Outworker
Stories of healing, personal development, and inner work. Founded on the idea that the relationship with oneself is the most important to develop, but the easiest to neglect, Outworker shares conversations aimed at helping you develop that relationship.
Outworker
#071 - Chaunté Lowe - 4x Olympian Fighting Cancer To Inspire The World
Chaunté Lowe turned a childhood dream into four Olympic appearances—all while raising three kids. But her greatest test came years later, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She shares how visualization shaped her career, and how training through chemo—not to necessarily compete, but to inspire—became her most powerful Olympic moment. From Olympic glory to life’s deepest struggles, this is a raw and inspiring portrait of resilience, sacrifice, and the mindset that carried her through life’s hardest hurdles.
Timestamps:
00:00 Importance Of Chasing The Olympic Dream
03:08 Competitive Mindset Built At A Young Age
07:50 Surrounded By Greatness
11:31 Choosing A College To Get To The Olympics
13:42 Importance Of Visualization
15:56 First Olympics At 20 Years Old
17:53 2008 Beijing Olympics
32:13 Balancing Family & Being An Olympian
36:20 Work After The Olympics
38:01 Battling Breast Cancer
1:00:00 The Whole Person, Not Just An Athlete
1:03:24 Connect With Chaunté Lowe
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What’s up Outworkers. Chaunté Lowe turned a childhood dream into four Olympic appearances—all while raising three kids. But her greatest test came years later, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She shares how visualization shaped her career, and how training through chemo—not to necessarily compete, but to inspire—became her most powerful Olympic moment. From Olympic glory to life’s deepest struggles, this is a raw and inspiring portrait of resilience, sacrifice, and the mindset that carried her through life’s hardest hurdles.
Tim Doyle (00:06.492)
You have a storybook origin moment for wanting to become an Olympic athlete. Four year old Shantelow sees Flojo on the TV at the Olympics and she says to her mom, that's who I want to be when I grow up. And that visualization sticks with you, but especially within your childhood, you know, it's just a very strong visualization for you. I'd say there's a much more raw and grounding visualization though, that you carry with you throughout your life.
Chaunte Lowe (00:31.534)
Thank you.
Tim Doyle (00:35.454)
And that's that life could have looked very different for you if you didn't chase your dreams. How do you think your unstable upbringing as a kid played an even bigger role in you with your athletic pursuits?
Chaunte Lowe (00:41.55)
Thank
Chaunte Lowe (00:55.088)
my gosh, that's such a loaded statement. I love that you asked that. So when I think about my childhood and how I grew up and then even just getting among other high performers, other elite athletes, other people at the top of their field, I've learned that because I had an unstable upbringing, my goals were my own. It wasn't somebody else's goals that were projected on me. They were things that were absolutely meaningful to me. And because
I didn't have a huge support system of people who knew how to get it done. I was doing something that nobody else in my family or my mentor groups or anything had ever done or seen before. I was felt responsible for it. So I felt responsible for going out and getting the information. I felt responsible for doing the research and finding the best university to go to to find a coach that could get me there. And so I think having an accountability and ownership over.
you know, seeing Flojo at the age of four years old, and then ultimately getting to that Olympic venue and being able to earn a spot to compete on the Olympic stage, there was an ownership on my part. So like all the excuses are out the window. There was no place for blaming anybody else. It was all about what could I do to get there? And I find a lot of people that are in that situation kind of adapt that mindset and that mentality.
Tim Doyle (02:14.91)
Do you think that also provided a sense of freedom in a way?
Chaunte Lowe (02:19.723)
Maybe it didn't feel like it at the time, but, but you know, once you start having that little element of success, it is freedom because you feel like ultimately, you know, my decision making what I decide to commit to is the thing that is going to get me there. And you feel like you get to see that, like the excitement of having that action and result action and result. so, yeah.
Tim Doyle (02:46.728)
I like how your elementary school seems like it also aligned with your dreams. In the third grade, you had to do timed mile runs. And you thought that you'd have to be, you thought you'd be the fastest, but you became aware of other kids' times and you were like, there's some kids who are faster than me here. How important was that to have that competitiveness built at a young age, but more so also the mental wiring of, I'm not the best, so I need to work to become better.
Chaunte Lowe (02:54.572)
Yeah!
Chaunte Lowe (03:17.052)
my gosh, okay, I love that you did your homework and knew about those mile runs. Yeah, I remember the guy's name, Andrew Mullins, and there was a girl named Melanie Sabi. Like if you're listening, you inspire me. And I remember like asking my mom, like she was my wisdom, like she was my wisdom point. And so I asked my mom, like, how do I get faster? And she talked to me about like eating bananas for potassium and like how baking soda could help get lactic acid out of your muscle. Like all of these things that...
Tim Doyle (03:30.078)
Ha
Chaunte Lowe (03:46.899)
Second third grader like would not care about but like I remember it being important to me and so like now I'm looking at people and my husband always says like girl You're like a sniper because you put a target on somebody's back and I'm like, I don't mean it like that but it's like if I can't look at Somebody that's like ten places ahead of me if I haven't conquered the one that's like right in front of me And so I kind of think of my goals as a hurdle approach
Tim Doyle (03:49.416)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (04:14.794)
where you get over one barrier and one hurdle to get to the next, because I've realized for my own mental health, if I'm trying to get all the way to like, from, I'll just put it in basketball terms, from like bouncing a ball by yourself to LeBron James, that's gonna feel overwhelming. So you might have to get like a, I'm not gonna name anybody that's in between. But you have to conquer each barrier one at a time. And so that's.
Tim Doyle (04:36.35)
Hahaha,
Chaunte Lowe (04:43.818)
what I started doing with that mile run. was like my playground to be able to like, okay, I'm going to catch one person. Let me just catch the next person and catch the next person. And now the only person between me and my dream of becoming the fastest is just one person. And so it's, it's, it's so exhilarating, but at the same time, it kind of drives your focus when you're able to look at that goal, see it tangibly and take steps towards it. Literally when you're running the mile.
Tim Doyle (05:13.202)
When was that first shift when it went from, I want to be this great athlete and potentially be on the Olympic stage to having that conscious awareness and I guess having that evidence of like, I am that great athlete and I'm on the path.
Chaunte Lowe (05:31.26)
I think that I don't think that I've ever like said that I am that great athlete because I think like and I I say this very carefully because yes there was an element of confidence there but I think that you know in sports you could see and even in business or in life that something could happen that could humble you really really quick and so I always wanted humility to be a part of my process but along the way
I remember having this thought and I think probably when I watched the Olympics or I watched a sporting event, I'm like, these are just humans. Like when you humanize them, like they have skin, they have bones, they have muscle, like, you know, they have gas. Like they're human people. And when you see human people do extraordinary things, you understand that you are capable of extraordinary things.
