 Hi, I'm Rusty Komori, and this is Beyond the Lines. We are broadcasting live from the beautiful Think Tech Hawaii TV studio in the Pioneer Plaza in downtown Honolulu. This show is based on my book, which is also titled Beyond the Lines, and it's about creating a superior culture of excellence, leadership, and finding greatness. Today's special guest is Olympic gold medalist, Christy Yamaguchi. For the few of you that don't know who she is, she won the gold in the 1992 Olympics in ice skating, and her always-dream foundation is making a huge positive impact with countless people in the United States for over two decades. And today, we are going Beyond the Gold. Hey, Christy. Hey, Rusty. So awesome having you on Beyond the Lines today. Thank you for having me. I have to say, you're the nicest, sweetest person. You're so inspirational to so many people in the world, including me. Thank you very much. Thank you. Now, you grew up in California. Grew up in California, Northern California, on the East Bay outside of San Francisco, and pretty typical Asian-American family, I guess you can say, you know, fourth-generation Japanese-American, and it was a great, great area to grow up in. So did you attend, like, regular school, or did you have, were you homeschooled as well? I probably didn't because of skating, and my training schedule didn't have the typical schooling and schedule that most kids did. I mean, by the time I was junior high, I was skating four to six hours a day. So I did have, went to seventh grade, and then eighth grade had a tutor, same with ninth and tenth, but then junior, senior year in high school, I went back on campus at the high school I would have gone to, well, it was Mission San Jose High School in the Bay Area, and did three classes on campus and three classes off campus, but, you know, that way I was in the classroom with some kids and got to experience a little bit of that high school life, not a lot, but a little. Great. Now, how did you first get interested in ice skating? It was, I mean, I was young. I was six years old. I had my older sister skated, group lessons, and kind of I was interested in doing everything my big sister did, right? So I wanted to go, but it was after seeing a local ice show, and the magic of the performances with the costumes and the lights and the music, it was just, you know, a little girl's dream. It was just, you know, being able to go out there and perform. So that kind of captured, you know, my interest to try skating, and then from the very first time I just, I absolutely loved it. Wow, now that sounds exciting, and, you know, I want to know, Christy, what were some of the challenges that you had to deal with in your youth? Well, I think, you know, one of the things was the schedule of the training, because early on it just, it really became intense pretty quickly, and, you know, once I started skating, I didn't want to do anything else, you know. I still did some ballet because that helped the skating, but everything else was focused on the sport. I think because my parents saw some positive things come out of my experience with skating, you know, I came out of my shell, I gained confidence, I, you know, was a very shy and timid kid, but when I was on the ice, I think they saw a different side of me, so they nurtured that and allowed me to, you know, go to the rink every day, and I begged them to take me to the rink to skate more and skate more, and luckily they didn't know any better, so they just kept taking me to the rink, and, you know, got more and more involved, and before you knew it, it was a pretty intense schedule, but I don't always say it was a sacrifice, I always feel like it was my choice, but it definitely wasn't the usual. And you had passion for it? Oh, the passion, absolutely. I mean, I think, you know, parents often ask me, you know, as a parent, like, what do you teach your kids, and, you know, about, you know, going, excellence in sports, and, you know, I'm like, well, I feel like I'm learning still, like, my parents were amazing, and they let it be my own. I definitely needed support and encouragement and redirection sometimes, but the passion for skating came from within, and it has to, because it gets hard, you know, it's not easy when you're in the trenches and doing the daily grind of the training, so you really, you really have to love it. Now, you have a beautiful family, Christy. Your husband, Brett, and your two daughters, can you tell me about how you met Brett, and about your daughters as well? Sure. Actually, I met Brett at the 1992 Olympics as well. He was on the US hockey team that year, and, you know, just briefly met, you know, shared that experience at the Olympics, and a few years later got reintroduced when he was playing up in Vancouver for the Canucks. And, you know, we just kind of kept crossing paths and got to know each other more versus history. And, you know, we had two, we have two young daughters while they're 12 and 15 now, so getting older, so experiencing that whole teenage life with with two daughters now. Do any of them skate? The 12-year-old Emma, she skates. She's been skating for about seven or maybe eight years now, and loves it. I don't know if she wants to really take it, yeah, I don't know how far she's going to want to take it. I mean, it's, she's still low-level competition, but she's still pretty dedicated, but she also does club soccer as well. Great. Now, Christy, let's talk about you winning the gold in the 1992 Olympics. How was that experience from the beginning of the Olympics