna hear.
[00:08:17] I thought that was so fascinating. Cause I was like, yeah. So I do love that, and I think I know my husband really values it, and I know he loved working with you. And I think also it's like the people, the people think of it all. I was wondering, like, for you, what that is like in your world?
[00:08:33] And we should mention again that, you know, you are the host. I cannot believe you're in the 13th season with NBC Sports at Premier League coverage, but. Premier League Live was wildly popular. You are the face of it. I know. Like you're so invested. What has your experience been like?
[00:08:50] Rebecca: You know what, the thing I love the most about NBC is they're really loyal to their talent.
[00:08:55] So I'm pretty much working with the same people on the screen as I have for 13 years. We had one changeover, Tim Howard came in. Yeah. Five or six years ago. But on the whole, it's just been the same people. And that really engenders, similar to the Today Show, that really engenders, sort of brother sister relationship, like a family relationship, which means that you can be mean to each other, give, you know, banter as they call it in England.
[00:09:22] You know, you can do all that, make fun of each other every single week. And my goodness, do we, but also over the years. I've realized that the more you know people and the more time you spend with them in the TV studio hours and hours and hours every weekend, the more you have each backs. And so if things happen, or you know, in television, live TV, 'cause everything we do is live, things happen, things go wrong.
[00:09:43] And we've all had each other's back over the years, and that has been something that I lo, ve and I've worked before I came to America in a situation where it was different people every week. Oh really? That's really difficult. Yeah. That's really hard. So I did ESPN UK for four years as a sideline reporter a, and a host.
[00:10:01] And there was a sort of poolmaybe of maybe sort of 20.
[00:10:05] Lindsay: Yeah.
[00:10:05] Rebecca: But every single week, it would be a different two or three. That would be my former footballers, put my ex-players on the sets. And so it's difficult to really get that. Strong relationship with somebody to put them at ease, to make the show better, to get the chemistry.
[00:10:20] It's really hard to do that. So I love it on NBC and it's not just Premier League, they do that for NFL, they'll, they'll do that for the NBA, I'm sure. It's very, hey're very loyal and they want it to be a family atmosphere, to have us having fun so that the viewer has fun when they watch us. You know, not too much fun, but like, it just feels familiar.
[00:10:37] Familiarity, I think, is really important.
[00:10:38] Lindsay: I have never thought of it that way. In terms of like that specific thing about the people that you're seeing on a set and you're really right. And what's funny is, 'cause when I was at ESPN, same thing. We would have a pool of analysts that would come through, so we would know them, but it's not like you have the same person every day.
[00:10:54] Honestly, it's based on their schedule because they would be flying so many people in and putting them up at a hotel. Yeah. Like in terms of the analysts. So, yeah, that's really true. And it is sort of why, like, it's actually, that's a big part of why I wanted to do like local news when I started because I was so used to watching the same people in my living room at home when I was.. Exactly, yeah.
[00:11:14] Like when I was a kid. So it's like you've got this familiarity. I think that's a great, great point. It's also, it's funny because one thing that Melvin has said to me is, well, you know, obviously he does news, but whenever he has experiences where his world crosses over and he does sports, he's like, your sports people rehearse all the time and he's talking about like live coverage, like before a show.
[00:11:37] Like you're, you're, you will be on the road, you know, at the start of the season, right? And all that. Yeah. Yeah. So you guys probably, or I, I've seen you covering the Kentucky Derby. Mm-hmm. Like you were rehearsing, correct.
[00:11:49] Rebecca: Yeah, I mean, we always do a good hour rehearsal before we go live. Always.
[00:11:52] Lindsay: And that's my experience too, like doing NASCAR with NBC or whatever it is.
[00:11:56] You just run through it and you do it. And in some cases, you're actually like spitting out a very similar version to what you're gonna say live. Melvin, like couldn't wrap my brain around that. He was like, they, they just rehearsed so much. And I was like, right. But there are like so many, it's almost because there's so much uncertainty with how the thing is gonna play out and what's coming out that it's like, you kind of have to, I don't know, you know?
[00:12:20] Rebecca: Well that's, that's interesting because on a show about the Today Show or a news show, unless there's a huge breaking news story big enough to break into the program, that rundown that he looks at for the Today Show probably isn't gonna change. Things might get dropped, but it's not gonna change. He knows what's gonna happen for two hours.
[00:12:37] You and me doing live sport, you dunno who's gonna win. Yeah. You dunno who you're gonna interview. Yeah, no, I, I mean, I have no idea on the opening night of the season, and I won't really have an idea until we're on the air. Which player are we gonna talk to pregame until they walk up to the desk? Which head coach are we gonna talk to?
[00:12:52] So you can, you can rehearse the bits, you can rehearse, and we make sure that those bits are absolutely down. But it's such an open live sport, so open-ended, you can't, you, you, you wanna, you wanna feel comfortable with the things that you know are gonna happen because you've basically got no control over anything else.
[00:13:10] Lindsay: And I think that's one of the most likely, what's the word? Adrenaline, rushy pieces of it. Like, I love, right? There's nothing better in my opinion. I just, it's like, it's just awesome and infectious. I love the preshow of any sport. It's just like, you just dunno what's gonna happen.
[00:13:27] But someone's life is gonna be really happy at the end of the evening. By the way, I just wanna say that there is banging going on in my house because there's something that's being worked on, so I apologize. It's taken care of. So, Rebecca, is there a specific prep process that you have when you're going into an event?
[00:13:46] Or your show for that matter, you know, in the studio.
[00:13:49] Rebecca: Absolutely. Especially so, so the studio show, the one that I've been doing now heading into year 13. I do the same type of prep today that I did in 2013. It's the same thing, the way I lay it out, and I'm not an iPad girl. I know I probably should be, it's 2025.
[00:14:08] But I can't do the, I just don't wanna take technology on the set with me. I don't trust it. I don't trust it. I've had situations before where things break. I like a good old pen and paper, and so I do all of my prep on paper with a pen. And then, I have the same structure. My prep starts, my actual writing prep starts Thursday, and then.
[00:14:31] Finishes Friday for the show, Saturday and Sunday, and then that's the same every week, no matter what. Do the same thing, same time of day. Everything is the same. I'm a bit of a, Iover-preparee. Yeah. Most people do. Outta fear. Yeah. To be honest with you, my biggest fear is being stuck on air with nothing to talk about.
[00:14:50] So I massively overprepare. And then my other prep that happens every single day is podcasts and the sports radio, the English sports radio that covers the Premier League 224/7. And I just have that on when I'm not with my little boy. I just have that on all day, every day. And by osmosis, I sort of absorb all the extra bits of information or angles or opinions that I think work for me going into that weekend.
[00:15:13] Kentucky Derby similar, I just, I read a whole bunch and then I just. Do the same research every year on whoever I'm interviewing. So it's a similar thing. I'm, I'm just a stickler for routine. That's the kind of person I am. I don't cut corners 'cause it terrifies me and I over prepare and itkeepsp, that keeps my mental piece where it needs to be going into live TV.
[00:15:35] Lindsay: I love that. Yeah. I mean, I can even do highlights and like, okay, you've gotta just have the notes or you're right. Yeah. It's like there's nothing worse than if you're in a scenario and you're like, question mark about that player. I mean, can you imagine having a player walk over to your set if you weren't, if you didn't know.