And so I remember I was actually training against some of the guys when I was in college and the heights that they would clear every single day were the American record. And so my goal was that American record. I'm like, if I could run as fast as you run and I could lift as fast as you lift, then I should be able to jump what you jump. And that's where I started making this mind shift between I'm just a victim of whatever.
Results I can get to where no I have a say in this thing. Let's everything is a recipe every every success if you want to write a successful book There's a recipe if you want to have a successful business as a recipe if you want to be a Super Bowl champion There's a recipe and so when I started realizing that there's a recipe for every success that you want then I started gathering the ingredients and That's when I knew that's when my mind shifted like
I knew that there was very small limits to what I couldn't accomplish if I was willing to do that. I think the problem that a lot of people have is they're not willing to make the sacrifice that is required.
Tim Doyle (07:33.682)
think that humility can also be a lot easier to obtain or embody when you have a lot of other great people around you. You know, not just being a big fish in a small pond, but being around a lot of other highly competitive, highly successful people, especially when you were in high school. I mean, you got over 150 college scholarship offers, which is just absolutely insane to think of. But you said that.
Chaunte Lowe (07:42.965)
Thank
Yeah.
Tim Doyle (08:03.602)
That was kind of just like seen as the norm at your high school because there were a lot of other athletes who were getting the same amounts of things. I mean, having that within high school, starting at such a young age, how do you think that kept you level headed? but also continued to plant the seed of like greatness is the expectation.
Chaunte Lowe (08:06.599)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (08:10.301)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (08:16.244)
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. think that for me, I wasn't the best on my team when I first came in. And so we had a team that had an ultimate goal. They had already talked about it a couple of years before I got there that they wanted to win a state title. So as a team, they're making decisions that normal.
14 to 18 year olds are not making where they all decided we don't drink soda. Like the best, the most we're gonna do is we're gonna drink lemonade or, you know, we don't eat enormous amounts of sugar. We don't really eat a lot of fried food. We go to bed on time, you know. So as a collective team, they're making these decisions. And like you said, you have that element where the iron's gonna sharpen the iron. you're around a lot of other sharp people, you eventually, when you rub up against them, you're gonna get sharp as well. And so.
being in an environment where there's a lot of athletes who have a common goal, they're willing to make the sacrifices, then they're holding you accountable. And so if you become part of that team or you're part of that goal, you are a piece of the puzzle, then they're gonna make sure that you kind of fall in line. And that's what I had. We had amazing athletes. There was a young lady actually that went to a university of Texas. Her name was Nicole Denby. And she was an amazing athlete who went to the Olympic trials when she was in high school. Then we had
like Joanna Hayes and Nicole Hoxie who also went to Texas. And these athletes are pouring into the younger athletes to ultimately get the goal. So before I had went to JW North, which was my high school, we had never won a state championship. But while I was there, we won three out of our four years. And the way that is in California, there's not like a division one, division two, division three, it is one state champion for the whole entire state.
So it's a big deal. And I feel like a lot of my foundation of what it takes to go from zero to championship was developed there. And it's so much easier when you have people around you that are supporting you. And like you said, not being the big fish in a little pond.
Tim Doyle (10:29.384)
What was it about Georgia Tech? after high school, you go on to Georgia Tech. What was it about that school and that program that gave you the confidence of like, this is where I'm supposed to be because this is how I'm going to get to the Olympics.
Chaunte Lowe (10:42.224)
Yeah, I think growing up in an environment where I don't have a lot of people who are, that can give me the resources to do what I want to do, I started finding examples of what I needed in other people. So like one of my biggest goals is like, I want to have like a successful marriage when I grow up. Like I want to marry one guy and be with him till I get old, you know? And so I'm looking at these marriages of people who have been together for like 50 years, like using that as my example.
And when I started doing that, realized that once I realized there are recipes, you don't have to be the author of the recipe. You don't have to be the green chef. Like, what's that famous chef's name? Chef Ramsay? Yeah, you don't have to be Gordon Ramsay, but if you find Gordon Ramsay, you could learn from him. And so when I started thinking about my life and my goals of becoming an elite athlete,
Tim Doyle (11:26.14)
Yeah, Gordon Ramsay.
Chaunte Lowe (11:39.072)
and also I wanted to become the first person in my family to graduate college, I'm looking for a coach who had been there before, who had coached athletes to where I wanted to go. And like a lot of people don't know this about me, but I had very good grades in high school, like honor roll almost every semester. So it was important to me to find a place that would make, like that would.
kind of support my goal of being a jock nerd. And so that's what Georgia Tech did. And so I found my coach, Coach Nat Page had coached the American record in the women's high jump. Her name was Tisha Waller, as well as himself being an elite athlete who made the 1980 Olympic team, but we boycotted, so he didn't get to compete. But knowing that he had been places I already wanted to go and understanding that if you find that expert and you align yourself under them,
follow their recipe, you could likely get there too. And so that's how I chose Georgia Tech.
Tim Doyle (12:39.826)
Visualization like we've talked about plays a role within your journey on a macro level with having that visualization of Flojo. But what I find interesting is that it seems like visualization also played a role on a micro level when it came to your performance. And what I'm talking about is you had a piece of tape up in your dorm room at the height of breaking the high jump record, six feet, eight and three quarter inches.
Chaunte Lowe (12:55.239)
Yep.
Yes.
Yes.
Chaunte Lowe (13:08.069)
Yeah.
Tim Doyle (13:09.618)
Talk to me about that and just like seeing that piece of tape and just obsessing over that.
Chaunte Lowe (13:14.344)
I love that and I think that a lot of times we need those visual reminders. And so you've, think a lot of people have heard the the statement before that if you write a goal down, you're 42 % more likely to achieve it than those people who don't write things down. And so like, I wanted to take it a step further because I understand that there's different types of learners. So like, yes, I wrote the goal down. I have that messed up ratty notebook that talks about that. But then I also wanted to have that.
Visual reminder and I put it in my doorpost because it would confront me every single day So like as I'm like right before I'm going out into the world It's like, okay these classes are hard But in order to get the opportunity to jump you have to be accountable in your classes And then you know when you go to practice today You have to give it your best everything you have that day now when you go to the dining hall You need to skip that ice cream machine And so
even though you're around other people that hold you accountable, those people are not going to be around you 24 hours a day. And your greatest battleground is not going to be in the world. Your actual greatest battleground is right here in your mind. And so if you're able to fight that battle for your mind and you win the battle for your mind, I believe you're much more likely to achieve that goal. So putting that piece of tape up was like.
that first fight for the battle of my mind. And I also believe the first thing that you do in the day kind of sets the tone for that day. And so, yeah.
