Episode 24: Rachel Balkovec | Redefining Leadership in Professional Sports

Oh my goodness. This episode is straight fire. You're you're gonna wanna stick around for this one.

My good friend, Rachel Balkovec, she wears so many hats. She was a a college athlete. She played softball through college and just decided she needed to get into professional baseball. She has been in baseball professional baseball for twelve years, and she wears a lot of first woman to hats. So she was the first woman to be a full time strength and conditioning coach, first woman to be a full time hitting coach, and the first woman to ever be a manager in affiliated professional baseball.

She is highly sought after as a speaker and mentor. She's also, a a real estate investor, which is how I came to know her. She's an incredible human, works in leadership. You you must listen to this episode. Here's Rachel.

Hello, and welcome to the Power Up Your Life podcast. I'm Mandy McAllister.

And I'm Kelly Resendez.

And today, we have with us my friend, the incredible Rachel Balkovec. Rachel, what is up, my friend?

Just out here powering up my life. You know what I'm saying?

I need to start it back. Hanging in there, powering it up. I love it. Well, why don't you get this party started for us? Tell us a little bit about your journey in your own words.

Yeah. Beyond beyond the bio, beyond the LinkedIn page, I would say, kind of started out, grew up in in Omaha, Nebraska in kind of a very middle of the road, middle class family and ended up playing softball competitively my whole life and led to college softball. And then, you know, obviously, not dissimilar from you, Mandy, just being a college athlete, and that led into a career for me, in baseball, which was quite a challenge to be to begin with, and I'm happy to dive in wherever needed there.

But, I was dead set on working in professional baseball after my softball career. At the time, women weren't getting a million dollar NIL deals and getting money, and, women's sports were not televised or even really cared about that much. And so I just thought that baseball was a better future for me as a career and pushed really hard to get in. Was with the Cardinals, the Astros, and the Yankees before now joining the Marlins.

I'm in my second year with the Marlins as our director of player development overseeing about 120 staff members, 200 athletes in in every way imaginable. And right now, I'm in the beautiful Beloit, Wisconsin, not too far down the road from Mandy again, seeing one of our my our minor league teams. So so very, very, very long story short of my life overview.

I absolutely love it. I I a lot of our listeners are, you know, female executives and, you know, doing all of the things and, you know, getting stuck in places. But a thing I love about your story and a thing that, you know, resonates with me about you as a human is you just don't take no for an answer. You decide a thing and you freaking go make it happen even when there's a ton of no's in your face.

So for for a person that you might be coaching or mentoring, talk to me about some things you would tell that person about getting no's and just showing up to to achieve the thing you wanna achieve.

You know, sometimes a no is is a yes to something else, and I think that's, like, something that I've picked up or learned or heard along the way. And sometimes a no is just like sometimes a no is something you ignore, sometimes it's not, I think, is the point. The noes that I've gotten definitely related to, like, my gender and the game, I just always thought, like, well, I'm not talking to the right person. I'm gonna go find somebody else to say yes.

And knowing the difference between that situation where you have to go and find the find the yes, dig for the yes, claw for the yes. And sometimes the no is like, hey. This is not right for you. Go find something else. Go do something else. And I can give two, like, explicit examples of both. Right?

So when I was first playing in the game, it was like, you can't do this because you're a woman, and I was like, fuck that. I'm gonna do it anyway. And I just I I took the approach of, like, I'm just gonna build my resume so strong that I am undeniable. I'm an undeniable candidate. And if I'm getting a no, it just means that I'm not good enough yet. Even though I might have been already better than my male counterparts, for me to get that job, I knew I'd have to be way better than them. So I said, I'm gonna go find my yes. I don't care what you say.

However, then I was in strength and conditioning early in my career for and conditioning early in my career for six or seven years, and I just kept getting noes, like, metaphorical noes. You're wrong. You don't get it. This is not how it works, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. And, finally, I just was like, I'm closing that chapter, and I'm gonna pivot. And I, very long story short, went back for a second master's degree and became a hitting coach instead.