[00:15:52] Rebecca: That would be another one. I mean, it's, it's, it's happened once before, where it was a few years back, and a player came over, and I was thinking as he was walking over, they told me in my ear who it was, but I was in a huge stadium with 80,000 people. I couldn't, you know what, it's very difficult to hear your producer sometimes when you're on site.
[00:16:09] Didn't catch who he said it was. And I'm thinking, oh, I've got no idea. This guy is, and thank God he had his at least team shirt on. So I knew who he played for just from the crest on the shirt. And then I just kind of like botched the first question in a kind of genetic, like, how did you feel the game went today?
[00:16:29] Started talking. I managed to have a little glance down at the team sheet, and I sort of ran my eye, like the speed of light. Like you know, you have to be super quick, you can't be looking somewhere else while you're interviewing somebody. The speed of light ran my eyes down the team. And I was fairly certain I knew who it was, and luckily, I was right.
[00:16:46] But that is, that is terrifying. So, player identification is really, really important, and also being left in the lurch. So I've done loads of games where the flood lights have gone out, and thunderstorms happen. We're in a delay for an hour. Yes. A player collapses on the field. Like, there are a lot of things that you have to be in a situation where, okay, well, I have 10 things I could talk about because I read all these articles this week and made all these notes, so I'm ready to go now.
[00:17:11] I might use that once every two years, once every five years, that kind of element of the prep. But I know it's there; it gives me peace. And for me, it's all about going on air with as much mental peace as you possibly can and feeling as secure as you can and which is a pretty stressful job.
[00:17:26] Lindsay: Yeah. No, I love that.
[00:17:27] I love hearing your process, and I think when you said too, podcasts and things, you know, it's, I oftentimes just think about how interesting it is the way that things have evolved and how now players have social media and. You know, even that, it's like you're just, you have to use that almost like you have to just be up on it.
[00:17:46] I still remember the first time that we were in a meeting at ES, ESPN, and one of our producers was talking about how we were taking, I think it was LeBron, but we were using something that they had actually posted on their socials as a part of the show. And we're like, what? Like, we're doing what? Like, and then and now obviously it's like the mainstay, but it's, yeah.
[00:18:05] I also, I just think, sometimes I think about like just the old school, like journalistic values that don't change, but like the opportunities to talk to coaches and talk to players and like, I don't know. I think that's so, yeah, I agree. Fun if you're like in that scenario.
[00:18:21] Rebecca: Yeah, I agree. If you can get, I mean, we, we struggle 'cause we're in Connecticut and the Premier League is in England, but we just did the summer series, which was a preseason tournament on the East coast.
[00:18:30] And we got to talk to the players and the managers off the record and pick up just little nit bits and little tiny anecdotes and stories that we can use over the course of the season. And just to tell the stories, right? 'cause that's what we are trying to do. So getting close to these people is, is really, really important, I think, in our job.
[00:18:47] 'cause I, I think we, people don't think all the time, Lindsay, as of us as journalists. But I am inherently a journalist. That's the most journalists tell stories, they tell truthful stories, fingers crossed, and they seek out the good bits, is kind of how I see it. Yeah. And they ask the right questions and the tough questions at the right time.
[00:19:04] And all of those things are so important. But sometimes I think if you're not a written journalist. You are not seen as a journalist, you're seen as a broadcaster, which is slightly different. Of course, we broadcast, but I stick to being a journalist as much as I possibly can.
[00:19:17] Lindsay: Yeah. Well, and I think it's interesting too because if you're at, you know, as you continue to climb in your career, if you get to a place like you're at NBC sports or you're at ESPN, what have you, the, obligations in the jobs are separated more so, because I can remember when we would be on the road for NBA finals and they had shoot around in the morning and I was like, oh my gosh, I wanna go to shoot around and just hear what the guys are saying.
[00:19:39] I'm not, I don't have a camera, I'm not talking to them on the camera, but it's, you were discussing about, you know, like on background and off the record, because that stuff is just super valuable, but right. But, it was almost like, well, we have a reporter we're sending, and I'm like, right. But it's not to do that.
[00:19:54] It's just to, yeah. You know, you're, you're building the rapport,
[00:19:58] Rebecca: Smell the smells. Feel the feels. Yeah. Listen to everything. Yeah. Agree.
[00:20:02] Lindsay: So for folks that are watching or listening who are not that dialed in to. Premier League to soccer Uhhuh, can you give us like, what, what would you, I would love your, you know, base of what you think people should know and how they can pay attention and what you think.
[00:20:21] Rebecca: I think the thing about the Premier League being so successful in the US is mainly to do with two things. Three things, actually. One, the product itself. If you are looking for something that is crazy, unpredictable every single week, you're like, what just happened? I always refer to it as a soap opera and if you miss a couple of episodes, you've gotta catch up because things happen on the daily in the Premier League, whether it's to do with a player, a head coach, a owner, whatever it is, a situation on the field, off the field, and then every weekend throws up a million stories.
[00:20:51] 'Cause there are 10 matches every weekend and nearly all of them, something crazy happens. So if you like drama and you love soap operas plus sports, this is the one for you. Plus, it helps that it's the best league in the world. Well, that's objective, but it's the most-watched league. It's the most-watched league in the world.
[00:21:06] So kind of it is the best. But I also think, and the thing that people have said to me over the years and down the years is it's a real family appointment viewing. So we are Saturday mornings and Sunday mornings, there's nothing up against us really in terms of other sports, which really, really helps because.
[00:21:23] Saturday and Sunday mornings, often you have a few hours as a family, maybe you're making pancakes, and you wanna all watch something, and you wanna all be together. And the soccer, the Premier League, can be your ace in the hole. The number of people who've said to me, oh my gosh, you narrate my weekend mornings, you have done for 10 years.
[00:21:38] Or, I speak to people who watched from day one with their their their their seven-year-olds. Their seven-year-olds are now at college, and they, they, they have a relationship with their 20-year-olds and through text messaging and about every Saturday and Sunday, where normally lots of 20-year-olds don't call their mom or dad for like, you know, three months when they're at college.
[00:21:55] But the Premier League has really brought families together. I mean, I've literally spoken to parents who have tears in their eyes about how it gave them. With their 14-year-old delinquent teenagers, they had a place on the sofa every Saturday and Sunday morning. They got out of bed, they got these teenagers out of bed on a Saturday and Sunday morning to spend time with their parents altogether, watching a game or two.
[00:22:15] That is so special to me, and it doesn't feel like that's happening in any other space. So I love, I love that. And then I also think the way NBC have done it, Lindsay, and I'm gonna be biased because they're my company and I love them, but the, you have to buy a product and then you have to market it, commit to it, spend a lot of money on it, do it properly, and NBC have done all those things with authenticity.
[00:22:38] And therefore, what you get back is an audience who really enjoys it because of the way it's produced. So I would say the product, what time of the week it's on, and the way it's shown on TV. That's why it's so successful and why it draws so many people in.
[00:22:55] Lindsay: And also then in the morning, you've got the rest of the day.