Tim Doyle (14:50.792)
So your recipe continues to go as planned and what I mean by that is you make the Olympics at 20 years old. What was that first Olympics like, especially at such a young age?
Chaunte Lowe (15:02.301)
my gosh. Okay. First of all, like any time that you have a dream and it comes true, it's like a euphoria feeling. It's unbelievable. It's like a solid state of reflection because you're like, my gosh, like this really happened. What did I do? Let's talk about what I did so I can do it again. there was part of my process and finding those experts was watching the other Olympians.
from the past Olympic games on a VHS tape. I'm like watching, know, rewinding it, watching again, studying their technique. And I've learned that's up for yourself. And I did that every single day when I was in high school. So like at six o'clock in the morning, before I went to school, I'm watching that tape. And as I'm watching that tape, I learned the faces of these athletes. I learned their name. I learned their techniques. I've gained like a tremendous amount of respect for them. And
Tim Doyle (15:37.736)
Going back to that four-year-old self.
Chaunte Lowe (15:59.121)
Then I go to the Olympics and all of these women are competing against me. It shook me. It shook me. I wasn't prepared. I wasn't ready. I was scared. And so I did crash and burn at my first Olympics, but it made me stronger because now I understood that the goal that I set for myself was too small. My goal was only to make it to the Olympics and I didn't.
Tim Doyle (16:27.24)
Hmm.
Chaunte Lowe (16:27.258)
think past that moment of actually making the team and didn't understand when I set that goal that the making the team happens months before the actual competition. And so that forced me to come back better next time when I tried out again.
Tim Doyle (16:43.198)
That's really interesting. And I like that component of it. It's almost like we have to think, all right, whatever you want your goal to be, actually think like 20 % past that because that's what you actually need to be focusing on. The 2008 Olympics in Beijing for you is really, really interesting because it's a defining event in your athletic career because it's the first time where you're not just a competitor, but you're also a mom.
Chaunte Lowe (16:51.181)
Yes.
Agreed.
Chaunte Lowe (16:57.657)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (17:04.739)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (17:09.839)
Mom, yeah.
Tim Doyle (17:11.294)
So your first goal is obviously to make it to the Olympics. When did you know that you wanted to be a mother?
Chaunte Lowe (17:18.232)
think I always knew that I wanted to be a mother. I thought that I would have like five boys and they'd all be on a basketball team together. But I knew, I just knew that like all the less, I had such an amazing childhood. mean, a childhood where you're running through the river bed and like, know, feeding horses, eating fruit off of your neighbor's trees. I just, I always wanted my kids to be able to experience that.
Tim Doyle (17:25.074)
Ha ha ha.
Chaunte Lowe (17:46.809)
Becoming a mother, the timing of it was definitely different than I expected, a lot earlier than I expected, but definitely welcomed. I felt like, you know, we've done really, really hard things before. And one thing that I believe is that when you are faced with a problem and you find a solution to that problem, the wisdom that you gain, never lose. And so once I had that first child going into the 2008 Olympic Games and it was hard.
every day was grueling, but every problem that I faced and found a solution for made me stronger. So the next two times that I did the same exact thing, meaning going to the Olympics with a new baby, I was so much stronger and more prepared. So it definitely was hard, but it was a foundation for what I believe is a very successful athletic career as a high jump.
Tim Doyle (18:40.638)
There's some other interesting components about that 2008 Olympics, one of them having to do with your daughter and it also involves your husband Mario as well. So he was a high jumper and you guys were scheduled to jump at the trials at the exact same time and he drops out so that he can take care of your daughter and you end up doing your trials and end up going to the Olympics. I mean, talk to me more about that. mean, talk about the ultimate sacrifice.
Chaunte Lowe (18:57.869)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (19:05.731)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. he's actually, and we're both jumpers. He did do the high jump before, but in this particular case, he was going to be doing the triple jump and that's like his main event. And we're at the Olympic trials. We didn't have anybody come with us. So like no grandmas, no aunties, know, nobody. And we looked at the schedule. And so he was like right on the cusp, like.
Tim Doyle (19:18.088)
Okay.
Chaunte Lowe (19:32.505)
Like they take 16 jumpers, he was like number 17, but one of the guys dropped out and he knew that he could take that spot. So he was getting ready to prepare. And we knew that that was gonna be a possibility going into it. What we didn't know is that the schedule was gonna have us both jumping at the exact same time. And I remember, like, I couldn't ask him. Like, there's no way, like, hey, you know, don't jump. but you know, I think he...
He had been with me throughout the whole entire process. We knew that I had already been on an Olympic team. The chances of me making the team were pretty high and we had to pick one. And so our daughter, like the first kid you make all the mistakes with, I mean, not all the mistakes, but like the learning opportunities. And so my daughter, she didn't take a bottle. So she was still nursed at that time period and she didn't go with strangers and we didn't feel comfortable just leaving her with.
a stranger and I remember during the warm up I heard my daughter cry like and I was like looking and I couldn't focus I couldn't jump and so I left the competition field went and nursed my daughter and then came back and my husband had to hold her and have her like available so that if I could see her and I knew that she was safe I could focus and compete and so yeah he gave that up and I think it's a testament to
Choosing who's in your close circle. Who are the type of people that are around you? they like nice nasty people who say underhanded things and really don't have your best interest at heart? Or are they the type of people who you could share your goals and dreams with and would be there and have your back? And so I think like the person you choose to marry and ultimately spend your life with are the people that you choose to be your close best friends.
It's really, really important to choose really, really good people.
Tim Doyle (21:30.064)
especially when it comes to your performance at the end of the day. And I want to talk about the whole family dynamic when it comes to athletic performance. But before that, there's another interesting component about that 2008 Olympics. And it's a much more sobering experience, I would say. While you're at the Olympics, you were dealing with potentially having your house foreclosed on. And it ultimately does happen.
Chaunte Lowe (21:33.622)
It is.
Chaunte Lowe (21:49.293)
You
Chaunte Lowe (21:55.402)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (21:59.638)
Yeah.
Tim Doyle (22:00.498)
How did that come to be? in the moment when you're at the Olympics, are you able to compartmentalize that or how do you deal with all
Chaunte Lowe (22:08.226)
my gosh, your homework is so good. I'm so proud of you. I'm so sorry. You're doing a great job. Yeah, so it was. And I think that that ultimately played a decision in who was going to be able to compete at the Olympic trials. So it wasn't just a, is your dream decision. It was a strategic financial decision. So I was sponsored by Nike in that time period. You know, there's
bonuses associated with making the team and we're really really trying hard to save our home. On top of trying to save our home, we also had a rental property where there was a family, we rented to a low income family because we wanted to be able to have that. So we're fighting not only for our home, we're also fighting for their home. And it was really important for us to kind of put us in the best situation. So we knew that me going would put us in the best situation.
