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Hi, I'm Shelley Maurer. And I'm Cher Emmerich. Welcome to Life Lessons from Pickleball, where we engage with pickleball players from around the world about life on and off the court. Thanks for joining us. We are so happy to have with us today one of our pickleball buddies, good friend, Sarah Moore. And Sarah, I loved reading about you and the fact that you grew up in Hayward, Wisconsin, population 1,500 people, which is so cool. And you made note that it's the muskie capital of the world. Will you please explain that? Yeah. So a muskie is a big, huge fish. I've never caught one in my life. Oh, I thought it was the gun. No, it's a huge. Oh, there's a huge landmark there. That's a fish. That's the National National Fishing Hall of Fame. And you pay to go in. I don't think I've ever been in. And you can walk up to the top and get like stand in the fish's mouth and you can see people. It's like a deck, you know, so the fish is that the tails down here and the and the mouth is up here. And it's like a few stories high. Oh, my gosh. And what I was thinking of, of course, was musket, but there's no muskie gun. Muskelunge. Oh, that is very cool. It's a freshwater sport fish, and they're big. And so fishermen love them. Like sturgeon big? Like that? You know, like... When you see them mounted, they're like at least three feet long. Oh, wow. Okay. Wow. Can you imagine? They're all over. They're in every bar and restaurant in town, right? Are they edible? Probably, but I've never eaten them, so I bet they're not very good. They're kind of a fight. So they're probably a little tough and lean. I don't know. It's not like walleye that you hear about. Everybody loves walleye. Not like walleye.

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No.

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But there are two other things you mentioned about your town, and that one is the World of Lumberjack World Championships. Yeah, the World Lumberjack World Championships, which is like sawing and chainsawing and climbing up trees and log rolling. I was a log roller when I was a kid. I'll find you. Oh, that's very impressive. It's on ABC Wide World of Sports, or it used to be every year. I've watched it. It's impressive, but I didn't see you on it, Sarah. No, no. Oh, actually, that's a pretty exciting thing. And man, talk about athletes, people who can do those. Oh, bless their hearts. And then one last thing was home of North America's largest XC ski race. Cross country ski race. The largest cross country ski race in North America is in my tiny little hometown. Wow. So you actually had, you know, this little town actually had a lot of things to be famous for. Yeah. And it was also very touristy in the summer. People from, you know, Milwaukee, Chicago, Minneapolis would come in droves and vacation cabins on lakes and resorts on lakes. So it kind of forced that tiny little town into the into the future a little bit like it had, you know, craft breweries. 20, 25 years ago, you know, like everything around it is really redneck, but it's a little bit more progressive. How cool. Yeah. Yeah. So I, my husband, I think I've told you this before too. My husband grew up in a small town in the Midwest in North Dakota, less than 2000 people. And his father was also the principal architect. in the town. And I just find that the size of the town and the fact that his father was a principal had a big impact on his life. And I have a lot of he has a lot of stories. And so I'd like to know how what impact that had on you and how that was for you. So, you know, I when I When I was a teenager, I couldn't wait to get out of there because everybody knew me, right? My dad grew up about 50 miles away and then actually moved out to Seattle for a while. He was in the army at Fort Lewis and met my mom who was living in Kent with her family. And after they married, they lived here for a while, but then he moved back because he got a job as a vice, a principal or vice principal of a school of a really small school that doesn't exist anymore. So everybody knew me. They knew me. They knew my whole family. It was a really tight community. You kind of have to be nice to your neighbors, even if you don't like them, because that's when you're going to need them, right? And the weather there is really severe. So if your heat goes out and nobody can