[00:22:58] So as opposed to some sort of family event that happens at night, you know you're gonna bed. Yeah. You're doing whatever. You can sort of build off that nice family time.
[00:23:07] Rebecca: Absolutely. And you, we, we get new moms and new dads, especially the new dads who are giving the mom a sleep-in on a Saturday by sending us photos with like the six-week-old baby in their arms wearing the little Liverpool kit.
[00:23:17] And he is up at 5:00 AM, 6:00 AM, I know to watch the Liverpool game, nd the dad is good to do that because Liverpool is playing, let the mom sleep. So that happens a lot as well.
[00:23:26] Lindsay: So, for people that are hearing this, and first of all, you're speaking my language 'cause we're heading into that type of, you know, that like frontier in terms of age in our house with our son.
[00:23:35] But, what, what are the, the best storylines right now, in your opinion, in this very beginning of the season to watch out for? How do people become fans if they're not already a Liverpool or, or what have you?
[00:23:49] Rebecca: Okay, so Liverpool, you mentioned there, they won the title, they won the league last season.
[00:23:54] And in the transfer window, summer time is when you can buy and sell players. You can do it in January as well, but the summer is really the big one where you're trying to build your squad. So Liverpool won the league quite unexpectedly last season, and what they've done is just spent 400 million pounds on new players, which is incredibly aggressive, and it's kind of making what was already excellent, double excellent.
[00:24:16] They've bought some incredible players. They are possibly about to spend another 150 million on a striker to play up front to score even more goals than they already have in a team. SI, if you are interested in a team that's absolutely on the way up and would probably be the favorites to win the title again, Liverpool, who are owned by the Fenway Sports Group, who also own the Red Sox, that would be the team for you.
[00:24:40] So that's a big, big storyline. But then you have Manchester United, who are the sort of, they're always kind of. Talked about in the same breath as maybe the Dallas Cowboys, which used to be great. Now struggling to get back to where they are. Look at me with my NFL knowledge. That'ss about that's about the sum of it.
[00:24:55] Lindsay ain't got anything else.
[00:24:57] Lindsay: I don't believe that
[00:24:58] Rebecca: You're better, but Manchester United have beaten us, we're so great for 30-odd years. I mean, the best in the world, the biggest club in the world. They're still a massive club, but they've struggled for the last 10. But they have just got a manager in the last year, who people are thinking this guy could be different.
[00:25:13] This guy could be their ticket out of sort of the doldrums, which they're not used to being in. So that's another really interesting story because Manchester United biggest, in my opinion, club in the world alongside Real Madrid. If they're good, the whole Premier League is better because of the size of the club, the sexiness of the club, it just makes it.
[00:25:34] An even better watch. Plus, there are tons and tons and tons of Manchester United fans in America. So Liverpool, Manchester, United, just two big stories, but I honestly could go through all 20 clubs and tell you something interesting about each one. So it is, it would be to your viewers and listeners if you don't have a club, if.
[00:25:52] Either pick one of them, but they are the big ones. Or go down the list of 20 in the Premier League and look where they all are in terms of geography. Maybe you have a distant cousin in Birmingham, then you could become an Aston Villa fan. Maybe you love Brazil. Well, maybe you go for your, any, any club that has a Brazilian player in it, that kind of thing.
[00:26:10] Then find your team, follow them every week from August to May, and PE, you will feel very, we, we, our aim is to bring people in, even new fans, every single year we're getting more and more new fans. So I'm hoping that the broadcast is welcoming to a newbie as much as it is to somebody who's, you know, known about soccer their whole life.
[00:26:27] So yeah, that's what I would say.
[00:26:29] Lindsay: This is a great TNOTY challenge. TNOTY stands for things no one tells you. We call it tea knotty for the acronym. This is great because actually, you've just given us such a wonderful blueprint to do that, and I'm gonna try that too with my so,n and really, see how that goes.
[00:26:45] Rebecca: So Craig tells me he's a Liverpool fan. Yes. Which is, I think, not set in stone, though, so you could, because his knowledge wasn't as good as I would've hoped it to have been. And it made me laugh, but they did win the title as he decided to send me a message on the final day saying, Look, I told you I'd, I'd picked the winners.
[00:27:05] So maybe your son could go to Liverpool, or maybe he could go somewhere else against Liverpool, you know, somebody that then, then him and him and Craig could have a bit of rivalry at the weekend. That would be fun. Interesting.
[00:27:14] Lindsay: Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. It's sort of like NASCAR, too, it's like 'cause mm-hmm.
[00:27:19] I used to say, like, people should pick a sponsor. They like, do you like Cheezit car? What race car do you like, speaks to you? You know, but it's like, that's how it's about hooking through the storylines, you know? Yeah. And you're right. Okay. So what would you say is the thing no one tells you along your journey or from your experience that you would like to share?
[00:27:43] Rebecca: I think. It depends on which way. Okay. So pre pre-having a baby, I would say there's something that no one tells you after you have a baby as a working mom, which I maybe we could get to, but before having a baby. So, being a working mom out of it. And I know this sounds really self-explanatory and obvious, Lindsay, but I dunno about you, but I don't, I don't think anyone fully tells you how much of your life you're gonna spend.
[00:28:11] Nervous. I spent from the age of 21 to the age of about 36. So nervous at least twice a week that I would be. Not sick, but so sick to my stomach that I wouldn't eat. You know, for example, when I was 21 and I did my very first broadcast, I didn't really eat anything for about 36 hours beforehand, and it didn't get any easier for years.
[00:28:35] And dealing with nerves, I know we're on television, you know, people will say, Oh, of course you're gonna get nervous. Yeah, you absolutely do. You absolutely do. And nobody, yeah, tells you how to deal with it or how bad it can be, or what you are supposed to do to make it better. I mean, over the years, I've tried everything, like, you know, from lots of different breeding techniques.
[00:28:56] It's basically what I do. And also I try to, as the years have gone by, and it's obviously got easier, I mean, it's been a slow process. I, you know, I still get really nervous now, especially if I'm doing something out of my comfort zone. So, whether it be the Paralympic, the Kentucky Derby, a brand new podcast, you know, something, the week-to-week Premier League shows less so.
[00:29:14] And unless something goes really wrong, and then you get more adrenaline. But the things that are outta my comfort zone, the nerves are so. They're tough. Like it's hard. And I think that people don't talk about that very often unless I'm the only one. Maybe I, but I know I'm not because I've spoken, and I won't mention names, but I have spoken to some people in the industry who agree that nerves are very, very difficult to handle.
[00:29:37] And then there are others who don't talk about it. And I just wonder whether they either are just so confident that they don't have nerves or they don't wanna let on, they have nerves. 'cause it comes across as weak, which I don't think it does. I just think it means you care. Do you do, have you had that, have you had like moments of your like, oh my God, I'm so nervous.
[00:29:55] Lindsay: Yes. I have some thoughts too. And I'm one thing I wondered when you were saying that, is, do you think Tarico gets nervous? Have you ever asked him that? I don't know. I,
[00:30:02] Rebecca, Mike is officially one of the nicest people I've ever met in my life. And I think if you sat him down and said you get nervous, he would probably now, I mean, he's got some years on us, no offense, Mikey.