all the way to when you won the gold? So, from the time that I made the team or, I mean, it was, it was such a whirlwind year because, you know, everything was building up to February, right? It's really actually January at the U.S. championships where I had to qualify for the team and be selected to the team. So, a lot of walking on eggshells, I feel like the whole year, just making sure that I did everything I could in my power to be prepared for that moment. And, you know, at the Olympics, I think the best advice I got from Scott Hamilton or that actually he gave my mom was like, this is her first Olympics, let her enjoy it. So, I feel lucky I was able to experience the full, you know, Olympic experience, staying in the village with the other athletes, walking in opening ceremony, and then really having time then to focus on the competition once I kind of experienced all that. So, it was the biggest honor of my life to represent our country and to be there. And then, you know, it was exhilarating because you knew that 14 years had come down to this moment. So, each training session was just like, okay, one day closer, one day closer. And then it was absolutely terrifying when the competition came. So, how does it feel to be the best in the world at that point in time when you're standing on the podium receiving the gold medal? I mean, there was such a mix of emotions when I found out I won and when I stepped out onto the podium. It's, you know, it was interesting because being an individual sport, you know, you're the only one in the spotlight. But at that moment, stepping on the podium, you can see I was looking for my family out in the audience because, you know, my mom and dad were there, my sister had traveled out to support me at the Olympics. So, I want to share that moment with them because I knew that they were essential part of me even being there. So, you know, I think I was like thinking of everyone, you know, my coaches, my choreographer, you know, past coaches and my family teachers. And you just really feel like this sense of relief and sense of gratefulness that everything lined up the way it did during that moment. Well, I, you know, I remember cheering for you. Every performance you did, I was cheering for you and it was so incredible watching you win. And it was, I mean, everyone in the United States was so proud. Oh, thank you. And I felt that, you know, it was amazing. You don't think about it while you're competing because you don't want to. You're focused. But it was, I think, eye-opening after when you do start to see how much support there was and it's incredible. Now, Christy, why do you think champions become champions? I suppose there's like a different formula for many different people and different types of people. But I think, you know, it's a combination of hard work and determination and resilience and, you know, and confidence and belief. You know, it's, it really is mind over matter sometimes. I think that mental toughness, we kind of were chatting about earlier, it does a lot comes down to that. I mean, there are incredibly talented people in the world, but what separates, you know, them from maybe the person who actually ends up winning. And sometimes it just comes down to that. Just, you know, who's, who's the competitor, right? Yeah. I mean, and you have to have that relentless competitive aspect, you know, in being a champion athlete. Yeah, I think in some ways, you know, it's funny because I'm a big sports fan and, you know, like I'm from the Bay Area, so 49ers in the Shire. And it's like you have some down years and you're just like, oh, it's like, where is that like closing mentality? You know, but it's, you know, yeah, it does take that though. I mean, you have to want to see it through to the end and have that resiliency. Now, when you would perform, you know, in competition, how long is your routine for? It is, well, we have two programs. We compete the short program, which they call now, and then the long program. The short program's eight required elements in a two minute and 10 second routine. Okay. The long program for the women is four minutes long, give or take 10 seconds. So, very brief amount of time to get out there and really show everything that you can do. Yeah, now, right before you would get on the ice to do your performance, what was your rituals that you would do before getting out there? Oh, wait, how long is this? I mean, literally, it started the moment I woke up. I mean, in some, you know, it's like warming up like the same and really, you know, I think one of the reasons why I was a consistent skater and inconsistent meaning I rarely missed any jumps even in practice was because I really was consistent with how I did everything and trained and, you know, it was quite a routine and, you know, I don't know if it was so much ritual or superstition, but it was a pretty set routine on, you know, how long I warmed up on the floor and how many jumps I did on the floor and then, you know, I always laced up my right skate before I did my left skate and like little things like that, but then, you know, as I skated and worked on each element on the ice, I think the repetition and the consistency just obviously lent itself really good for when I was under pressure, but yeah, I forgot what I was going from there. No, that's good. That's some good insights into it because it all starts from when you wake up and mindset is huge. I mean, it's you have to be in the right mindset and everyone gets a little nervous, but in my book I talk about excited