And people ask me all the time, like, hey. Do you, you know, do you miss being a strength coach? Do you miss being a CSCS? I'm like, fuck no. I I left that way behind. I I just accepted the no, and I found a different yes, a different path to be on. And knowing the difference between those two things is probably pretty important in in your life.

Wow. That's absolutely amazing and so true. So, you know, with given what's going on in the world, you are an amazing female leader. If you could try to solve the problem of the disparity in in female leadership and, you know, amount of VC funding going to female founders, like, what would you do?

What would you tell the women out there to empower us to start taking some sort of action towards, you know, I would say I like to use the word annihilating those decimal numbers.

I I like to joke sometimes that, you know, people will say, well, why don't, you know, why don't you have kids? And I will say, well, all I need is a wife. You know? I've got a husband, but I just need a wife at home to take care of my kids like you have. And then I could continue to advance my career at the speed at, like, the fucking crazy speed at which I want to do it and have a child or or children that could be at home and somebody else will be taking care of them.

So I think I do think I I remember reading Lean in when I was, like, early twenties that Sheryl Sandberg wrote, and she talked about how there's more women in the workforce than ever, but getting to that age where you have to air quotes decide, although I know I'm talking to two powerful women, at least one who has children. It's like you have to decide between, do I build a family and possibly be at home, or do I voraciously chase this career? And then once you you climb the ladder and you get into leadership roles, the demand only gets higher on your time. And then the the idea of, like, a family phase. You know? I'm I'm going through it literally right now as a 38 year old woman without kids. I'm like Mhmm. K. Both both my husband and I are, like, on this track of building our careers, and it's just my husband just took a job 3,000 miles away from me in California. It's pretty hard to have a kid long distance. Like, what are we gonna do?

So my point saying that is, like, what what would I say? There's one thing is I mean, get a wife, which is kind of a joke. But one thing is just, like, considering what you want in your life and, like, what's gonna fit and what's not. Yeah. Another thing is is, like, as much as I would love change to happen fast, sometimes Clay Caitlin Clark appears out of nowhere and progresses women's sports overnight. But a lot of but a lot of times, like, the NBA also had to build for twenty years before it got to that point where Caitlin Clark, you know, and the NCAA NIL came along and, like, had this big collision happened. So there's this overnight stuff that happens sometimes, but most of the time, it takes twenty years to Yeah. Build.

And women there's been a lot more women in the workforce, I think, cresting that hill into there's so many women in the workforce that are getting that are building great reputations and building their careers. At some point, that will tip over, I do believe, into, like, more leadership roles, more CEOs. We're seeing it as a microcosm of baseball. People are like, why are there only you know, why is why is there only one female director of player development? Why are you the only one? I'm like, well, I've been in the game for thirteen years, and there's not that many women who've been in the game for thirteen years. There's a lot of women now who've been in baseball for three years. Yeah. That's not enough for any woman to get into an executive role.

You never know which snowflake is gonna cause the avalanche. But you need a lot of snow to get to the point that that one snowflake is gonna cause the avalanche.

I completely agree with that. And I'll tell you, you know, from my shoes, the I I'm gonna sell you on an au pair because there is ways I know, Mandy. Help. There is ways to get the help you need so that you can prioritize both the work you love to do and the opportunity to have a family. So it's not always either or.

I do. I think we talk a lot about and I need a house in Los Angeles and Miami, so maybe I need, like, a million dollar raise to afford an au pair in two cities across the country.

Yeah. We'll talk offline. You you tell me not to give that, I will do it.

I love it. So I I love this approach of, you know, first of all, the opportunity to understand the difference between this is a no for a reason and a no just because I haven't found my yes yet.

But, you know, let's call back to that a little bit. Is there's that's a fine line. Right? You could beat your head against a wall trying to be a strength coach forever and not realize you needed to go look for a different door.

Can you maybe help me discriminate or help our listeners discriminate how to feel into or how to discriminate that difference of that fine line of if it's a no for a reason or if it's a no just because I haven't found my yes yet.