[00:30:13] Mm-hmm. He's got a few years on us. And also he's got more. Big, big, big moments in his bag. Right? So for him, the Kentucky Derby is like a small fry compared to hosting the Super Bowl.
[00:30:23] Lindsay: Right.
[00:30:24] Rebecca: So I think that for him, he's probably had so many more reps at such a high level that he can now. I'd love to know, I'd love to sit down and really ask him.
[00:30:33] I've got a feeling he just, he probably has come out the other side. Yeah. Who probably is, you know what I mean?
[00:30:38] Lindsay: I think that, when you started talking about it, I really, I think I rely on a certain level of nerves to get the jump for the adrenaline kind of thing. Yeah. I think, I do think that they're always there.
[00:30:53] And so that's sort of like the, okay, you're going live nerves, but I'm with you that when you first started talking about it, I was like, you know, for a long time you're thinking about, I was like, just don't mess it up. Like, just don't, you know what I mean? Like, there are so many things that can go wrong at this given moment, but you're so excited about what the opportunity is.
[00:31:13] I think there's, yes, there's a level of, you know, like being excited, hearing the music for the show you're hosting and knowing that you're getting ready to roll. And then once you're in it, you're in it, and it's like, okay, you know, and you've done the prep. So, hopefully, everything you know is going well.
[00:31:29] But I do think that, well, when we were, I was hosting the Olympics, for USA network, that one of the day parts, and that was a scenario where, 'cause sometimes it's a lot easier, I think, to not have a teleprompter. Do you know what I mean?
[00:31:44] Rebecca: Like, oh, I couldn't agree more. That makes me nervous when I have one.
[00:31:48] Lindsay: And I like, I think it's a luxury. Like sometimes I feel, kind of like ridiculous, being like, are we gonna have a prompter? 'cause then it is a luxury to have it, to know that you've got a guide, a guide point there, but. I remember I was hosting the Indy 500, and my producer got in my ear and we kept rolling through, we were rehearsing, it was for A, B, C, so we were like going down and don, and he's like, you know, we're all talking in the control room.
[00:32:12] Maybe we'd like it better if you just did it ad-lib. Like, can you, and I was at that moment like, okay, like this. I don't know, man. But in the end, it ended up, yes. Like that was what worked best for that broadcast because you're feeling it, you're in the midst of it. So it's, it's almost like sometimes I find that when you might have the thought but not the actual script, you're better off because you're like filling in with your own authentic experience of what you want people to experience as well and to convey.
[00:32:44] But at the Olympics, when we were doing the stay part, there was something that had been updated on a sport or whatever it was that the producers were putting in. Like I couldn't see, and the prompter came u, and I didn't have my readers. And so it was this momentand this like never happens, but I was like, we're on set.
[00:33:03] And it was the end of the show. And I think I was bantering with the host. It might've been Catherine Tappen who came in, who I adore and like sat down next to me, and I went to read what was on the prompter 'cause that's, and they're telling me to do that. And I just could not make out what, like, two of them were.
[00:33:19] Oh, oh my God. And that's not like that. I don't remember the last time that happened to me, but it was a combo of the font size, the fact that like, these weren't, I don't know, it was totally on me, but I said some verbiage of like, and all I could do was just be like, oh my goodness. Like that's the magic of television.
[00:33:40] Like, what are you gonna do? But I remember after that it was fine. Like it, it all came out okay and I played it off, but. I was so fearful because it was not just nerves for myself that I was like, oh no, I hope the crew is not worried that now they're dealing with this train wreck. Do you know what I'm saying?
[00:33:59] Rebecca: No. But you know, that's so interesting about the Indy 50, 0 though, compared to that moment in the Olympics, because the prompter for people listening and watching, if you are reading the news, my dad was a newscaster for 37 years in England. He, you need, you need a prompter, 'cause you're talking about stuff that you can't really ad-lib like nobody wants to ad-lib about wars.
[00:34:16] Okay, fine, prompter no problem. But when you are doing a sport that you know inside out with you, you know, with motor racing, with me, with soccer, I think it's too, it's so constraining to have a prompter. So I don't have a prompter for any Premier League show ever. I didn't in the first year, and I remember saying to them.
[00:34:33] I don't, this is not natural. That makes, it makes you unnatural, I think. Yeah. And b, it's, so what if I just wanna say something different? And then also you, if you are talking to your people on the set, and then you turn to the prompter, and like the, you've gotta find a way from getting what you're saying there to what they've written there, what you've written the day before on the prompter.
[00:34:53] And it, it's just so it can be very jarring, right. Fo, you, for the viewer. So I always go with no prompter when I go to the Olympics; there's a prompter. Now that is partly a luxury as well. And partly okay because a lot of the time we're talking about sailing. I ain't, I it's not right. So yeah. Yeah.
[00:35:10] Gimme all the prompter on the sailing. But if you're gonna gimme the prompter line, I need a piece of paper with the script. Because the number of times in my life that prompters, back in the day when I used to read the sports news, just decided to disappear. Like, guys, like it's gone. Like what? And so they're always like, you need the script.
[00:35:26] You're holding the script. I'm like, I need the script. Trust me. Because I promise you, at some point, it's gonna freeze, it's gonna disappear. The lights are gonna go out, we're gonna have nothing. And then I've got the script right here. So I'm with you. It's very constraining. And if I could, and on the whole, I don't work with one.
[00:35:40] but it would, I would agree that if you're doing something and it's super outta your comfort zone, I would want a prompter. But it would make me more nervous. If someone gave me a prompter tomorrow to do the Premier League, I'd be super nervous. I'd be like, what that is, I'd feel like I'm in a straitjacket.
[00:35:53] Like, no, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not. No.
[00:35:56] Lindsay: And that's a lot to do, like just all the hours of prep that you do. So that, that is, that's awesome. I feel, I hope.
[00:36:02] Rebecca: But that's, again, it's just, it's just trying to, but it's just trying to be comfortable. I just wanna be comfortable on that. I just wanna feel like I, I should be sitting there.
[00:36:08] I know what everyone's talking about. I don't need to be told what to say. I just think that. It's the most natural way to do TV if you possibly can. There are obviously some shows that you have to have a prompter. I totally get that. But, if you know your staff well enough, about a topic that you are really interested in.
[00:36:24] Lindsay: Passionate about, it's, it's, that lets the question fly, I think.
[00:36:28] Rebecca: Yeah. Mike Tirico does that thing about having the thoughts., I've noticed he does thoughts on the prompter, and I can't do anything. If there's even the name of the prompter maker, like the manufacturer in the corner of the prompter, I'm like, can you, can you blank? This is very likely, I need to be totally blank for me.
[00:36:44] Lindsay: Just totally blank. Yeah, totally blank. Fascinating. Totally blank. My first job ever out of college was at CNN. I was, this entry-level program they had. So we were like ripping scripts when they had scripts on paper and getting coffee basically. But one of the anchors that was there said to me, she's like, I'm gonna give you one piece of advice when you're out there in the field and you're on a live shot.
[00:37:03] And this was back in the day when they were in the news department. She's like. Do not ever memorize something verbatim. And she's like, write down just the three thoughts that you have that you wanna get across. And she's like, take it from me. The second you mess up one word, the whole train, you know what I mean?