On top of that, we also knew that getting on that Olympic podium and getting a medal was a huge, was pretty much, our house was packed when I left for the Olympic games. My husband and daughter stayed at home, so I did have to leave because they would not allow my daughter in the Olympic village during that time. And.
I had, I was like, had the pressure of like, if I get a medal, we get to keep our home and we get to unpack. If I don't get a medal, we have to pack as soon as we get home and leave. And so that, yes, that was definitely stress, but I actually performed really, really well. I jumped the highest that I had jumped that season up into that point. I ended up placing six, but I bet you're going to talk about that. Yeah, I placed six. I didn't get the medal. So we come home.
Tim Doyle (23:48.188)
Let's go there now.
Chaunte Lowe (23:53.366)
we pack up and we leave. And when we left, actually took our finances and made sure the other family could stay in that home for another year. So we left, but we made sure they were able to stay in their home for another year. But ultimately, both homes did get foreclosed on.
Tim Doyle (24:10.824)
Let's go to that metal story now and how, mean, the metal story is crazy to begin with, but then when you understand that piece of the story and the backstory becomes even more wild. So talk to me about the entire experience with the metals.
Chaunte Lowe (24:20.438)
Yeah. Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (24:25.537)
Yeah, so that was a really hard time for everybody. had people that were getting caught in those predatory loans. so people were losing their houses nationwide. On top of that, we had a huge recession. So it's like we were actually looking for additional work and we just couldn't. I remember I applied for 230 jobs and we just could not find work. so after that, we...
I started turning to finance because my degree was in economics and I was like, man, I want to find a way to fight for people like that advocate inside of me starts growing. And so I ultimately start learning that that career. But eight years passed. So I make another Olympic team in 2012. We're able to purchase another home. We purchased it cash. We're like, that's what happened again. You know, and to be honest.
It wasn't like we had a lot of money. It was a hundred thousand dollar house, but it was nice. It was nice. And, it was at the end of the, you know, the market crash, it comes down. It was $106,000, I believe, on a quarter acre lot. I miss those days. Three car garage. Anyways. But so we end up getting a home. We go to the 2012 Olympics.
Tim Doyle (25:26.846)
I didn't know that does exist.
Yeah.
Tim Doyle (25:38.77)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (25:48.129)
We go to the 2016 Olympic Games and then both of those Olympics, I end up becoming a new mother again. So now 2016, three beautiful children, four Olympic Games appearances total, no medal. Like I got so close to get to the point where I'm the last jumper of the 2016 Olympics. Four girls were in. All three of them missed their attempts. If I'm the last jumper, if I make it, I'm the Olympic gold medalist. If I miss it.
Nothing. I ended up knocking it off with my toe at the last moment. So now I'm like at the Olympic. No, I'm at the White House with the other Olympians. I'm watching all of our Olympics, our Olympians with their medals. And I'm just like, like the pain, the daggers. And I just remember sitting there just like this sucks. This sucks so bad. And then after I go home, after that White House visit, I get a call.
that eight years earlier when I was competing in the Beijing Olympics in the rain with a nursing infinite home in place six, three of the women who placed in front of me had cheated. And so they were gonna take the Olympic medal and they were gonna reallocate it to me at a special ceremony. And I was like, so happy in that moment, but then like sometimes you're like, what if, what if I would have gotten the medal at the games, the foreclosures wouldn't have happened.
But there was so much growth, so much advocacy work, so much development and gratefulness that happened that I'm not upset.
Tim Doyle (27:28.072)
So how does that work? Like, how did it come to be that eight years later they found out that they were cheating? Like, they still investigate past games? Or what's the whole backstory behind that?
Chaunte Lowe (27:36.766)
Yeah. Yeah. So in the Olympics, especially in track and field, we have an extensive drug testing system. So here in the United States, you have to tell your governing body where you will be three months in advance every single hour of the day. And if you're not in that place that you say that you're going to be and they come to test you like you are, you get three strikes and you're out pretty much like you get banned for several years. And so I was
under extreme testing, drug testing for years. I mean, the day that I gave birth to my first daughter, they came to my house on my way to the hospital and drug tested me. literally big old giant stomach. But that's how it is. And so one of the other things that they do is when you go to the Olympic games, I think pretty much the top eight, they try to as much as they can, the top eight participants, they're gonna drug test you.
Tim Doyle (28:17.278)
Gosh.
Chaunte Lowe (28:32.349)
And so they take those samples, whether it's blood, urine, and they hold them for eight years. That's our statute of limitations. So a lot of times people are beating these drug tests because they understand how to cheat the system. They know what to take and what time to take it and what sensitivity to take it so that the test can't catch it. Well, once that was started to be discovered, they figured out that eight years is about...
a great amount of time for the testing methods to catch up with the cheating methods. And so they hold your samples. You have to give like 90 milliliters or maybe 110 of urine, which is quite a bit when you're dehydrated and have been competing for hours. And then they take that sample and they split it into two. They test one immediately and then they hold the other one in a storage facility and test it again eight years later. Yeah, it's a lot. So that's how they caught the athletes where
Eight years later, three people ahead of me had cheated.
Tim Doyle (29:33.072)
I think the cool thing about that as well, because when we look back at you at four years old and seeing Flojo on the TV, it's almost like you gave that experience to your kids as well and being able to see their mom get an Olympic gold medal and have that have that visualization at a young age. Something even that much deeper, like wow, like look at my mom getting an Olympic medal.
Chaunte Lowe (29:45.352)
Yes.
Yeah, that is like, Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (29:56.499)
Yeah, I love that. And that is the highlight where, you know, I don't live in regret about that moment or how it happened because I got to be that inspiration for my kids. My oldest was only 12 months old. You know, at the time I would have won that medal and then the other two children didn't exist. So just being able to be that influence, that inspiration, that storyline that might give them inspiration or hope when they face something hard. And then ultimately,
it changed my legacy from an athlete who was just a mom and had perseverance to one that did so with integrity. And I think like so often our younger generation or people that are pushed up against a pinch might have that temptation to act outside of integrity. And they feel like the people that are taking the shortcuts are getting ahead of them and exceeding them in life when in reality,
We understand that, yeah, they might appear to be winning initially, but everything that they're doing in the dark, it's eventually gonna come to light. And when it does, you lose so much more than you would have gained from cheating. And so just to be able to be the live example for my kids, that's everything to me.