Oof. I was getting okay. So I can just say there was enough. When I was getting into the game, there are enough people and enough there's enough light. People were saying literally, they were saying, which is crazy to think about. They're saying, well, you have a great resume. We just don't hire women for these roles. And so I was like, alright.

I so what you said is I'm qualified. Like, I I'm doing a good job. My resume is good enough. You hire people like me with my resume. It's just that that silly little gender thing that I need to figure out how to fix. So it's like, I knew that I was, like, on the right track, and I knew that if I was even more qualified and my resume was even better, that it'd be harder to say no. And I just needed one out of 30 teams.

So I was having, like, air quotes, good they were bad conversations because they were discriminatory, but, like, good conversations with people that were kind of encouraging me saying, look. You've got a great resume. You've got this experience, but we just don't hire women. So I thought, well, if one out of 30 teams out there is willing to hire a woman, then I'm in. And that's that's what it took. So I had, like I did have some indicators that I was on the right track.

Yeah.

The other thing the the reason why I pivoted out of strength and conditioning, I kept, like, beating my head against the wall there was, like, I had changed. My my goals had changed. So I'm trying to, like, convince people of something when they're like, no matter what, like, my my goals had changed. And if I had stayed in strength and conditioning, I would have been trying to fit a square peg peg into a round hole of, like, I'm no longer right for this.

I and I'm I'm thinking about other things constantly. I'm reading leadership. I'm not reading weightlifting books anymore. I'm not reading leadership and development books and teaching and coaching books.

So I just I had to actually reflect pretty hard on my own goals. It's like, is this what really what I wanted? I don't know if that applies to anyone out there, but that's that's for me, that's no idea what it is.

Yeah. Absolutely. Tuning in to what you really want and desire. So kind of pulling down the leadership path, what would you say are, like, the greatest areas of leadership that you did work on that helped you get to that next level?

I think as a leader, you've gotta have probably a couple of things. One is you you have to have expertise. You have to know what you're talking about. Mhmm. People are gonna sniff that out very quickly if you can't elevate them from a from a knowledge and, like, skill set standpoint.

And then the thing that I probably always had but had to refine and get better at was you have to be able to make tough decisions. So as a leader, you're communicating with people, you're building relationships, and at the end of the day, you might have to let somebody go. You might have to tell them that that what they're doing is not good enough. And that's always for the good of the person and for the good of the organization.

So I think it's like a comment for me personally and especially where the the Miami Marlins are right now, which this is not a secret. This is something you could Google. Like, we're not a winning team. You know? And our organization is not a successful organization historically.

So I have to be able to, like, lead people with some skill sets between having been a strength coach, having been a hitting coach, an outfield coach, a base running coach, and a manager. I have a very general skill set in which I can kind of elevate people in in multiple different areas. And then also being able to look at someone in the eye and be like, hey. We we're not good yet. We gotta get better. We gotta get way better. You have to be a catalyst for our growth as an organization.

And having that skill, I think, is one of, it's not it it's not always been tough for me, but something that I've had to work on and develop how to do it in in the right way that inspires people and doesn't shut people off. Yeah.

That's awesome.

Leaning into that idea of leadership specifically, what is an unconventional leadership strategy that most people wouldn't agree with, but you really live by? Something unconventional.

Oh god. What do I do that's not unconventional? I would say, like, just, like, piggybacking off of what I just said. I think there's there's some leaders that go in everywhere, and they're like, hey. You're doing a great job. Keep going. You're you know? And there's, like, this the the love, the support, the the love, the support, the hugs, the love, the support. And there's very rarely a, hey. You're not doing a job. We're not doing a job. We have to push.

Like, I keep keep telling our staff right now, this is probably the most unconventional. I don't think I'm I'm guessing not many CEOs or leaders talk about this, but we're in the middle of the mountain right now. And if you ever gone hiking, you'd know. You park your car. You're with your friends. You're like, yay. It's gonna be so fun. We're so glad. It's gonna be great. You know? And, like, you close the car door and you you start walking and it's, like, pretty you know, you're, like, in the trees and it's all beautiful and majestic, and you're like, oh, it's so nice. And then, like, a mile in, you're like, okay. It's, like, getting a little harder. People stop talking. They stop smiling. It's getting a little harder, but we're we're good. We're still good. Right?