[00:37:20] And I get it, and it's true. It's kinda,
[00:37:22] RebeccaYeahah. Yeah. But then when you watch the news and you see the reporters out in the field and they do their lives, the camera, and you know, there's no prompt for them and they do it flawlessly and you're thinking, I'd love to know, did, did they learn it verbatim or do they do what you just said?
[00:37:35] I think it's a fascinating whole thing of television that also doesn't get talked about much. That whole, you have to have a good, you do have to have a good memory, a really good memory. I did a walk and talk, or I do walk and talks at the fan fest that we do. Yeah. Where we take the shows on the road.
[00:37:48] And I do usually open the show with a between four and seven-minute walk and talk. No problem. So just walking through the crowds, that's all, talking about what, and see, and I practice it maybe, maybe once, occasionally, twice. And that is a perfect example of I don't do it verbatim, and there are lots of triggers along the way that trigger me, but you still have to have a good memory because you still might have to throw in some stats.
[00:38:09] You might have to throw in a few figures about how many people have flown in from wherever to watch this fan fest. Like there's, there's a lot to, I think there's a lot of memory involved in live TV, which again, something isn't that they never tell you. So they never tell you about nerves. They never tell you you have to have a good memory.
[00:38:23] And I do have this thing, Lindsay, which makes me laugh and still happens to this day. And it happened to me when I was 21. And it still does, if I'm at the peak of nerves, if I'm like, okay. So I had big, I had tough nerves a couple of weeks ago because I've been off television for two months. And we came back to the summer series, and I was standing in the center circle of the MetLife stadium in New Jersey, and I was gonna go live to the us to the UK and across the world.
[00:38:47] And I was doing a walk and talk, oh, about a minute long from the center circle. And I had to. Say what I was gonna say and time it so that at the end of the walk and talk, I arrived at my pitch side desk with the two guys and got into the first segment. You cannot mess that up. Oh my God. There is no chance of your life.
[00:39:01] Yeah. You cannot. No. Like, so, and I'm standing. Yeah. I had one rehearsal, and I'm standing there, and I'm going, I haven't been on TV for two months. When I'm about to do is really hard. I've had one rehearsal, and I feel very sick. And then I always have this thought when I'm like, Why didn't I train to work in a bank?
[00:39:17] And I, I'm standing there, and I'm thinking if I just worked at Wells Fargo, everything would be so much easier. Like if I just, you know, did anything else. And I remember being 21 and going to a stadium and having to report live on a soccer game and looking at the guy selling the hot dogs, thinking if I just sold hot dogs, I'd just be so much happier.
[00:39:32] And then of course, once you get the thing done and it's gone. Okay. I'm like, okay. I love my job, I love my job, I love my job. But this happens a lot, like a lot, a lot. To me, it's, it's, that's so funny. I dunno why I have it, maybe I'm just unusual, but I do find. The nerves cannot be debilitating, but they just can be, an added element that nobody talks about.
[00:39:52] Lindsay: Well, but that's what you're mentioning, the walk and talk, I mean, do you have a piece of paper in your hand at all in the walk and talk?
[00:39:59] Rebecca: So I have a card, but there's actually nothing on it except the words walk and talk. I know it's very weird. And then the opening line. Hello, welcome along.
[00:40:08] I'm Rebecca Lowe, live from MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. It's like a trigger that, I dunno, I dunno why I have it. I just, it's like a cruise. I think you should
[00:40:16] Lindsay: Definitely get a raise. I mean, I hope that, I mean that is no, like what you're talking about those, I can agree that I think those are the hairiest moments when you are, and in my experience, what I pull, I guess the closest thing I've done with that would be when they're about to start a race or they're about to start Yeah.
[00:40:35] Some sort of basketball event where you're like. Talking over the scene set and you're ad-libbing or in racing, you're walking through the grid, a nd you're about to talk about, but that's like really hard, Rebecca. Like what you're talking about is, I hope people understand how tricky that is, 'cause when you're talking about the timing it up, but the memory and four minutes, six minutes. That's crazy town.
[00:40:58] Rebecca: That's why I get so nervous. That's why I get so nervous.
[00:41:02] Lindsay: I know. But I know, like what makes it so good is that you have so much personality, and so it's almost like you could ad-lib anything in, and it makes it fun to watch. So that's so great. But like, wow, that's no, I would not have, I would never have thought that you just have a piece of a card that says,
[00:41:23] Rebecca: I dunno why I do now.
[00:41:24] Why don't I just write it out? But then I'd never find my place. There's no point. Right.
[00:41:27] Lindsay: Well, no, no, that's, I mean, true. That's very, and I had experience recently, I was doing it at a luncheon. I had all my beats in the talk, a nd I wrote out my script I, and I wrote it down. So, 'cause I don't like to use electronics either like that, I get very nervous about it failing.
[00:41:42] And so I brought my script, but then I go off the, you know off the script to prepare some anecdote that I thought of in the moment. And then I was like, well, I have no idea now where my tent pole is on the paper. But then you're just like, okay, okay, we'll just, yeah.
[00:41:56] Rebecca: So you kind of don't need it.
[00:41:59] Lindsay: Okay.
[00:41:59] Wait. And then you said there's a thing no one tells you about when you become a mom. What was,
[00:42:04] Rebecca: Yeah, I mean, that is a very common thing, Linda, and I'm sure, I'm assuming you've had it at times. It's the mom guilt. So no one, no one prepared. Well, everyone knows it's coming, and everyone prepares you for being a working mom.
[00:42:18] And especially in our industry, where it's not nine to five, Monday to Friday, right? So you're missing weekends, you're missing, you're away for like a stretch, like adjusted 12 days on the East coast, but no one tells you how to deal. No one tells you, like whether you, whether it's okay to feel like that, no one tells you whether or not it's gonna go away.
[00:42:38] No, no one, there's, I don't feel like there's a lot of help for alleviating this permanent guilt that I carry around for being away from my child. And I, it, he's nine and I still get moments of like, am I, am I like damaging him? Am I, should I just like, give everything up and just stay home and be a mom?
[00:42:55] But then when I do that over the summer, when I have my two months off over the summer, by the end of the summer, I'm like, okay, let's get back to school. Like, and I wanna get back to work. So I have two sides of my brain, this is the kind of side that I would give advice to other friends who would have who are going through this, most owhomch like all my friends, do.
[00:43:11] And I say to them, But you are such a great example, But you're such a good mom. He really looks up to you, and it's so great, and you need your own life. And I have all this amazing advice. And then the other side of my brain that's like, yeah, but you maybe need to stay home and just look after your kid.
[00:43:24] You know? It's like a constant conversation.
[00:43:27] Lindsay: Yeah.
[00:43:27] Rebecca: Of like, am I damaging him? Have I spent enough memories? And it's constant. And I don't think the generation above us, before us, our moms, my mom, was a working mom. I don't think she felt guilt in the same way that we do now. The society has changed, you know?
[00:43:43] It, it, we are told that we can do everything. Yeah. And it's hard to do everything, Lindsay. And I just don't think there's a lot of help 'cause dads don't get the guilt. I always laugh, like my husband went to England for four months when Teddy was three for a j,o,b and everybody was like, Ohh, good luck. Bye if I had left my 3-year-old for four months.