Tim Doyle (31:16.37)
Yeah, I'd love to dive deeper into the family component of everything because that's what I'm most fascinated about when it comes to professional athletes. And I think it's something that doesn't get talked about enough. It's just like being able to balance being at the peak of a sport, something that asks everything of you, where it could truly be like the most selfish type of life. But then also being of the mindset of, well, I'm a parent as well, and I'm building a family. How do you.
Chaunte Lowe (31:27.005)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (31:32.296)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (31:39.709)
Yeah.
Tim Doyle (31:46.514)
balance all that.
Chaunte Lowe (31:47.506)
Yeah, I love that you use the word selfish, because when I say it, I was like, I don't think people fully understand to be at the top of your game. There's a certain amount of selfishness that is an asset and pretty much required when you want to be great. But being a parent, it trumps that. Like you try to be selfish. You can't because there's these little people that are relying on you for their life and their survival. And I remember thinking like, I have to thank my mom.
just for keeping me alive. Kids try so hard to hurt themselves. And it's a lot of work. And so, you know, I think it's obviously different from female athletes to male athletes. But when you are getting up in the middle of the night or your child is tired or sick, you're not going to say, well, I got a game tomorrow, get out of here. You know, you can't do that. You have to hug them and they're going to sneeze and snot on you. And then a couple of days later, you're going to be sick too.
Tim Doyle (32:19.966)
You
Tim Doyle (32:29.0)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (32:44.848)
and you know it's coming, it's like a freight train. But that's what you do because you love your kids, you love your family. And I think that being a parent makes you more compassionate for others. I think that it gives you a heart for what other people might be going through. And it doesn't matter. It's a human experience. It doesn't matter red, white, black, brown. It doesn't matter. We're all experiencing these things. it makes...
Tim Doyle (32:48.84)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (33:14.319)
other people visible to you. And so I think that that's great. It's something that we need a lot more of in this world and kids will humble you quick. They humble you. I remember I was doing a commercial for TD Maritrade before the Olympics. I'm trying to be cute and so I have this cute wig on and my daughter looks at me and she says, mommy, are you gonna tell him it's a wig? And she grabs it and tries to pull it off.
but kids will humble you and it's the most rewarding title I've ever held and it makes you understand why you are actually fighting and working so hard.
Tim Doyle (33:56.67)
Yeah, I heard you say that if you had won a gold medal, but zero family that wouldn't have felt like a success. And I recently saw, don't know if you've seen it as well, but I recently saw a video of Tom Brady. I don't know what it was an interview for, but he was very emotional crying. He was like, I feel like I'm not the father that my father was for me. And I was like, Oh my gosh, like this is the most vulnerable, you know,
Chaunte Lowe (34:05.405)
100%.
Chaunte Lowe (34:21.501)
yeah. Wow. Yes, he is the goat.
Tim Doyle (34:26.45)
The goat, the goat, like this is the most vulnerable this guy's ever been. And you can see like this really like messes him up. and I was like, that's why I asked, it was like, wow, like this is a conversation that needs to be asked about more because like these, you know, incredible athletes, you know, the best of the best at what they do. But then it's like, okay, if you want to be the greatest that there's going to be sacrifices then. And if you truly want to, you know,
Chaunte Lowe (34:34.972)
Yeah.
in.
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (34:50.746)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (34:55.994)
Yep. Yep. Yep.
Tim Doyle (34:56.21)
win those gold medals. If you want to win seven Super Bowls, like, all right, it's my family need to be sacrificed then. So that was really tough to see, but it's so cool to hear how you were able to, especially from a woman's perspective, like that is completely different. And I've heard you talk about just like the changes that your body go through and like being able to work, you know, back up after that. I mean, it's truly, truly remarkable.
Chaunte Lowe (35:03.345)
Yep.
Chaunte Lowe (35:11.536)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (35:17.88)
Yeah. Yep.
Chaunte Lowe (35:23.558)
Yeah.
Tim Doyle (35:26.206)
And speaking of TD Ameritrade, so after 2016, you got a job offer from TD Ameritrade.
Chaunte Lowe (35:31.259)
Mm-hmm.
Chaunte Lowe (35:35.132)
You're good. Yes.
Tim Doyle (35:38.622)
So like at that moment in your life, like, were you officially retired and you're like, I'm done competing and now let me go to work or what did 2016 and 2017 look
Chaunte Lowe (35:51.757)
Yeah, so right after 2016, I was like, okay, I'm done. This is good. I'm moving on with my life because like you were talking about, I was able to redefine what those true gold medals were to me. And at the time I finished at 2016, I didn't know I was a medalist yet. Like I had won world championship medals. I was the American record holder, but that elusive Olympic medal, I didn't have it. And so...
Once I realized that I needed to define what true success meant to me and understanding that success was my children. was, you know, I think if I didn't have them, I have no doubt that there's a good chance that I probably would have multiple Olympic medals. But I think that it was important for me to have the family and have the upbringing that I didn't have and just to be able to have to pour in to, you know, to
some of my own, you know. And I think sometimes that comes in foster care or adoption, whatever, but like having that family is huge. And so after that I was done. I was like, okay, I'm gonna start using that passion for helping people financially. I'm gonna start using it. And I ended up working at TD Ameritrade.
Tim Doyle (37:09.534)
Yeah. And then in 2017, you got drawn into life insurance and that workout was very, very aligned with you and you end up getting your own life insurance policy and that policy, something that you thought would be used for way down the line quickly turns into something that feels much more tangible. And Hey, maybe this is something that's going to be used a lot sooner than I initially thought. Talk to me about
Chaunte Lowe (37:13.187)
I did.
Chaunte Lowe (37:26.745)
Yes.
Chaunte Lowe (37:34.681)
Yeah. Yeah.
Tim Doyle (37:38.394)
navigating your entire journey with breast cancer.
Chaunte Lowe (37:41.487)
Yeah, so like you said, I got that life insurance policy and I started having these really difficult conversations with people about their health and what would happen. It was really, really uncomfortable at first, but working as a financial advisor, I had a lot of people come up to me and a lot of times I think it was the women after their husband had passed away and they did not understand the finances and they're left in shambles and I'm looking at
like the amount that they had left. I knew it wasn't enough. you know, and you're like, wow, you know, $250,000 or something like that. And you're like, that's a lot of, that is a lot of money. But at their young age, is it enough to sustain your standard of life for the rest of your life? And I knew that that number, the numbers weren't adding up. And so that's when I started like looking at life insurance and I'm like seeing these people like, and I'm not selling life insurance right now, but I'm just saying like I'm seeing these people.
