Today on the podcast, Eric welcomes Ashten Smith-Gooden, the co-founder and COO of Swish Cultures, a basketball media platform  that has since exploded with millions of followers across their channels and regular collaborations with the NBA.

Ashten shares her story of growing up with diabetes and learning how to deal with those limitations to compete at a high level in track and volleyball, eventually being recruited to play Division 1 Volleyball on a full-ride scholarship at UC Berkeley. Ashten tells us how tough those years were, feeling isolated, fighting through depression and being one of the few people of color on her team.

Ashten knew then that after school she wanted to help others be seen. So when her brother approached her with the idea for Swish Cultures, she went all in. Today, Ashten is a Forbes 30 under 30 and Swish Cultures is thriving. Her story of success is powerful and we're grateful she came on the show today.

Timestamps
8:50 Growing up and Diabetes Diagnosis
14:00  Getting Into Volleyball
19:02  Recruited to Play at D1 School Cal 
21:00 Fighting Through Anxiety & Depression During College Career
26:50 Advice to find a passion outside of sports 
29:00 Choosing Not To Play Professionally
31:40 The Beginnings of Swish Cultures 
37:03 How Big Swish Cultures Is
50:00 Advice to Athletes
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Swish Cultures Twitter
NBA Presents Swish Cultures Snapchat

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