Oct. 10, 2024

Flame Bearers Elevating Women Athletes Worldwide

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Join us on this inspiring episode of "Living the Dream with Curveball" as we delve into the world of diversity and inclusion with Jamie Mittleman, founder of Flame Bearers. Discover how Flame Bearers is reshaping sports media by elevating the stories of women Olympians and Paralympians, providing role models for young athletes worldwide. Jamie shares her journey, the challenges faced by athletes like Caster Semenya, and the importance of telling stories on the athletes' terms. Learn about the impact of Flame Bearers, their impressive array of awards, and upcoming projects focusing on decision-makers in women's sports. Don't miss this empowering conversation!

www.flamebearers.com
Want to be a guest on Living the Dream with Curveball? Send Curtis Jackson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1628631536976x919760049303001600

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00:00:00.560 --> 00:01:05.022
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome, um, to the living the dream podcast with curveball. Uh, if you believe you can achieve chi chi, welcome to the living the dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate, and inspire. Today, we're going to be talking about diversity and inclusion, as I am joined by diversity and inclusion specialist Jamie Middleman. Jamie is the founder of Flame Bearers, which is a storytelling platform that celebrates the stories of women Olympians and Paralympians from champion to household name. Flame Barriers has received several awards. Jamie founded it when she was in college, getting her masters, and it has touched the lives of people in 48 countries and all around the world.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So we're going to be talking to her about everything that she's up to. Jamie, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to join me.

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> Speaker B>Thanks for having me, Curtis. I'm really excited to be here.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

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> Speaker B>Yes. Hello, everyone. I'm Jamie, um, founder and CEO of Flame Bearers, which is the world's first media and production company that elevates the stories of the best female athletes in our world. So, if you take a look at sports media as a whole, 85% of that coverage goes to men.

00:01:42.546 --> 00:02:14.551
> Speaker B>So I kind of consider sports media misnomer. If 85% goes to one group, I call that male sports coverage. Um, so we're trying to broaden who is covered and how they're covered. So, half the athletes we work with are paralympians. So those are athletes with physical disabilities. Half of our athletes are women from the global south, women who identify outside of traditional norms, if you will. Um, so they look different, they sound different, they believe in different things.

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> Speaker B>And this is important because if you can see it and you could hear it, you can gee it. So we are providing role models for girls and boys from all corners of the world at the highest level of sports, because we want girls to know and boys to know that they're women who look and sound like them at the highest levels, achieving their dreams.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So, tell us about some of the awards that flame barrister has received due to. Due to the work that you've been doing and why you decided to found it.

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> Speaker B>Sure. Um, it's kind of crazy. So, we've now received over 21 different awards in video, podcasting and social media work.

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> Speaker B>Just yesterday, we found out that we won three different w three awards, um, for our work, specifically on a season that we are in right now. Um, one of the awards was for our video trailer and the other award was for an episode we did specifically with South African, um, two time Olympic gold medalist and three time world champion, Caster Semenya of South Africa.

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> Speaker B>So, in this episode, we talked to Caster, um, who has been barred from competing. She is born a woman, identifies as a woman, but has naturally high testosterone levels, and has been barred from competing unless she changes her body. So this is not a part of the trans conversation at all. This is a human rights, um, argument from our perspective, and we share what it's like to be caster. So Castor, um, has tried to actually take those hormone reducing drugs. They made her feel horrible. She became depressed, and she realized that, no, she shouldn't have to change her natural body just in order to compete. So that was really cool to win those awards. Throughout this entire past season, we had a rock star athlete co host, may berenice mete from France, who's a two time Olympian, six time national figure skating champion. And it was really cool to bear witness, but also to be a part of the conversation between two incredible Olympians, um, at the top of their games.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So why are you so passionate, or why do you feel it is extremely important to, uh, share the stories of women Olympians and Paralympians?

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> Speaker B>So many reasons. I remember when I was a little girl, I idolized mia ham. I idolized the us women's national soccer team. So I'm from the Boston area. I grew up playing soccer, and I had those role models to look up to. When I talk to some of my friends who didn't play soccer, who are from other communities, who are from outside the US, they didn't have women who they could look up to and say, I want to be like that. And I think when I was younger, to be honest, they kind of took that for granted, that there were women who looked like me, who sounded like me, doing what I loved, playing soccer and competing at the highest levels.

