Know Yourself, Work Hard, and Overdeliver | Volleyball Star, Supermodel & Entrepreneur Gabby Reece

Gabby Reece (0:00)

If you work 20% harder, you'd make it 80% easier. When you're leading something, your job is just to create the space for everyone to be successful. If you are trying to do something, and you're committed to doing it right, you have to commit to doing it right all the time. Know who you are, what's your strategy, how hard are you willing to work, and if a door opens just a little bit, over-deliver.

Hey, you know, there was another 100 million in sales or whatever. So I think it's also like a weird kind of self-control you have to have. And know where your chinks are. This is a big one for me about people who are wanting to go off and do something different. You know, the powers that be in the world, right? There's only these forces. Is it, you know, is it good? Is it bad? Is it dark? Is it light? Is it, you know, evil? Is it whatever? I think we all have these little spaces, gaps. So it could be greed. It could be, for me, it could be wanting security. Other people could be control, power, you know, sex, lust, food, whatever it is. I think the other part of this for me is I've, oh, I think I have tried, and I understood this very young too, at 15 You will get taken down by the thing that you're willing to do anything for. And so be careful with that.

Michael Gervais (1:04:55)

That's cool.

Gabby Reece (1:04:55)

And so when fear or control would kind of come in, I'm like, you can't make decisions from that place. You can honor that you're feeling that way. But I think it's also important for people or approval or people going, oh, that's amazing, attention, whatever. So I think that's another thing that has really been important as I try to navigate things.

Michael Gervais (1:05:13)

I love that you're speaking to that because I so recognize early on, like I look back, why did I grind so hard at like this thing that I'm doing? Why did I push that hard? And I needed to use that vehicle to be seen. So success was competence at one stage, just that I really knew some stuff that I'm talking about, like sports psychology in particular. And I almost lost everything for it.

Gabby Reece (1:05:46)

Why do you say that?

Michael Gervais (1:05:48)

Because I sacrificed my relationship with my wife. And so seven years in to our marriage, and this is the love of my life, she says, you gotta go. I can't be me in this relationship anymore. We worked it out. It was really hard. And so-

Gabby Reece (1:06:04)

Been there, been there.

Michael Gervais (1:06:05)

Have you? Yeah. Really?

Gabby Reece (1:06:07)

Sure. Any couple that's been together, I think more than 15 years.

Michael Gervais (1:06:11)

Wait, so I had to move out. Yeah.

Gabby Reece (1:06:14)

Oh yeah.

Michael Gervais (1:06:14)

You guys separated.

Gabby Reece (1:06:15)

In 2000, we did this. Yeah, but go ahead. So you moved out. Did you have kids yet?

Michael Gervais (1:06:18)

No. So you're two years ahead. This was 2002, 2001, 2002

Gabby Reece (1:06:23)

You got to go through some of this, come on.

Michael Gervais (1:06:25)

How many years into marriage was it?

Gabby Reece (1:06:26)

Only five years into marriage. Seven years together, yeah.

Michael Gervais (1:06:30)

Seven for us. And so I just over indexed on work and it was selfish, like really, really selfish.

Gabby Reece (1:06:41)

But don't you think you thought you were doing the work for the two of you and the family?

Michael Gervais (1:06:45)

The fact that you know that.

Gabby Reece (1:06:46)

Of course.

Michael Gervais (1:06:47)

Yeah, like that was the excuse. And that was my narrative. And she's like, yeah, that's all good, but it's really for you.

Gabby Reece (1:06:57)

Well, she knew you better.

Michael Gervais (1:06:59)

So she's like, you say that, I appreciate it. I appreciate like how we're living, but you're not home. Like, what do you want me to do? And then when you are home, you're kind of like too heavy. Like you're too serious. So I am pretty intense. But like, so I love that you're just at least introducing that relationships are hard, knowing yourself is hard, and there's real work to do. How did you guys navigate that space?

Gabby Reece (1:07:31)

Well, when you almost break up, and again, Laird is the emotionally, I always say he's the heart of the house.

Michael Gervais (1:07:38)

And to be clear, you had kids at this point?

Gabby Reece (1:07:40)

No, when we were going to break up?