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come

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fix it or you can't fix it yourself, you may have to crash on your neighbor's floor for a night or two. Um, so it's just a very, it's a, a really community oriented way of living. And of course, as a teenager, I couldn't wait to get away from that, but I see the benefits now, you know, you couldn't get away with anything really. It did take a village to raise the children. Yeah. You were also super athletics into all the different sports. What were all the sports that you did winter and summer? So sports, but kind of, but nothing with the ball, right? I was, I was all at, in about seventh grade and the basketball coach was so excited and I was really good at the drills. I'm not very fast, but I was good at the drills, but man, first game, those mean girls throwing elbows. I was like, nope, I'm out. I'm out of here. So I did more like individual sports, cross country skiing, downhill skiing. I skated, although my sister was a fabulous ice skater. I was a cheerleader. I danced from kindergarten through my 40s. And then I was a runner. I was also a runner. Whoa. Yeah. But nothing with a ball, really, until pickleball. So how were you introduced to pickleball? So a good friend of mine, Kim, asked me if I wanted to learn to play pickleball. And I'm like, sure. Sure. And she said she wanted to meet some people and she thought it'd be a fun way to meet people. So she signed up for a class and I signed up for a class, but she was a level above me, which was fine. So we would meet in passing. And I still haven't played with her since like the first month because she was a walk-on D1 athlete. She played soccer at UCLA. She just never met a ball or a sport she didn't like and You know her. She's extremely competitive. She's talented athletically. And I was just a newbie. So it was a great idea. I'm glad she talked me into it because I met all of you. And, you know, now I'm enjoying playing this fun new sport. But yeah, that was the beginning of the story. Yeah, I played with Kim too. And I think, who was it who said to her, you really need to move up to that next level because you are just so good. I think that was me. Yeah. She told me her sons broke up with her. I go, Kim, it was warranted.

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Yeah.

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What can you do when you're that good, right? Well, I'm so glad she introduced you to the sport. When was that? When did you start? I think I started last March. So like a year and change ago. Just about the time we did as well, I guess. Yeah. Cool. Kim's husband grew up in Bellevue near Overlake and they had a pickleball court in their yard. Oh, wow. He's one of five boys and, um, Kim played there a lot when they were, you know, first dating and the paddles were wooden or the, yeah, the paddles were wooden.

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Yeah.

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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I bought my first set of paddles. I didn't know anything about it. So I bought the set of four. They're like cardboard or something. And now my five and a half year old grandson uses those. I felt really old when I went to Dick's Sporting Goods to buy my first paddle because I, there are all these kids working there. And by kids, I mean 25 and under. And nobody knew anything about pickleball. Nothing. I was still asking too many questions. It has the rep of being an old person's sport. But man, there are a lot of young'uns coming up in the... And we mentioned in one of our episodes, and everybody knows it, is plays, I think, that Anna Lee Waters is... 16 she was world champion and i think she might be 17 now and still is world champion so yeah yeah pretty remarkable yeah you are also in retail yeah so tell us about your retail experience okay one of my first jobs when i was um in hayward i worked for a family that had a clothing store it was called rivkins and i just loved it i've always liked clothing i've always dressed my whole family. My mom and my sister would butt heads and my sister was always very, that's too itchy. That's too fussy. She's a little more on the granola side. And I was always able to find something for her that she liked. And the shopping options there were pretty limited. And the first time I remember shopping for someone, I helped her find her Easter dress and And we were probably both in elementary school. And my mom just threw up her hands and said, you help her. I'm done. And actually, you have a wedding that is just around the corner, right? Yeah. Your daughter? My daughter's getting married in September. And then in May, my niece is getting married, too. Wow. Very close. You're dressing everybody for those as well, right? Not everybody, but anybody. I got my mother-in-law. dresses and I give opinions if asked, but people don't always want opinions and I'm fine not sharing. I won't let anybody make a glaring mistake on my watch. That's a real skill, though. I don't have a good fashion sense, so I should probably take you along sometime when I need to. I'd be happy to. You can become the pickleball dresser. Yeah, vicariously. So I moved out here actually to work for Nordstrom in 93. And then after Nate, my third, was born, I hung up my retail hat because it just didn't make any sense with three kids under six. Oh, gosh. And my husband was starting a new business. And so he was working a lot of hours. But I still have friends that work at Nordstrom and I miss it. I would love to go back to retail. one day. You loved it. I did. I did. I still do. Yeah. What did you love about it? Well, people come in looking for something, even if it's just an idea. They may not want to purchase anything, and I don't care about that. But it isn't like cold calling, right? Sales, which I did that for a time, and that was very challenging after college. So they come in and they at least want to socialize or they want to see what's new or, but, but then the kind of the most, the thing I liked the best was just helping somebody look like the best version of themselves, whether it was a date or a job interview or, you know, some, something, an important event in their life. And I think, I think clothing can be really powerful as sort of armor for, Isn't that true? Good point. When you feel like you're looking okay, looking strong and yeah, good point. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah. Especially going into an interview where you really want to put your best foot forward. Right. That's very rewarding when you see somebody, because usually when we go into clothing stores, we're feeling a little defeated. I feel defeated before I even get there. And so if I can leave feeling victorious, yay, I've got something I feel good in. That's pretty impressive.