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> Speaker B>And I realized that. That most.

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> Speaker B>Most girls don't have. That they don't have black and brown women at the highest, uh, levels of sport who are being portrayed in the ways that they want to be portrayed. There's not gay woman athletes at the highest level of sport who are having their stories told on their terms. And I wanted to be a part of providing those role models for girls from around the world. So everyone felt like there was a space for them. There was an opportunity for them to go towards what they want, if they were to so choose that they want to be in sports.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So you cover a wide range of athletes such as, you know, people that have been heard of, like, suburban, but you also cover people that have never been heard of. Tell us about, you know, some of the people that you have covered in some of your important guests and why.

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> Speaker B>Sure. Um, such a good question, Curtis. So, like you said, it's important to us to cover a wide range of athletes. So household names like do Bird or Becky Sauerbrun, who's, you know, the captain of the US women's national soccer team, to Caster Semenya.

00:06:48.779 --> 00:07:00.153
> Speaker B>But for every athlete who is a household name, it's important to us to elevate four to five athletes who may not be getting the credit that we believe they deserve.

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> Speaker B>So these are athletes who are local legends, who are, we believe, are unsung heroes who are really trailblazing within their sport, within their community.

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> Speaker B>And we do that because we deeply believe that every single person has a story to be told. And to be totally honest, I feel like I've learned just as much, and at times, perhaps even more, from these athletes who are kind of undiscovered. Um, a lot of people don't know about them. To give you a couple different examples, um, we had the honor and privilege of working with massima alizada of Afghanistan. She was the head of the refugee team in this past summer Olympics. Now, massima is from Afghanistan, and when she started bike riding there, she had to dress up as a boy and as a man because women were not allowed to bike ride. And she would go outside with a male escort in front of her and behind her, because if someone were to recognize she actually is a woman dressed up as a man, they would throw stuff at her. They would hit her, they would yell at her. And what is so cool about massima, besides the fact that this totally checked my privilege? Honestly, listening to her talk about her desire to go out and bike ride despite all these challenges made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to go for a run, to pick up my bike and to do that and feel like I am not in immense, uh, physical danger. But also, Massimo is deeply outspoken about using her platform, using her position of power and authority to elevate the condition of women in Afghanistan today. So, in her episode, yes, she shared her story, but she kept coming back time and time again to what it's like to be a woman in Afghanistan today. And she did that because she feels like she's one of the fortunate ones. She feels like she got out. She feels like she has a responsibility and an opportunity to be a microphone, to amplify the voices of her friends and family members back home. So I love to give Massima as much credit as possible. I'll give another example of an incredible woman we've had the honor of working with, Rita Simway of, uh, Uganda. She is the top ranked para badminton player in Africa.

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> Speaker B>Now, Rita was born without a physical disability, and she was with her grandmother in her grandmother's home.

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> Speaker B>And thieves broke into the house, and they chased after her with a machete, and they hacked off her right hand.

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> Speaker B>Now, she was a right handed individual, so she had to literally learn how to do everything from, you know, writing to cleaning to doing your dishes to playing badminton with her left hand. She's now the number one badman African, uh, para badman player. And what is so cool about Rita, besides this incredible story of resilience and overcoming adversity, is she is so outspoken and so clear about how she wants her story told. She does not want to be painted with the pity brush. She says, I'm the same old Rita. And that matters because we give voice to the athletes on their terms. We are not co opting their stories. We are not portraying them through a lens that they don't agree with. We portray these athletes, be it a subord or a Rita or a massimo, exactly how they want to be portrayed. And they have complete sign off rights. They have the right to edit or change anything. And that's important to us, because so often, historically marginalized groups have their narratives taken from them.

00:11:00.525 --> 00:11:09.490
> Speaker B>And instead of doing that, we actually want to amplify and elevate their stories on their terms. So, I hope that answers your question, Curtis.

00:11:10.470 --> 00:11:12.809
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>That absolutely answers my question.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So, due to the, uh, culture and language barriers, how do you approach international athletes different than you might approach, you know, somebody in the United States?