They're paying pennies on the dollar and they're having these half a million, quarter million dollars, million dollar policies. And I'm like, dang, what if the husband had done this for, you know, just for his family, for his life? like it's, he had $250,000. If he would have just taken, you know, 400, 300 of that, those dollars a year, he could have had this for his wife. And so I made the switch. I felt like it was a better.
a better use of my time, having these uncomfortable conversations, getting the phone hung up on me just so that people would know because I saw the hurt. I saw the hurt that they experienced. so anyways, I believe that if you're going to sell something, you have to have integrity about it. You have to purchase it. So how could I tell these people to buy it if I don't own it? So I purchased my own policy. I will tell you there was a contest involved and I did win.
But I'm getting this policy, I'm learning about the riders, how you activate them, and I didn't think I would use it. Like, I got the best rating possible. And if people don't know about life insurance, if you're healthy, then you pay a different rate. You pay a lower premium, the amount that you pay is gonna be lower. So I had the best rate possible, the lowest fee. And once you lock in that fee, it doesn't matter if a health event happens.
Chaunte Lowe (40:09.177)
They can't raise your insurance, so it stays. So now, let's fast forward. I I bought my policy in 2017, 2017? 2019. I'm diagnosed with breast cancer. I'm not even 40 yet, so I'm not even supposed to get mammograms, any of that. And I'm diagnosed with breast cancer, and there's...
I think you're like I and I don't like to say I'm the primary breadwinner because my husband is such a support for me. So he's coached me in certain time periods, you know, he's he's been childcare, you know, when we needed it. So we've always done this as a partnership. But the income comes from what I was doing. And I'm like, my gosh, like if I go like what will happen to my family. And so as I'm trying to fight for my life, I remember it.
that policy. And so it's two things like one, if I didn't make it and thank God I did, but if I didn't, it would pay for my kids to still go to college. would pay for our house to be paid off so that we'd never have like foreclosure or anything like that. It pays for everything that we dreamed up together, but it also did something else. If there was a treatment that I needed and I thought this was like a life insurance commercial and I
But I want to understand that there's a passion behind it because I think sometimes people say, ugh, life insurance, and they don't understand why.
Tim Doyle (41:41.702)
It's also just an important component of the story because it's like, it's just remarkable to think of like you purchase that like, okay, I'm just doing this because I'm doing this work. But then I'm like, wow, like this is real.
Chaunte Lowe (41:43.671)
It's a point. Okay.
Chaunte Lowe (41:51.901)
Yep, it did. And so what I understood is that if there were different treatments that weren't covered by my insurance, I could take cash out of my policy. If the treatments were longer than expected and I wouldn't be able to go back to work, that cash could help sustain our household. So it was such a safety net that I didn't even think that I would need. You get life insurance, you think.
you're gonna use it when you're old as a burial or something like that and not something that you would use when you were young. And so having that financial burden taken off was so helpful. And then even my shoe company, like Nike, resigned me for a small contract just to make sure that like the household stuff was taken care of. like having a financial burden on you when you're going through a health crisis is huge. And so life insurance sometimes could be the answer for that. And it was for me. Sorry.
Tim Doyle (42:45.116)
All good. Another interesting component of your story is that this all really started because of another person's story where you see another athlete who shares their entire experience and story with breast cancer. And it gets your, gets you into the frame of mind of, I need to maybe be very careful about myself. I mean, I think that is incredibly powerful. Just like,
Chaunte Lowe (42:54.412)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (43:01.036)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (43:08.001)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (43:12.642)
Yeah. Yeah.
Tim Doyle (43:13.37)
And I think that shows the importance of story, not just like sharing knowledge about life insurance or just cancer in general, but sharing stories. Talk to me about that experience and I guess coming to the conclusion of like, like I think something might be off here.
Chaunte Lowe (43:21.812)
Yeah. Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (43:32.903)
Yeah, I think that like one of the things when it comes to my health I was thinking like I'm young I'm healthy. I'm a track athlete like I'm in the best shape of my life And so none of those illnesses were on my radar not like nothing. I'm thinking your 70s. You're you know late 60s that's when you start paying attention to that and so um a lot of times when we're going through things we think that we are the only ones who are going through it, but
part of the human experience is that we're not alone. There's other people going through the same things, but a lot of times we think it's important to remain silent or for whatever reason we don't feel comfortable sharing. so, you know, that little leap of faith that this athlete took and, you know, I don't know, she shared her story. her Jamaican sprinter, Novelene Williams, her name has changed now. She's been married, but she shared this story and it was...
I was in shock because she competed in the Olympic games, ran a four by four and then immediately comes home. I think, I believe they won a medal as well. And then she comes home and has a double mastectomy because of her cancer journey. so she shared her story. I heard it and I started doing my breast exams because of her, because she was young, because she was just as healthy as me, if not healthier and more fit and.
it happened to her, I'm like, my gosh, maybe it could happen to me. And so I thank God that she shared her story because it helped me and it helped me find my cancer ultimately through a self breast exam in my shower by myself.
Tim Doyle (45:11.622)
In those first few months after your diagnosis, you said you felt like you were a fraud because it felt like your identity had just been broken down. You felt like I'm this healthy, competitive, athletic person. And now this so-called unhealthy thing in quotes happens to you. Talk to me about navigating those feelings.
Chaunte Lowe (45:34.89)
Yeah, I felt like I had fireproofed my life by not eating fried food, not eating a lot of sweets, sleeping, know, like not drinking alcohol, like all of these things. I hung my hat on the things that I didn't do. And so now when this illness is thrust upon me, number one, it messes up my mental avatar of what I thought somebody who could get this was. I felt like I was exempt and I was not. And so...
Now it helps me feel empowered to raise the alarm, but in the moment, it made me feel like I wasn't strong. I wasn't powerful. wasn't. And I think it was my son who, who used to like, like jump on me and like call me like his super woman. And then now all of sudden he's afraid to hug me. He was like, I think he was like five. He was afraid to hug me and afraid to touch me. And he was, he felt like he thought I was breakable.
And I think that...
I think it hurt quite a bit, but understanding how other people might feel. it like kind of, like once again, it opened my eyes to other people who are experiencing it. Breast cancer is very prevalent specifically here in the United States where one in eight women in their lifetime will be diagnosed with breast cancer. And so I think that...
It was the first time where I had to rely on other people. couldn't rely on my own strength and having to be open and vulnerable about what I needed and what I couldn't do. But then ultimately having the goal in the back of my mind, like, okay, one day I'm going to get my strength back. One day I'm going to be able to empower myself so I could help empower others. I think it's, you have to allow for a little bit of grace. You have to give yourself grace.