UNKNOWN: 13:12

Yeah.

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Yeah. And Nordstrom was great for that side of me, because if something on this rack didn't work, I could certainly find something else that did within your budget and that was flattering and you felt good. So that was... That was fun. You like to do that for friends, right? Yeah. Absolutely. We'll have to do a shopping trip sometime. You'll become, you'll get the, actually you could start charging us. The whole pickleball community that we are friends with would probably all hire you to help suit us up. So you mentioned your husband, his name is Bill. And how long have you guys been married? We have been married for 27 years. We're married in 1995. Yeah, it'll be 28 years this year. That's so impressive. Wow. Yeah. Shelly, you've been married how long? 35, I think. Yeah. Okay. See, I'm a little, yeah, a little bit behind y'all. Oh, that is really cool. I think a lot of it's luck. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and good discernment, you know, and, and. My relationships were great. I mean, I learned so much from them. So we're not going to get into all that. But anyway, good for you. 27 years. That's pretty impressive. Yeah. And three kids. Three kids. Yeah. And what's the business? Senior Living Communities. So my husband is the managing partner for a group of investors that build and buy businesses. Senior living, everything from independent apartments to Alzheimer's care and special memory care. Wow. Talk about a needed industry. Yes. Yeah, that's kind of how he got into it, was that he was in the cabinet business, installing some cabinets for... Someone and this person was in the assisted living industry, the senior living industry. And Bill was like, oh, that sounds that sounds like something I would love to do. And he's always been pretty entrepreneurial. It was a good it was a good fit and the timing was right. So, yeah, it's been good. Are you a part of that business at all? No, no, no. Yeah. And I think that's part of the reason we've been married 27 years. Yeah, good point. And actually, the fact that you were raising the children and managing the household and dressing all your friends and family. My daughter recently started working for the business. And it's been really a good, what was her official title? Director of Operations. But she wears a lot of hats. And she's been in the banking and mortgage business. industry with a degree in linguistics you know how that goes wow uh that's been successful and and really good for both annie and my husband so awesome yeah awesome how nice to have uh your daughter involved with that i bet your husband and maybe the boys one day but they're not ready yet so yeah yeah well i think it's also fascinating with as busy as you were that you had time to host the kids from Columbia, right? Oh, yeah. Tell us about that. So my kids went to public school, Bellevue Public Schools, and there's a Spanish immersion school in Bellevue called Puesta del Sol. And it's full immersion, K through 5, and then two or three classes a day in middle school and one or two classes a day in high school. And part of the... involves having exchange students come and they were like post-college, maybe wanted to teach English as a second language in the, in Columbia. And so we hosted one Pedro for just a short time, like less than a month. He kind of, I can't remember what happened with his host family, but they had to, they had to be somewhere and he needed a place to stay. So he was, teaching our youngest guitar lessons. And I'm like, you can stay with us. You know, I knew it. We came over every Sunday for a couple hours. And then we actually signed up to be an official host family and went through the whole thing. whatever screening or there wasn't much of a screening, but we hosted Felipe from August until not. Yeah. From August until January. We still talk to him from time to time. He likes to call on like Thanksgiving, Superbowl, you know, American holidays. Yeah. Superbowl. I love it. My Spanish really improved hosting Felipe when he got off the airplane and he was like 25. My Spanish, which is not good, was better than his English. And I was like, uh-oh. So I learned how to speak English very simply, which is English is such a complicated language. Yes, it is. Because that was how he could understand. And then that was how I think he probably spoke Spanish to me. And so we both, you know, improved our language abilities tenfold just by speaking with one another. That's fantastic. And how lovely for him to have a safe... friendly loving home to be in here and he stays in touch with you that is so cool yeah it was really fun really rewarding from all all ends of the spectrum yeah i i I hope people feel inspired to consider that because that's a really cool thing to offer. And it's a great way for us to learn about other traditions and for them to learn about our traditions. He was very struck that here, he's like, okay, so what's, in America, what's the food? And I said, well, you are going to stay with us for part of the year. And then you're moving in with a Japanese family from Hawaii, Japanese American, but they're from Hawaii. And then you're moving in with a man from the husband was from New York and the wife was from somewhere in some Latin country. So I'm like, you're going to eat completely different things at each house. Well, what kind of music do you listen to? I'm like, you're going to hear different music at each house. You know, he was looking for like a common thread. And I'm like, the only common thread is there really isn't one. It's homogeneous. Everyone's Catholic, you know, for everyone's Catholic, everyone, you know, there's their national songs and national meals and yeah. Yeah. Yeah, staple foods. Yes, for sure. Hot dogs and apple pie, is that our staple? I don't know. I noted that in 2011 and 2012, you had some pretty difficult years there with your mom and your dad passing. Yeah, that was tough. so near, so close to each other in time? And I mean, where were they at the time? And where were you? So I was, my parents were divorced. And they did not have a amicable divorce. But they were, they would, how do I, they would steal themselves when it came to events with their kids. I have one sister and their grandkids. Yeah. Anyway, my dad had remarried, but then got divorced. And my mom, and he lived in Hayward, the town I grew up in. My mom lived here. After they divorced in the 80s, maybe. Yeah. My mom moved to Olympia and worked at a hospital in Shelton. Or no, she worked at Mason General