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> Speaker B>Oh, that is such a good question.

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> Speaker B>Um, I'm going to be real. It's challenging. It definitely is, in the sense that, um. So I am bilingual. I speak English and Spanish, but, no, I do not speak all these different languages. So when we do our are working with an international athlete, we always have a translator with us, so someone who is able to facilitate that conversation live.

00:11:53.120 --> 00:12:09.620
> Speaker B>And that's important because we want the athlete to feel comfortable. We want them to be able to speak in their native tongue, and then to not feel like that they are struggling to find the right words in a foreign language that they may not be able to be super comfortable in.

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> Speaker B>There's a couple different things that do make that harder. Um, because I'm not the one directly interfacing with the athlete. So we are one step removed. So, there's a couple things that I think are more important in those situations. Um, generally, I think body language is always incredibly important, but when an athlete is not able to hear me and understand me in English, I think my body language is even more important. To show that I'm an ally, to show that I'm actively listening, to show that I'm engaged and on their side.

00:12:44.364 --> 00:13:17.509
> Speaker B>I think it's also, when working with people in different countries, extremely. Even more important to know that they will have sign off rights, to know that their words are not gonna be twisted against them. So I always re emphasize when I'm working with international athletes that, hey, you're gonna get a chance to review this. If there's anything you want changed or you feel like it's misrepresented, let us know and we'll change it. So, those would be two things that we do that are quite different when we work with international athletes as compared to athletes from the US.

00:13:19.409 --> 00:13:25.149
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, how do you know for an absolute fact that flame bearers is making a difference?

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> Speaker B>Oh, this question gives me goosebumps. Um.

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> Speaker B>Um, there's three ways.

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> Speaker B>So, number one is, our community tells us. So I think I'm a good listener. So, our community, we break it down into two groups. There's the athletes. We interview themselves, and then there's the. The community. Members of listeners, of fans, of supporters. And these could be family members of the athletes.

00:13:54.981 --> 00:15:40.259
> Speaker B>They could be Joe from down the street who's never played a sport in his life. So, to the athletes themselves, we've continuously received feedback that they feel like their stories get them, that they feel 100% represented. And we have 100% approval rate from, um, the athletes we've worked with because they feel seen and heard. They've also told me, Mansi Joshi of India told me that she didn't realize how much she has in common with athletes from around the world because she started listening to stories of other women that we've interviewed, and she said, wow, I didn't realize that, you know, I'm from India and I play badminton, but I am quite similar to a, B, and C athletes in these countries who play different sports. So, anecdotal evidence from the athletes themselves, we also actively hear from our community. I received a note the other day from a mom who said, Jamie, we love listening to this because I have two boys, and I want them to grow up knowing what a strong woman looks and sounds like. And just listening to their stories gives them role models who they can look up to. So that is one way that we hear from anecdotal evidence from M both the athletes and the community members. Then there's kind of the more formal statistics that we can lean on that will allow us to say, yeah, we think. We think we are making a difference. We can say, uh, that we have listeners in 49 countries that we've worked with athletes from 52 countries, and that I've worked with over 200 different Olympians and Paralympians.

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> Speaker B>Number three. Um, and I don't really like to lead with this, but I do think it is indicative of the meaningful work we're doing. Um, the fact that we have received 20. Over 20 awards, many of which are in public service and activism in diversity, equity, inclusion, from experts around the world who do not know me, do not know the athletes, but say, yes, this is really meaningful work. So it's kind of the third party certification stamp, if you will.

00:16:13.470 --> 00:16:20.409
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, how does the, uh, Special Olympics fit into all, um, the work that you do with flame bears?

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> Speaker B>That is such a good question. And that's actually a source of constant confusion. Ah. For people. So Special Olympics is an absolutely incredible organization.

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> Speaker B>It's actually totally unaffiliated with the Olympic and the Paralympic movement. Um, we are open and would love the opportunity to work with athletes from the special Olympics, so. But to date, we have not done so. So the Special Olympics works with athletes with, um, cognitive disabilities, versus the Paralympics is working with athletes with physical disabilities, and the Olympics works with individuals without physical disabilities.