[00:44:04] Imagine, like, whoa, she's not a good mom. And so dads don't. Don't, it's not inherently in our society, it's just not a thing for that. I
[00:44:12] Lindsay: think they're also wired slightly differently, and I don't a hundred percent, I don't mean that it doesn't, that it matters any less to them. But I think that there is a bit of a, men and women are wired differently, and I think there's a bit of a switch that flips that makes it easier to just go and do the thing for men.
[00:44:30] I might be wrong,
[00:44:30] Rebecca: But my husband completely admits to that. He says, You definitely feel it differently. I feel a pain, a literal pain, like right under there, like in my kind of gut, like when I'm having to leave him, and men don't feel that. And I mean, God, I wish I were more like that, but I'm not.
[00:44:46] So I think that managing the mum guilt, and I'm very aware that in 20 years' time, I'll, I may, I'll look, maybe I'll look back and be like, what were you worried about? Teddy's absolutely fine. He has some great memories from you as and you are there Monday to Friday, and it's fine, but it never leaves me.
[00:44:59] And I just don't think anyone prepares you fully for that kind of emotion.
[00:45:04] Lindsay: I think that talking about it is really powerful. And I, what you said, I have been thinking a lot about, I wish that there were, and I'm sure there are, but like I wish that I had had, had, had or could have more conversations with moms that are right slightly farther ahead of where we are with our kids' ages.
[00:45:24] Because something that n've been thinking about is that I just started to register with me that people say, well, people don't really tell you that your kids kind of leave you at 12. And it's not that they leave you, they love you, they still need you. The relationship is different because they're spreading their wings and they're going, and it's like, I'm starting to feel that with my son, where it's like, oh, okay, this starts to feel like it's a different, it's a different relationship, still great, but different.
[00:45:51] And I think if I had thought about that, not that I would've framed many things differently, but maybe I would've let myself off the hook with some things. Or maybe I would've planned some things differently. Mm-hmm. But I also am very curious, like when people, when is the most imperative time to really be present around your kids?
[00:46:13] And I don't mean be present, like you stop working, but I mean like, just being strategically, strategically mapping or standing up for yourself more in a way that's working smarter. You know what I mean?
[00:46:26] Rebecca: I think Lindsay and I, this maybe this might help one person listening from what I've been told.
[00:46:32] I've had a couple of those conversations you were just talking about with that mom group that's got kind of got like teenagers. Yeah. And higher than what I've been told, conversely to what you would think, it's the older they get. So a friend of mine had an incredibly high-powered job in London, like super, super high-powered, amazing job.
[00:46:51] Her boys were 15 and 17, and there was, and she was struggling with the mom. Guilt had been for years, and eventually, at this stage. Was one, she was thinking, I'm, I think I really need to be done now. Like, and, and what tipped her over the edge was one night, it was a school night, a nd her 15-year-old, she was, she was finishing up in the kitchen.
[00:47:10] It was like 11:00 PM her 15-year-old who she hadn't seen since the moment he walked in the door for after school. 'cause of course he goes to his room as they do, came downstairs for a drink at 11:00 PM and she was about to go to bed. 'cause she had a big day at this high power job the next day. And he started talking, just chatting.
[00:47:27] 15-year-olds don't tend to do that, especially boys. And so she sat at the kitchen island and they chatted for like two hours. And she thought, I need to be there. Whether I am, I don't need to be in their room playing computer games with them. I don't need to be taking them to McDonald's. I don't need to be doing anything, but I just need to be available at 11:00 PM or whatever time for him to talk if he needs to talk.
[00:47:48] Oh, and I thought that was so interesting.
[00:47:50] Lindsay: Yeah.
[00:47:50] Rebecca: And like I was like, okay, it makes me feel a little bit better because nine-year-olds right now, Teddy's not, he's not opening his heart to me. Right. He's nine. So that made me feel like, okay, that's a good thing to bear in mind. I think that they think they don't need us when they're 15, 16, 17, but you just need to make sure you're, you are not completely absent in case they do.
[00:48:10] Do you know what I mean?
[00:48:11] Lindsay: Yeah, yeah. And, I think that's great advice. I had someone recently also say, it's very important to make sure that you create a place for them to come to with their friends and take the time, even if your schedule's demanding, to get to know all their friends, even the ones that you may not.
[00:48:31] Rebecca: Not sure about that.
[00:48:33] Lindsay: Right. Because, yeah. So I found that really interesting too. But yeah, I think, I feel like, I don't know, I think there's a lot more that we could be talking about as a group, you know? That is helpful. It's very interesting.
[00:48:49] Rebecca: Yeah. It, it is. And I think that we are not alone, and that there are moms in every walk of life, not just sports broadcasting, who go through this.
[00:48:56] And some of 'em have it a lot harder than I do. You know, I get to be home Monday to Friday with my child, do every pickup, every breakfast, every soccer practice. Yes. I miss three weekends outta four. And that's really rough. But I'm just constantly in that mindset of how much are we allowed as moms and as women to push for ourselves and our careers and our futures, and how much is that selfish, and should we be bringing ourselves back down a bit?
[00:49:21] Spend more time with our, it's a really hard, you know, 'cause I, I remember growing up, my dad was a newscaster and I was so proud of him. I didn't, I, when he was on TV, I was like, oh, it's my dad. I didn't, in fact, I remember him saying he was gonna switch to radio, and I was like, oh God no. I don't need to be on the radio.
[00:49:35] I wouldn't have to see you. Yeah. I wasn't saying, Oh, Dad, I wanna spend more time with you. Not 'cause I didn't, but because I was, that it was his job, and I just, and I was proud of him. And with my mom, she had a job, and she was so busy. I loved spending time with her, but it wasn't like Oh, why are you working too much?
[00:49:50] I need to spend time with you. I don't look back on my childhood and think I was like, deprived of time with my mom. She had a job. So I'm hoping, yes, that it's okay that we go for it as long as we're also as present as we can be, because I don't, I really don't think we're damaging them. And like, I like this side of the brain talking now.
[00:50:05] Of course. And then, you know, I don't think we are, but I just, I'm constantly thinking about it. Mm-hmm.
[00:50:11] Lindsay: And as our industry evolves too, I think I personally think that yes, I'm sure it's scary for a lot of people 'cause there are a lot of unknowns. We see people who are losing their jobs because networks are consolidating, and I also believe that there are so many ways that storytelling now exists in different forms and that there's a lot more opportunity for a lot of people out there.
[00:50:34] So I guess, my point is, I think. You know, I've thought a lot recently about, like, I think if you're still feeling a passion for what you do and what you can do, it's, it's absolutely important to continue to go for that and do that, you know, if that's what moves your heart.
[00:50:55] Rebecca: But the idea of you doing a podcast and I do a podcast from home, that is such a joy to be able to walk into my little home office and do a podcast and earn a living from my house.
[00:51:04] Yeah. Knowing that I can just drop my little boy off at school, knowing I can be done and go and get him, is while having work.
[00:51:12] Lindsay: Yes.
