Kiley Adams – An Internal Locus of Control

**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** (0:04)
Hello, and welcome everyone. I'm Patrick O'Shaughnessy, and this is Invest Like the Best. This show is an open-ended exploration of markets, ideas, methods, stories, and of strategies that will help you better invest both your time and your money. You can learn more and stay up to date at investorfieldguide.com.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:24)
Patrick O'Shaughnessy is a principal and portfolio manager at O'Shaughnessy Asset Management. All opinions expressed by Patrick and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. Clients of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this podcast.

**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** (0:46)
My guest today requires a bit of a special introduction. In this episode, we do not discuss markets or investing. It is instead about adventure and taking life whether you know what.
My guest, Kiley Adams, is 21 years old. She's crammed what would be considered a magical and adventurous life into just two decades. Here's a little taste from the episode. When's the last time you lost?

**Kiley Adams** (1:09)
I don't remember.

**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** (1:12)
And a bit later in the conversation.

**Kiley Adams** (1:13)
We're gonna see if we can sneak you into Myanmar.

**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** (1:16)
I met Kiley while teaching an investing class at Notre Dame. She is a track and field star, valedictorian, varsity soccer player, Tae Kwon Do master and philanthropic researcher. She has been everywhere in the US and recently spent two months by herself in India conducting research that will help people with disabilities. And that's just the start.
She describes how all this is possible because of perseverance, attitude, and an internal locus of control. I'm going to keep returning to this episode as a reminder that just about anything is possible. I can't wait for my daughter to meet Kiley someday. She inspired me to, as she says, move forward relentlessly. For notes on this show, visit investorfieldguide.com forward slash Adams. And now please enjoy this great conversation with Kiley Adams.
Okay, Kiley, maybe we can start by talking about Tae Kwon Do. First of several interesting aspects of your life that we'll explore. Maybe tell me how you got into it and how you got to where you are today.

**Kiley Adams** (2:19)
So at the age of four, my parents put me in ballet, and I had zero interest in ballet. And about a weekend, I told my parents that I wanted to fight people.
And I think they decided that Tae Kwon Do was the natural evolution to ballet. And so 17 years later, still, it's still very much one of the most important parts of my life.

**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** (2:41)
How does it work? How does the progression work? So you started really young. I guess it's kind of unusually young to start martial art.
How quickly did you work yourself up the ranks? When did you figure out that this was something you had talent for? What are sort of the, how many stages are there? How many levels are there to, to Tae Kwon Do?

**Kiley Adams** (3:01)
So you start as a white belt. So little Kiley was a white belt and I was actually too young to start testing into like your next belt is your yellow belt and then green, blue, red, black with intermediate stages in between. So you start by getting little tags on your belt. But after I got over the tag phase, you start testing for each belt and you have to learn new forms. You have to break boards. And when you're older, you break bricks.
I got my first black belt, I believe in sixth grade. And a lot of people stop at their first black belt, but I wanted to keep going with it. And I never had really an end goal to get to where I'm at right now, which is my fourth on black belt.
But I just kept progressing with what felt right. And two summers ago, tested and received my fourth groupmaster black belt.

**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** (3:51)
Give me a sense for how rare, let's say, the first black belt and then the current black belt that you have are in the martial art world.

**Kiley Adams** (3:58)
I think the statistic is that 80% of people quit after getting their first black belt. And very few people even make it to there. But there's different governing bodies to Tae Kwon Do. There's the World Tae Kwon Do and United States National Tae Kwon Do.
And it's extremely rare to be certified as a black belt in both, let alone a fourth degree black belt. You have to send your credentials to Korea. You have to be approved by the board.