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> Speaker B>So, to date, we have not worked with special Olympians, but that's absolutely something that we would be open to.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, thank you for clearing that up. Tell us about any current or upcoming projects that you and flame bearers are working on that listeners need to be aware of.

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> Speaker B>Yes. So I'll give a shout out first to our current season. This is all about women who competed in Paris this past summer. So these are Olympians and Paralympians. All these conversations are co hosted by May Berenice Mete, who is a two time Olympian in figure skating, a six time national figure skating champion.

00:17:41.201 --> 00:18:33.395
> Speaker B>And we sit down with these women, many of whom we all watch during the Olympics and the Paralympics, take home medals. These are women who are household names. They're also women who you haven't heard about, and they actually tell us who they are. So when we tune into the Olympics or the Paralympics, we see the highlight reel, we see the 30 seconds that they're on the screen, and then guess what? They go home. In these conversations, we actually get to know them. So if you want to tune in to hear stories about who you watch during the Olympics, the Paralympics, definitely check out our flame bearers pathways to Paris series upcoming. We're really excited. And Curtis, I haven't shared this yet, so this will be the first place that we will be announcing this. We are in the process of producing a new series on, um, the decision makers behind women's sports.

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> Speaker B>So historically, we have always focused on the athletes. What we're going to be doing in this series is really giving voice to the decision makers, male or female, who behind the scenes, be they investors, be they owners, be they coaches, who are really the decision makers, investing and really curating a culture that is supportive of women's sport. So you can stay tuned for updates on that series in the coming weeks and months.

00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:11.900
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>All, uh, right, so everybody can keep up with everything that you up to. Throw out your contact info.

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> Speaker B>Absolutely. So, first of all, we have a website, flamebearers.com.

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> Speaker B>so flame, as in the thing in the Olympic torch bears, as in the people who bear them.

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> Speaker B>Um, we actually have a contact form on our website. If anything I said today sounds right up your alley. If you're like, wow, what Jamie and her team is doing is really cool. I want to be a part of it somehow. You don't even know how, need to know how you want to be a part of it, but you're like, you know what? I believe in that, and I want to support it. Fill out the form and we'll get back to you. If that takes too long, you can also just reach out to us on social media. We're on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, x flame bears. If you don't want to do any of that and you just want to reach out to me directly, my name is Jamie Middleman. You can shoot me a note, Jamie, uh, lamebearers.com.

00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:16.663
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, close us out with some final thoughts. Maybe if that was something I forgot to talk about, that you would like to touch on, or any final thoughts that you have for the listeners and give out your website again.

00:20:16.832 --> 00:20:51.720
> Speaker B>Absolutely. So our website is flamebearers.com. and final advice. One of the things that I have learned with working with so many of these incredible athletes is that we all have that capacity. We can all have the ability to tap into our inner Olympian and our Paralympian. And there's characteristics that unify all these best in class athletes, many of which are based in resilience, are based in positive attitudes, are based in community.

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> Speaker B>And what I like to convey to listeners is that, yes, you know, when I look up to the best athletes in the world, I'm in awe. I am not like them. But whatever I'm doing, I have the ability to tap into the qualities that make them the best in the world. And you do too.

00:21:12.140 --> 00:21:23.534
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>All right, ladies and gentlemen, for more on flame bearers, go to flamebearers.com to keep up with everything that they're up to. It's an amazing organization, so check it out.

00:21:23.582 --> 00:21:34.009
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Follow rate review share this episode to as many people as possible. If you have any guests or suggestion topics, Curtis Jackson, 1978 is the place to send them.

00:21:34.390 --> 00:21:36.769
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Jump on your favorite podcast app.

00:21:37.069 --> 00:21:46.930
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Leave us a review follow share the show thank you for listening and supporting the show. And Jamie, thank you for all that you and, uh, flame bearers are doing. And thank you for joining me.

00:21:47.089 --> 00:21:53.750
> Speaker B>Curtis, thank you for having me. I love what you do. I've checked out a lot of your work and keep it up.

00:21:54.609 --> 00:22:02.521
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>For more information on the living the Dream podcast, visit www.djcurvefball.com.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>until next time, stay focused on living the drain.

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> Speaker B>Drain.