And and you get, like, six miles into a 14 mile hike, and people are not talking. And they're breathing hard, and shit's getting hard. Right? And you turn around, you look down, and the city's tiny. You're like, wow. We've come so far. We've hiked six miles up this mountain. The city's tiny. You can't see your car anymore. It's way in the path. And and you feel good about yourself. You're in the middle of the mountain. You feel good about yourself. You're like, I've already done a lot of work, and we're we've gained a lot of ground.

And I'm telling everyone, like, we gotta turn around and look up because every single step after this gets harder and steeper. And you think you can't breathe now. You're you're gonna die here in a second. Like, you you are gonna get altitude sickness. Like, it's gonna get harder and harder and harder, and I'm almost like I don't wanna say talking people out of the job, but but pushing them in a way of like, hey. Great job. You have come so far. And now every little six inch step that you take is gonna be painful, and you're gonna look up and you're gonna be like, oh, is that the peak? And I'm gonna be like, nope. The peak's over there. It's, like, three more miles up, and you're gonna be like, fuck.

So I think the unconventional tactic tactic to bring it all back is in some ways, like, seriously talking people out of the job because it's gonna be so hard, and there are gonna be nights where you can't sleep or you wake up in the middle of the night and and sweating. And if that doesn't excite you, you might wanna turn back and head to the car.

Yeah. No. That's awesome. I mean, number one, I wanna go hiking with you. Like, this this actually sounds like fun to me. Like, I love a good hike. Yeah. But definitely, it is. I I think people to in today's day and age don't realize just how challenging different headways are. Right? No matter if it's the market, the economy, you know, so many different aspects.

You have to have that commitment to excellence like you really have. So kinda leaning into that commitment to excellence that you've had because you're in that you're the only one spot. There has to be some things like morning rituals or rituals that you do to take care of your self in order to be able to take care of your team. What are those things for you?

I mean, health is a big thing. You know? I mean, just physical health for me is mental health. It's it's such a it's my calm spot. It's my safe space. It's my do not disturb. It's why I look like I do on this podcast because I basically was like, well, I can either look like this on a podcast or I cannot work out, and I'm getting a workout. And Yeah. My phone's on do not disturb. And I got in forty five minutes, and my heart rate's up. And as soon as I put put my phone on do not disturb and start working out, the thoughts just start running through my mind, and the ideas start coming through. So I think that taking that time each day, even though it is an hour out of my day, let's say, that I could be working, it's that's my way to take care of myself. And then, of course, like, spending time with my husband and my family, it's a nonnegotiable.

So I I should probably do more. Do I wake up in the morning and do the ice water thing and the, you know, whatever? I mean They're saying it's bad for women now, so who knows? Like Oh, of course. Still is. I mean, I I don't, you know, I I like to say, like, I'm black I'm black and white. Right? So I don't, like, wake up in the morning and, like, make my bed and meditate and blah blah blah. I never make my bed for whoever's listening out there that feels guilty about that. I never make my bed. I don't I never have. And she's still successful, ladies and gentlemen. I'm still successful.

No. I I just, like, I probably pack it all together. Like, I work like an animal, and then when I have my time off, it's fucking off. Like, don't talk to me. I don't feel bad about it. I don't worry about it. I just I just leave. So

it's, like, kinda not all in all in. All in, we're all out. I am completely the same way. Totally.

It sounds like that those are a couple strategies that you have to find clarity. The the, you know, mental health is is physical health and being around family. Your sister is also really amazing. I think we gotta give her a call out on this. Absolutely.

But tell me a couple of things, other strategies that if you don't feel clear on something what to do next, what are some things that help you figure out what to do next?

Man, ChatGeeBT, is that an accessible answer? I mean, I have thought partners. You know? I, Gabe Kapler is my boss, and I'm just really blessed to have him be somebody who's a great sounding board. I think that having a partner in your life and even, like, my husband, you know, that you can go to and talk to if you don't know what to do next.