[00:51:12] Rebecca: Is amazing to me. That's what you're talking about, the way the industry is going. There's gonna be more opportunities for stuff like that, and that is a blessing for a working mom with a guilt situation.
[00:51:22] Lindsay: Right. And also like speaking up about it too, I do think that that's something that started to maybe change is people being like, well, he is, you know, it's, that's a fine line. You, you, you're given a job. You're, you have to fulfill, obviously, the obligations, but. I do think it's becoming more commonplace that people are speaking, in the next generation speaking more of the truth about, well, here's what time I would like to make this happen within, maybe if it's, you know, yes.
[00:51:46] Real quick. 'Cause I did realize one thing I wanted to follow up on is like, how do you make it work though, when you're talking about the balance of, you know, 'cause you are California and then you're coming to the studio here. So what have you found that has been the thing that really helps it go as smoothly as possible, being a mom, being the wife of all the things?
[00:52:06] Rebecca: Non-negotiables. I have to have non-negotiables so I don't go out on a weekday evening, more than once a month, like with friends. Oh, wow. So I love my friends and I have a super close group of girlfriends, but I don't allow myself out more than once a month with them, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, because if I do that, it takes me out of the house and away from, bedtime routine and all of that.
[00:52:28] And I just feel, again, guilty. But I also miss it. I only get to do that with a bedtime routine like four or five times a week. So I don't wanna miss that. So, it's a non-negotiable. That's like if I look at my diary and I'm like, oh, I've done, I've had one, then. I won't do it again, maybe in six weeks. It, it really, I really, I like to be home anyway, which is good, but so that's a real non-negotiable, right?
[00:52:49] Unless it's a super special occasion, I will make sure I pretty much take the same flight every week. So in order to help physically with the travel from California to the East coast, I will make sure I take the same flight on a Friday and then the same flight on a Sunday home to ensure that the body gets into some sort of rhythm, right?
[00:53:08] I also am incredibly boring by nature, so I don't do. Anything, like, I am in bed on a Saturday night in the hotel in Connecticut at like 7:30 PM. So I will come off the air at three, do the gym, eat some food, do some prep for the next day, and go to bed at seven 30. Like it's an absolute half. Must, must, must, must.
[00:53:27,]I have to protect my sleep as best I can. I have an eight-hour show the next day to do live. I can't be going to bed at 10:00 PM like scrolling my phone or FaceTiming, or watching a movie. So I'm a stickler, a routine in that way. Same hotel room every week, same flights. Don't really go out, as I said.
[00:53:46] Just keep everything to as much family, and work as I can, and I don't get me wrong, I see my friends, but we would do the day. So I would have lunch or a coffee to see my friends when my little boy's at school. So I don't take away from that time. It's so, it's like super strong for me.
[00:54:03] So I protect all of that. That really helps. And also I try to, I'm a bit of a 5:00 AM club person, so I've always been an early riser and I try to do a sort of 5:00 AM rise every day so that when I go to the east coast, I have to get up at 3:30 AM which in my head is half past midnight. 'cause of the west coast side.
[00:54:21] Yeah, it's hard. It's hard, but it's, would be a lot harder if I didn't get up during the week until seven or eight. So it's easier if I maintain the early rise all week so that then get up a couple of hours extra early on the weekend. It's a, it's, it's hard, but over the years I've got it into a really good routine.
[00:54:38] So, everything fingers crossed, works like clockwork, and then we go again for the next week.
[00:54:41] Lindsay: Oh, awesome. I love that. That's fascinating. So, when you get up at five during a normal week, what is your routine?
[00:54:51] Rebecca: Oh God. I just absolutely love my, I just love my routine. I love a morning routine. I do, I st I straight away, I do a 45-minute strength training.
[00:55:01] Routine three or four times a week. And then I follow that with like a one-hour walk, either on the treadmill if it's too hot or too cold or raining, or I take my dog out. So I do like back-to-back workouts. Then it's sort of shower and get myself ready. Teddy gets up about 7:45, so I have like a good two and a half hours when I get up in the morning to work out, catch up on, like, what am I doing today?
[00:55:22] What needs to be done? Catch up on emails, catch up on. You know, all the text messages that come through. 'Cause living in California, but coming from England originally, people, all the people in my life, or a lot of the people in my life, are eight hours ahead of me all the time. So when I wake up in the morning at my home in California, they've already lived eight hours of their day.
[00:55:39] That's like late afternoon for them. So I have a million text messages on my phone from friends and family that I need to get. Yeah, it's hard. Get back to it, and then when Teddy gets up, we do just the normal, get ready for school. But that two, two and a half hours set me up for the day. Lindsay, like, I cannot tell you physically with the workouts, mentally, with being across my business, if you like my, all my admin and my, my calendar, and I'm such a type A, I don't use my phone for calendar.
[00:56:02] I use an actual, you know, 20, 2, yeah. A physical calendar that I have to write things down in. So I love having that out. Do you have one too, right?, I have. Thank you. There aren't many of us left.
[00:56:15] Lindsay: I know. And you know what, you are a Scorpio, right? Scorpio? Are you? Yeah. I didn't know. I'm on November 7th.
[00:56:21] You're the 10th. Is that right?
[00:56:23] Rebecca: 11th.
[00:56:24] Lindsay: 11th. I just saw that. Yes. Yeah. So you, when you were describing that, I was like, That's fascinating. How I love how I'm not, I'm not like that. I wish I were more regimented, but I am an early riser, and my goal is like what you're doing. I think that's,
[00:56:41] Rebecca: It's hard, though.
[00:56:42] It's not always that easy. Sometimes I do wanna stay in bed longer, but I, I already, I think to myself, you know, you're gonna feel good. You're gonna feel really good in two hours, and it's gonna set, set you up for our whole day's better. Physically, mentally, the whole thing. It just makes me feel better. And then I'm, I'm boring.
[00:56:55] Like I said, I go to bed at like nine. I am, I am just someone of the most boring people. Say again?
[00:57:01] Lindsay: Does your husband go to bed at the same time?
[00:57:02] Rebecca: Over the years, I've managed to get him down from like, the 1:00 AM bedtime when I first met him. Like, what is that? That's like the next day. And over the years, I would say he goes to bed the same time as me, maybe half the week, and then not the other half.
[00:57:15] 'cause he's, he's watching TV or he's like on the phone. So I would off. So no, not always. And that's, and that's okay because sometimes, someone who doesn't just have a little reading in your bed by yourself. A bit of alone time. I think that's okay.
[00:57:30] Lindsay: It's absolutely, absolutely no. Yeah. I was just curious.
[00:57:33] 'cause my Melvin goes to bed oftentimes before my kids, so I'm like, oh yeah, of course. Right. That's my, my, that's what we're still figuring out. The best scenario is like, do we make the kids go to bed even earlier?
[00:57:46] Rebecca: So you get a bit of time together
[00:57:48] Lindsay: And then everyone's, because otherwise, you know, he can get a little hairy with the…
[00:57:51] Rebecca: So do you get time together when he gets, but he doesn't get back from work until the afternoon.
[00:57:55] Because he has all these lunches, all these things we have set about
[00:57:57] Lindsay: Yeah. About his schedules, I think the hard part is he's sohe does a really great job with like being as present as possible and just being, like, a jovial person for sure. Like what people see is really what he is. Yeah.