Chaunte Lowe (47:32.458)
to heal because ultimately I couldn't keep being the superwoman and heal and accept the medication and the treatments that I had to have. I had to let a certain part of myself go temporarily and then build it back up. But the reality is you're never the same. And I'm not saying I'm not strong. I'm saying that I'm never the same because my priorities are different. My compassions are different. My...
ability to give myself grace and rest are different and my mindset about what it what's required to be healthy is different and so I had a I don't even know if this is a word a depletist mindset meaning what I could deplete my mind from or my body from or with staying abstain from and I thought that that made me healthy now I understand that it's not just what you take out it's what you put in
And so now it's like, and that's mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. It's what you are putting into yourself. And so it's a two-part component to actually be healthy. What you are abstaining from and what you're putting in. And so I didn't give my body the nutrients that it needed to fight cancer. I didn't even understand the research behind it. I didn't give my mind what it needed to fight cancer and be strong. And so now I do both and I go and I give that to the world. I go out and do.
keynote speeches, I'm writing a book because I want people to understand that before it's too late for them.
Tim Doyle (49:02.116)
That's very powerful. Cancer obviously, like you said, can be a very isolating experience. It affects so many people, but it can feel like you're the only one. How important were the prayer group and the survivor group that you had set up in allowing for that grace and compassion to embody you?
Chaunte Lowe (49:13.802)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (49:27.541)
I think in that moment where you're facing a life or death situation, the things that are really important to you become very clear. And one of those things that became very, very clear to me was my faith. so being able, I believed in the power of prayer. I believe that prayer changes things. And when there are certain situations where I'm completely out of control, I believe that my Creator is in control. And so in those moments, my husband,
set up a prayer chain of people that we knew that were were warriors or had been through something and like they know how to get down in the trenches and fight with you. We started telling them specifically what we were praying for. So it's like, okay, well, first thing we're praying for is that this hasn't spread to the lymph nodes. We're praying that it hasn't metastasized. And so then once we get through that barrier and it hadn't, we moved to the next one. Now we're praying that we could just do
a short surgery in this. so every single step along the way, we were very specific about what we wanted and how we prayed. And I went to an event recently where they asked people, it was like a church event, and they asked people to stand up who had been through certain things. So like, who has experienced, you know, being in debt, but getting out of it and having financial freedom or, you know, something like that. And then those people would stand up and they understand, like they prayed through that.
And they're like, okay, those are the people you need to go to if you're going through this. And I've never seen that before and I loved it, but that's what we did. We had found people who had been through something similar, who had a very strong prayer relationship with God. And those are the people that we trusted to pray with us through those trials. But then there's still the component of nobody around me understands exactly.
Tim Doyle (50:56.158)
Hmm.
Chaunte Lowe (51:22.12)
what I'm going through and I started going online and at that point that's where I found the community of wonderful women and men who had been through breast cancer diagnosis and we were sharing information with one another and that's I think that's where I truly started to heal and I went from just barely surviving to thriving even in the midst of this hard diagnosis.
Tim Doyle (51:51.708)
resonate with that on a deep level, that point of finding the people who have walked the path. And I think that's a huge opportunity for growth within the health and wellness and medical space of not just finding, all right, who are the people who deal with the problems for helping me, but it's more so who are the people who have overcome this, because that is truly what's going to help me heal and give me that hope.
Chaunte Lowe (52:10.343)
Yeah. Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (52:15.57)
soon.
Tim Doyle (52:19.558)
and speaking of your husband again, so you would wanted him to film and document a lot of your journey, especially like the really tough and raw moments. And he couldn't bring himself to do that. From what I've seen though, it seems like there is a lot of videos and photos documented. how powerful is it to be able to reflect back and see that past version of yourself?
Chaunte Lowe (52:26.599)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (52:30.813)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (52:40.135)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (52:46.833)
Yeah, I, you know, I try not to dwell on it too much, but it's so important to see how far I've come because I think that gratefulness and thankfulness are important. But I think also when you have experiences of the past and you can remember what that hurt feels like or that weakness and you could see it tangibly, you can make better decisions for your future. So I think that when you first go through a traumatic experience, it's very easy to
stick to a regimented process that makes sure it never happens. But as more time separates you from that thing, it's easier to start giving in to the old patterns of doing things, the old temptations. And I think we even see that like in our society, like when we faced hard things as a nation. And the further we get away from hard things, it's easier to kind of relax a little bit. And so I think that it's very, very important to remember
where you've come from so that you can keep making the right decisions to make sure it doesn't happen again. And it was really hard. Sometimes I have to set the camera up myself, but I think that it was important for people to see it because I didn't want people to feel alone. A lot of times we feel like our low is lower than anyone else's low. And so when they could see that
wow, she's doing okay and she's thriving now, but this is where she was. It's like, okay, well my mess isn't too bad, too horrible for me to overcome it and ultimately get to a place where I'm happy, where I'm finding joy and peace and comfort. And so, yeah.
Tim Doyle (54:30.846)
Do feel like you were sharing a lot like within live time of going through things or was it more of a reflective process of sharing things?
Chaunte Lowe (54:37.798)
I shared more in the moment. So like when I found out that I was diagnosed, and like the crazy thing is, I'm horrible at social media. Like, you know how some people just have it? Like, I don't have it. But I've noticed that those raw moments where I recorded the moment that I found out that I was diagnosed, I'm sitting in the garage and I just recorded. My hair was messed up, I had a bandana on and I posted it online.
Tim Doyle (54:41.235)
Wow.
Chaunte Lowe (55:06.671)
That is the moments that really resonated with people. And I remember the first time I jumped, I high jumped again. Like I was training for the Olympics and I high jumped and I just posted it. I had to drive three hours. I posted it like, hey guys, I jumped and I'm crying. I finally got to jump and it was low. Like I didn't even jump high. And when I came back home, I already had like 10,000 views. I'm like.
because those, because we're craving that. We're not waiting for manufactured, manicured, perfectly lit moments. We need something that is relatable, something that gives us hope, something that's real. And so that's what we're craving in these days.
Tim Doyle (55:55.186)
Yeah, I mean that provides a much greater impact for people rather than seeing you on the stage getting a gold medal.
Chaunte Lowe (56:04.408)
Exactly. Agreed.
Tim Doyle (56:06.226)
But what I really love about your journey with cancer, and I guess you would say, putting a positive note on it, like the power that cancer brought for you was that it alchemized your athletic career from simply just being a competitor and a performer to, okay, I'm gonna use my role as an athlete and I'm gonna use the Olympic stage as a storyteller. So talk to me about...
Chaunte Lowe (56:19.76)
in.
Chaunte Lowe (56:24.773)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (56:33.275)
Yeah.