I really do use ChatGPT a lot. It's insane the amount of, like, hey. I'm stuck on this. What do you got? And, like, it may not be the right answer, but it sparks a thought that sparks a thought. So I do think that AI is is something that anyone's listening out there as a as a leader, if you're not using AI, I'd highly recommend it.

Shocking how much value I have found in in that in the past, like, two or three years here, especially recently as a leader where I just was talking to Chat GPT this morning, my therapist. No. I'm just kidding. I was talking to Chat GPT this morning about an issue I'm having with a colleague, and it gave me a good idea for a conversation starter that could be a lead into a tough conversation that is nonthreatening. And I was like, I mean, it's really it's really incredible.

So I would say I mean, I just gave the answer of AI really, but AI and and thought partners and people that you trust around you are everything.

I love it. There's a great book, The AI Driven Leader. It's kinda been all the rage around GoBundance Women. You should totally check that out.

But man, Rachel, there have been so many bombs of truth and brilliance as, you know, I kind of anticipated. So thank you. Let me tell you a couple from my notes that I took.

Go find my yes. I I feel like I'm gonna start saying that to, you know, the young people in my life. Just go find your yes. I I absolutely love that. And the idea of when you have this, I don't know if this is a no for good reason, or I don't know if it's a no just because I haven't found my yes to, you know, figuring out me first, figuring out my goals and what I need to move forward.

Kelly, what were some notes that you took?

Yeah. I think, you know, so many of our listeners and so many women face that fear of rejection. And I think you kinda just were like, there's no such thing as rejection. There's just, you know, there's just opportunity to continue to work on your leadership, pivot, continuously go after what you want.

And the next big thing is really this idea that you have to believe in infinite possibilities. Just like you found a career, right, in an area where there weren't a lot of women, you you made a place. And Mhmm. And that's what's really possible. Just like I'm gonna I'm gonna say, I'm a mom. You know, I raised kids as an executive in a high level company and did a lot of other things. Believing in infinite possibilities that we are the creator of our life is really what you've done in your career. And as we take that same lens in every other area of our life, it really makes a big difference.

So it's just been amazing having you here and alright. So my goodness. Two moms who are telling me to have kids. I guess that's on record now. I mean Yeah. I'm just saying. It is whatever works for you. It is whatever works for you. Yeah. Whatever you decide. It it that is the whole thing.

So I just watched eat, pray, love again because I just got back from, like, a month trip in Europe. And my god. The the question was it basically was like it's like a face tattoo. You have to be completely committed to it. I remember that. It doesn't go away. It's there for the rest of your life. Like A child is like a face tattoo? Oh, yeah. Oh, I remember that line. Get a second. Right? Am I gonna get a face tattoo? Like, it's it's all in. My kids are 20 and 22, and they're still a big part of my life. So

they don't ever go away, Rachel.

So Okay. I'm not thought. This is encouraging or discouraging, but I'll I'll marinate on it. We're talking you out of the job, girl. Oh, I'll marinate on it. I'll marinate on it. I love it.

Well, you give so much. You're you've given so much to us and our audience. You know, a question we love to ask is what is a an introduction or a resource that would change the ballgame for you? What's something that we or our listeners could do to serve you?

Oh my goodness. I need a mentor in flipping a quadplex right now. Oh. That's

right. That's right.

That's what I I mean, that's that's what I need. Yeah. I need mentorship in real estate, but, Mandy, you've been obviously incredibly helpful with that as well.

Oh, here for it, girl. I love it. How do people find you?

They would probably find me through social media. I think it's at rachel dot bancovec. And I usually read my DMs sometimes, so I will probably get there eventually.

That's awesome. Thank you for joining us on the Power Up Your Life podcast. Don't forget to like and subscribe. And if you know someone who hasn't found their yes yet, make sure you share this episode with them. We'll see you on the next one. Absolutely.

Thanks so much, Rachel.