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Hospital.

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And then she got recruited to go recruit physicians for a hospital in Alaska. And she met my stepdad while there. Up in

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Alaska.

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But my sister and I were both in college. So it was kind of more like he was my mom's husband, not my stepdad, you know, because we

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were older.

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But anyway, so my... Dad fell. He was delivering a car battery to his former son-in-law. And he fell, slipped on some ice in the garage and broke his back. And he had a spinal condition called ankylosing spondylitis. And the surgeon said, if your back is like a stack of little plates, like saucers, they just shattered.

UNKNOWN: 22:28

So...

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You know, a couple surgeries. He was 72. He had a couple surgeries, got an infection. He kind of hung on for a long time. But ultimately, his quality of life was going to be very poor. And they weren't sure if he'd suffered brain damage from, you know, surgeries and lack of oxygen. And so he was in the hospital for about a month and passed. Oh, wow. In the Midwest, you typically don't bury people in the winter. He died in February because the ground was free. He was in the Army, so he was buried at a veteran's cemetery. So we scheduled the burial for June when my kids were out of school so we could all go. And the day we buried my dad... my mom called and she had gotten a cancer diagnosis. Oh, come on. Yeah. So it was interesting. They were connected without being very connected, you know, she only lived about six months after that.

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Wow. That was hard.