[00:58:12] But I think. He's done so much more work. Really, my observation is that the easiest part of his day is those two hours that he's live on television. Three hours if you're counting the third hour, for real, because then after that he's gotta use his brain power in a way that everyone is, it's such a well-oiled machine.
[00:58:31] Like they're telling him what is happening in his schedule. So really, from the time he is off that set, he's got little chunks of this thing, you've gotta do this thing, you've gotta do this thing, you've gotta do. And so they, I think he's got little cushions in between, but by the time he gets home, it's like exhausted from all the things after the show.
[00:58:49] So that's a really eye-opening thing to watch, like how he handles that. And I think he's still learning tricks of the trade for himself because he's learned that he needs to spend more time. That is like a buffer for him, whether it's between meetings. Yeah. And ahead of the next, or if it's whatever he's, you know, gotta do.
[00:59:08] But, so yeah, that's a lot. That's kind of interesting. So his downtime is like. When he can finally put that step away at like four o'clock. That's hard. Five o'clock. Yeah. That's, sounds. Oh my God. And it's mindful of, mindful of that kind of stuff too, on our end. And you know, so if you're like, oh, we wanna go swimming or whatever, and I'm like, sure.
[00:59:27] And he's like, I'm going up. You know,
[00:59:30] Rebecca: That's, that is hard. But you know what, it's always a sacrifice. Yeah. When you have a job like that, you're lucky enough to have that kind of job. There's always a, it's, it's not perfect. There's always a flip side. Absolutely. There's always a sacrifice to be made.
[00:59:40] There's always a price to pay, you know, and you just have to constantly, I check, check with yourself like I do all the time. Is it worth, you know, what I'm getting out of it? Is this worth what I have to then lose, you know, to do it? Yes. So yeah. That's, 's hard. That's hard.
[00:59:53] Lindsay: So we, we typically do three things.
[00:59:55] No one knows about you. And I mean, I would love to hear that, but I also think because Melvin was like, so, he's like, Rebecca just has the best phrase. And he said, I love them because they're British. And I thought, well, maybe, maybe you could leave us with like three phrases that we should know and that you can educate us about and that I can also use on my husband.
[01:00:17] Rebecca: Okay. Yeah, definitely use them on him because, by the way, he tells you that he really likes them. But he used to, as we say in England, take the Mickey out of me on a regular basis when I would use these phrases, which by the way, I probably use a phrase every hour. I don't know. I'm doing it because it's such a part of the English vernacular that we just have these, and most of them are from Shakespeare.
[01:00:35] Most of these funny little phrases are from Shakespeare originally. If you, yeah, if you delve through a lot of the Shakespeare phrase, a lot of these little funny phrases come from there. So I would say things, and he'd be like, What did you just say? What the hell is that? Like he would get, hammer me for it.
[01:00:50] So now you can use them on him. Okay. I think I used, so things like, I remember we came out with a VT on the Olympics once where there was the underdog had won. Mm-hmm. So it was somebody who shouldn't have wanted. And I think I said something on air like, well, that put the cat amongst the pigeons.
[01:01:07] And he was like, I'm sorry, what did you, did you, number one did just say that live on NBC? I was like, well, I feel like it's quite self-explanatory. Like, throw a cat in amongst the pigeons, and you get carnage. So, cat amongst the pigeons is another one that I use a lot, which is a similar meaning, actually is if you throw a spanner in the works we're doing, I'm not throwing, aren't we?
[01:01:29] But throwing a spanner in the works is like, is it
[01:01:32] Lindsay: Spanner?
[01:01:34] Rebecca: Yeah. A spanner, like a tool, A spanner. Okay. So if you say, oh god, he that, so if you come up against a problem that's maybe caused by somebody else, that person has thrown a spanner in the works. So I say that a lot. I mean, I say a lot of stuff every single day.
[01:01:48] We talked about the other day, I said, about it, We hadn't had any interviews coming to the desk. And then we have three at the same time. So I said something, actually on air, about how these interviews are like London buses. You wait all day, you get none. And then three come along at once. That's very, that's a very English phrase.
[01:02:06] 'cause London buses are notorious, never turn up. And then you get three and you're like, geez, where have you been? And then we also use like, I don't think maybe you guys use, it's reigning cats and dogs. Yes, yes. Okay. You do say that. Okay. It's like an, that's the other thing I never know. It's raining cats and dogs.
[01:02:20] Yeah. So I never know if it's like an American or an English thing. But yeah, those kinds of phrases I use, we all use all the time. And he definitely thought I was mad when I would come out with these phrases. Any, yeah. So you just make sure you slip it in really casually. That's, I was thinking a cat amongst the pigeons.
[01:02:38] Well, that's a cat amongst the pigeons.
[01:02:40] Lindsay: I'm gonna, and I'm gonna see if he likes one that he uses all the time. That's like a southern phrase as well. A hit dog will holler. You know, and that sort of means like a hit dog will holler. Like if I'm calling you out on something, a nd if you're, if you're sort of saying, no, I don't do that, a hit dog will holler.
[01:03:02] Okay. Sort of like you'll show your true colors or your sort, you'll sort of indict yourself, which is right now. Yeah. So, yeah. Oh my gosh, love. That's so funny. This has been so eye-opening. I love it. I could talk to you for four more hours. Thank you so much for joining. Oh, me too. Seriously,
[01:03:18] Rebecca: It's been so lovely.
[01:03:19] I honestly could talk to you for four more hours as well. So thank you so much for having me, Lindsay. Yes.
[01:03:24] Lindsay: Thank you for coming, and I can't wait to see you in person when you're back in this neck of the woods and just enjoy the beginning of this season. And, you know, I can't wait to talk to you more about what's happening in the Premier League world.
[01:03:37] Down the stretch, but thanks. Sounds good.
[01:03:40] Rebecca: Thanks, Lindsay. Lots of love. Okay. Talk soon.
[01:03:44] Lindsay: Okay, so two things from that conversation. Number one, I cannot wait to use those phrases with Melvin, and you better believe it's gonna happen, and I'll report back. I loved, by the way, just connecting with the two of them when they were over in Paris because it was just like a hoot every time we would talk on the phone.
[01:03:59] But also one of my biggest takeaways was Rebecca's routine, and I did not realize it. How strict, you know, she would be to it. She's also, we're both born a few days apart, and so that's not so traditional for a Scorpio, which I just found interesting because she's clearly like, so organized, and I am not.
[01:04:20Soso I loved hearing that. I love thinking about backing your day up, and actually, since I talked to her, I've been trying to specifically target getting up closer to five. It has not worked for me, but I'm still trying, and I'm gonna get there. Rebecca, thank you so much for joining. I would love to hear any of your thoughts on this episode, and also more of what you would love to hear in terms of topics for the thing no one tells you.
[01:04:42] Be sure to tune in every Thursday to hear new episodes. And if you're loving the show, please take a minute to subscribe, rate, and review things no one tells you. Thanks so much for tuning in, for watching for listening today. I'll see you next time. Bye. Thanks so much for joining me. I can't wait to see you back here next week.
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