Tim Doyle (56:34.77)
the training process because you originally were like, all right, I'm hanging it up. But then you're like, all right, I'm going to train for the 2020 Olympics. And I'm doing it from the standpoint of like, yes, trying to compete, but more so as a storyteller to provide this hope and inspiration for look at where I was and look at what I'm trying to do now.
Chaunte Lowe (56:38.257)
you
Chaunte Lowe (56:46.139)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (56:55.429)
Yeah, think that like even when I think about let's think like take it back to getting my Olympic medal. The only reason that I got the medal is because somebody else saw that there was a system in place that was, you know, not advantageous to people who were doing it right. And so they advocated and they found a way to make sure that there was a path for people who were doing things right to get their rightful medals. Well, I started taking that advocacy seriously and I felt like it's not enough for me to just
know that cancer touches a lot of people. It's like, how could I do something about it? And at the time, like I said, I was a life insurance agent, financial advisor. I couldn't really do much from that platform. But as I started studying and learning about the disease that was impacting my life, I learned that the best weapon that we had to fight back against breast cancer was early detection. And the only way to get that information out there for me
was to get in front of as many cameras as possible. And I know the most cameras I've ever seen were at the Olympic games. It's so, it's so.
Tim Doyle (58:01.898)
And that's also because that's what ultimately helped you when you were at the start of like seeing the story. So like, all right, now I need to embody that storyteller.
Chaunte Lowe (58:05.595)
There you go. Yep. Yep, exactly. And so now I'm trying to get back to the Olympic games. trying and I'm like, I want to, yes, I want to compete well, but I could care less about a medal. My goal was getting in front of the cameras. And so as I'm going along that training process throughout that year, I'm getting the opportunities where that, as I'm posting things online, the today shows like,
we love what you're doing. Like, can we share your story? And they told it twice. And then, you know, different partners were aligning with me. So I was able to share my story on a billboard across three different states in the nation and, you know, like getting the opportunity to share on the Instagram's like official webpage with 370 million followers and share the story. So I know that this message is getting out. And ultimately I ended up getting COVID right before the Olympic trials.
I didn't go back to my fifth Olympic games, but that message went all throughout the world. And so for me, like that's the most successful Olympic games I've had because that story got out and that's what was truly important to me.
Tim Doyle (59:17.47)
Cool thing about your athletic career and life and just from hearing you talk all about it, because obviously one of the things that athletes struggle a lot with or can struggle lot with is, all right, I had my professional career and then there's retirement and post career and there's that sharp divide. It seems like for you, just from my perception, just like a seamless path that you've just continued to walk from start until now.
Chaunte Lowe (59:29.477)
Yeah.
Chaunte Lowe (59:36.014)
Yeah. Yeah.
Tim Doyle (59:47.356)
Feel like that?
Chaunte Lowe (59:48.528)
It does. And I think the reason why is like, once again, those stories, you hear the stories about the athletes. so it's something that I was aware of while I was competing. One of my greatest training partners, her name was Tisha Waller, she also taught and was a principal while she was competing. so like, I'm watching her, she's coming from work, changing her suit clothes into her athletic wear. And so in the back of my mind, it's always like, okay.
this is going to be for a time in my life. And then after that time is up, I need to be preparing for something else. And so I think that's why I was going to the financial route and always trying to figure out, how am I going to integrate this into my life? And I knew that it was important to kind of go quickly after I'm done retiring because I graduated in 2008. At some point, your degree is old and outdated.
When I went into the financial services field, I also worked at a place called Schwab. I'm pretty sure you've heard of it. Yeah. Okay. So while I was working there, there was this guy that would travel throughout the, you know, the different branches that we had and he was just a speaker. wait a minute. Hold on. I can get paid for talking. Like I get in trouble for talking. They always tell me to shut up. And I like the way that
Tim Doyle (01:01:08.478)
You
Chaunte Lowe (01:01:14.831)
He kind of made me feel and I had that same feeling I had when I saw other people high jumping. Like I saw him, I was jealous. Wait, you know, like I knew I wanted to do it. And so my manager at the time gave me an opportunity to do like a keynote for, he gave me opportunity to do two. One was for some young kids that came that were from like the YMCA and we were gonna present them with a check. And so I got to speak for them and then like share my life story with them. And the other one was a woman's group.
Tim Doyle (01:01:20.627)
Mmm, that's when you know
Chaunte Lowe (01:01:44.884)
He looked at me and he was like, this isn't what you're supposed to be doing. am I getting fired? He was like, when I saw you speak, that's what you're supposed to be doing. And as much as I loved finance and working in that field, it didn't like my fire as much as being able to speak. And so now I do that full time.
I love, love talking to groups and being able to get the opportunity to share on your platform like this. And so I'm loving life right now.
Tim Doyle (01:02:21.438)
the energy that you have when you speak and the way that you articulate everything, it truly does seem like being an Olympic athlete was ultimately just a catalyst to become what you truly are at your core, which is a speaker and a storyteller.
Chaunte Lowe (01:02:40.639)
thank you. love that. I will take that.
Tim Doyle (01:02:43.262)
Shantay, it's been incredible speaking with you. Where can people go to connect with you and see more of the work that you do?
Chaunte Lowe (01:02:51.63)
Well, I love to hear from you guys. So I have my website that I've just launched is shontaylow.com. So there's two, there's shontaylowspeaks.com. That one's a little ghetto. So shontaylow.com. I'm on LinkedIn, Instagram, and please keep your eyes out for my book that is coming out soon. So a lot of the lessons that we've talked about today, I've been scared to write it, but I know ultimately,
Tim Doyle (01:03:12.338)
Ooh.
Chaunte Lowe (01:03:19.692)
the same feeling that you got maybe when you heard me speak, I want people to have with them in a book. So we're going to go a little deeper, more detail and yeah, you get to pick my brain a little bit.
Tim Doyle (01:03:32.092)
Awesome. Any, do you know when that's going to be out yet or that's just like right at the start now? Okay.
Chaunte Lowe (01:03:37.325)
It's not a start. It is very, very close to the finish line. But I'm so critical of myself that I'm like, I probably just need like a little push. I'm like a baby bird. I need to be pushed out of the nest a little bit. So it's coming very soon. I would say at the latest, the winter, but it might come like early fall.
Tim Doyle (01:03:41.398)
god nice.
Tim Doyle (01:03:57.446)
Awesome. Well, congrats. mean, writing a book is no small feat. huge accomplishment. Great talking with you today.
Chaunte Lowe (01:04:03.021)
Thank you so much. Hey, great interview. I'm super impressed with you. Anybody thinking about doing an interview with him? Absolutely do it. I'm very impressed. Please do.
Tim Doyle (01:04:11.792)
I appreciate you say that. I'm going to clip that. I'm going to send that to everyone.