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That's a lot. And I, but there was a, there was a, there was a silver lining with my mom. So my stepdad has six kids and he, they live all over the U S and very needy. And my mom kind of liked that. She liked rescuing, helping kind of stray dogs, you know? So like my life was pretty okay. Like I didn't, my house didn't burn down. I didn't have a drug problem. I wasn't getting evicted. And so like, I got a little resentful of the step siblings because they always needed her. And I'm like, I felt like I couldn't maybe ask my mom to come over and help me with my daughter's birthday party when someone needed to go to treatment or, you know, like it was always a fire and I wasn't having as many fires. But I took care of her for the last six months and we totally made our peace. And we didn't talk a lot about it. We didn't need to. You know, I felt like I gave her a really good gift. Took her to the hospital almost every day. You know, I changed her port when she had a port.

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Wow.

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Just supported her. And that was a gift from my husband, too, because he really did the heavy lifting with the kids then. And they were still pretty little and needed a lot of driving around. But that was a tough time in my life. Really tough.

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Okay.

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What a gift for both you and your mom to have that time. We all kind of wish that we could just go quick if we go, but there's something very tender about having that time when you know time is limited and then you really take advantage of the time together and how wonderful that you were that person for her to take her and boy, cleaning the port, all that. Wow. Yeah, that was pretty special. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So you've had a... You've had a lot of life experiences that I'm sure you've collected lessons from. And so we're talking about lessons either that we learn in life that we take to the court or things we learn, life lessons we learn on the court that we take into our lives. Right. And I'm wondering if you have any life lessons one way or the other. Yeah. So one of the things that really struck me immediately about pickleball was how supportive the community is. And I think it's partly related to the sport that everybody gets a chance to shine because not everyone has all the same shots in their arsenal, so to speak, right? You might have a killer serve, but you can't lob, or you might have a, you know, killer lob, but your serves a little weak, whatever. It's just, that's the pickleball is the first sport I've ever played with a ball where I felt like not, not every time, but most of the time I feel like I'm bringing something to the table and it might not bring what be what share is bringing or Shelly's bringing, but I have something to bring to the table. I deserve to be there. I can compete usually, you know, everybody has an off day, but I, and I, and I feel like everyone feels that way or I get that. Yes. And I, People are so supportive of a great shot, even if they're your opponent. And, you know, that may change as we move up the ranks. No, I hope not. No, we won't let that change. People are willing to step down and play with you if they're a lot better than you, a lot more advanced, have years under their belt. You know, they may not want to play with you every week, but they'll give you a few games. And I just, that's kind of unique. Yeah. Yeah. I like that idea that I deserve to be here. I think a lot of people live life not knowing if they deserve to be here on this planet, living this life. And that low self-esteem, I think, whittles away at a person's soul. And the encouragement that we get on the court is, Today I played with Shelly's group. They're all 3.0 and better. And there were moments when I thought, I don't deserve to be

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here.

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But the community is so gracious and kind and supportive that I decided, yeah, you know, they're, they're going to learn what it means to not win when they're my partner too. So that's a good thing to learn. When you, I, I was in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago with my sister and her husband who have played, you know, pick a ball a handful of times. And so I would, we would go out during the day and I would teach them, coach them. And it's good for me to play with, you know, I was trying to play shots for them. So it's, it's good to, to teach too. Cause you, you learn a lot about the game when you teach. So true. Yeah. So true. And you know, when you were talking about being some, How we're such a supportive community. That's really helped me take that support into other areas of my life. I always felt I was supportive of people, but maybe I wasn't verbalizing it. But because we're always verbalizing it on the court now, wow, great shot. We're always empowering people. It's made me really think about other instances in my life where I can really empower people and speak it out loud. Yes. It's so impactful. Yeah. Yeah. It feels, it feels good. It just feels good. Yeah. And, and that is a, it's a unique community, I think in that respect, because a lot of sports are just so competitive. Yes. Not a lot of appreciation for opponents. Yeah. At least that's what it looked like to me, you know? Yeah. Well, it has to be nice or nobody will want to play with us.

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What are we going to do?

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True story. That's so good. I really like your point, Shelley. Speaking of, we can be pretty quick to identify the things that we're ticked about or frustrated or what, but to just be... intentional about saying out loud things that we are appreciative of or that we notice somebody walking down the street, they just look like they're happy and you just say, wow, I love your smile. You know, just things like that that we wouldn't necessarily do except for having this encouraging community that's encouraged us to be that way. Right. Right. Right. Also, like Madeline, I was always the mom in the stands at all my kids' events. especially the boys and was a dancer like me. Um, but if you don't, if you don't play this sport, you can only understand it so much. And my boys were being ace ball and football players, two sports played obviously. So, um, pickleball, I've been able to play with both of them and I love it. I love it. And there, I like to see them be encouraging, you know, they're natural athletes and they're really good at it, but they're, It's still fun to see that side of them giving me a knuckle bump or a high five or great shot, mom. You know, that's fun. That's really cool. And, you know, when you were just saying that, Sarah, it reminded me. Sarah is the one that really taught me how important it is to be kind because she would always say when you throw the ball, thank you. I try. Well, please. I mean, she's always, thank you. And she's the one that taught me because when I would go running back out and I'd scream out, she'd be like, you know, maybe if we scream it out, it might make the other person feel bad. Maybe we just could raise our hands. Yeah, that's true. So she taught me now. I'm very, except for it's hard, I get in trouble in tournaments. They go, what? You need to scream out. My friend Sarah taught me not to do that.

UNKNOWN: 32:16

Yeah.

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Raise your finger. You really taught me how to be kind. Use my thank yous out loud. Quietly raise my finger. I think it's a good reset, too, to just especially I find if I'm frustrated while I'm playing to try to do say something or do something nice. Smile. Say thank you. whatever it is, it's kind of a good reset between points. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Well, and the music that you always bring to us helps. Oh, yeah. 80s dance music, right? Yeah. It actually, it's great. It raises the vibration in the whole facility when we hear that music. That's great. So you're teaching, you're able to help us dress well. You're teaching us the etiquette and kindness on the court. And you're really a good player. Everyone notices how calm you are. You just kind of walk up to the ball and hit it and you place it exactly where it needs to go. And I'm scampering around trying to get to it. And you just walk up to it and hit it. That's a killer sideline shot. I may look calm on the outside, but on the inside, it's all... That's so fun. Yeah. Well, Sarah, this has really been delightful. It's just lovely to have these conversations with people we know on the court and to be able to have these conversations about life and how it translates on the court and how the court Learning translates like Shelly, you were saying, you learned on the court to say thank you and all the positive things. And now you're saying them out loud in life. And that, yeah, it's really, it's changing the world. As Madeline says, our coach, Madeline, pickleball can change the world. I had a lesson with her this morning. Yeah. Oh, brilliant. Brilliant. So do you have any final thoughts, Sarah, for people who are already playing Pickleball or people who have never tried it? Well, I think everybody should try it. No, just... I feel like a responsibility when I play with new players to be an advocate for the game, an ambassador for the game. I noticed that when we played one time at a park in Kirkland and it was the two of us and I don't remember who was with us, but there was a man there who like somebody called him mayor and he's like, nope, I'm not the mayor. I have no interest in that. But he was very positive and very encouraging to everyone. And I don't even, I don't remember, I never knew his name, but I just thought, okay, it's good that someone who's this good is also the best sport on the court. Because I think that is what encourages others to then join and keep the sport growing and alive and vital. Really good point. No matter how good you are, Be kind. Don't mistake my kindness for weakness, though. That's right. At your peril. Keep the ego at bay. How many interviews have you two done? Conversations, we have had, let's see, four so far and we have a number coming yet and we'll be sending them out live probably in a few weeks. I can't wait to see. Me too. Me too. Well, thank you, Sarah. Thank you. Thank you to everyone who's listening and watching. We just love that you've joined us and we can't wait for the next conversation. next week. See you on the court.