versus nervous because you have the same type of feelings, but your mindset, you can choose to be nervous or you can choose to be excited. Were you focused on that excitement of competition? I think that's where you always want to try to take it and, you know, I mean, I had plenty of competitions where there was disappointment and not quite the performance that I was hoping for and where I let the nerves get the best of me and, you know, looking back, those are all learning experiences and knowing that, oh, hey, I really let myself, those nerves make me scared and then they held me back and I pulled back and therefore wasn't able to compete at the performance level I was hoping where, you know, when you try to talk yourself into like, okay, I'm nervous, but I'm ready and the nerves are going to, you know, push me to the next level or I'm going to use that energy in a positive way, you know, that's where I always, I tried to come from and what seemed to help, but, you know, you never know what's going to kind of happen out there sometimes. You know, it's all about preparation and mindset and obviously you were so prepared and obviously you were in the right mindset to achieve what you did and I want to ask you, Christy, who was your coach and what impactful things did you learn from your coach through those years? So my coach from the time I was nine through the Olympics and I still even keep in touch with her was Kristy Ness. She was originally from the Bay Area. I followed her to Canada when she got married and then and then she moved back to the Bay Area. So she was a very tough kind of old school coach and I think the best advice that she ever gave me and all her students was, there's no secret to success. It's plain and simple hard work. I remember when she came back with a student that she worked with at the 1988 Calgary Olympics and it was the first Olympics that she participated in as a coach and she came back invigorated and inspired and she passed that on to her students and said it is such a special experience. You know, when you're there and the pride for your country for, you know, it's so incredible that you guys, it's, you know, put the work in and, you know, she described what she saw the other competitors do, how they trained, how they prepared and practiced and passed that on to us and, you know, that's all experience, right? And seeing it, seeing success from others and then and passing it on, you know, I think was that's awesome. That is awesome. I like hearing insights into, you know, the player and the coach and just seeing the dynamics about that Christy, we're going to take a quick break and then when we come back, I want to talk to you about your amazing Always Dream Foundation. All right, sounds good. You're watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii with my special guest, Christy Yamaguchi. We'll be back in one minute. I'm Jay Fidel, Think Tech. Think Tech loves energy. I'm the host of Mina, Marco and Me, which is Mina Morita, former chair of the PUC, former legislator and Energy Dynamics, a consulting organization in energy. Marco Mangostorf is the CEO of Provision Solar in Hilo. Every two weeks, we talk about energy, everything about energy. Come around and watch us. We're on at noon, on Mondays, every two weeks on Think Tech. Aloha. Hey, Stan Energyman here on Think Tech Hawaii and they won't let me do political commentary, so I'm stuck doing energy stuff, but I really like energy stuff, so I'm going to keep on doing it. So join me every Friday on Stan Energyman at lunchtime, at noon, on my lunch hour. We're going to talk about everything energy, especially if it begins with the word hydrogen. We're going to definitely be talking about it. We'll talk about how we can make Hawaii cleaner, how we can make the world a better place, just basically save the planet. Even Miss America can't even talk about stuff like that anymore. We got it nailed down here. So we'll see you on Friday at noon with Stan Energyman. Aloha. Welcome back to Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. My special guest is Olympic gold medalist Christy Yamaguchi, who is also the founder of her Always Dream Foundation, which is having a huge positive impact on countless individuals for over two decades and today we are going beyond the gold. Christy, you started your Always Dream Foundation in 1996. Why did you start that foundation? Well, I was, after the Olympics, I joined a tour called Stars on Ice. Oh, yeah. And the beneficiary of the Tourism Make-A-Wish Foundation. So, you know, as a young skater, it was my first hands-on experience with the nonprofit and the beneficiary of that nonprofit. And it made a profound impact on me to be able to have that connection with the families and with the children of the Make-A-Wish. And I knew I wanted to continue to make a difference and to make a positive difference and therefore look to start my own foundation. Well, you're making a huge positive difference. I mean, for over 20 years. I mean, it's so amazing. That's a long time. How has it grown since then? I mean, it's grown quite a bit, particularly in the last seven years. You know, the first 15 years, we were very small and we gave out grants to organizations that worked with kids that were disadvantaged. And then we wanted to really focus in, go narrow and deep, and support our own program. And we went into early childhood literacy. We have a reading program that goes into kindergarten classrooms. And it's all about access, particularly for low-income kids who don't have books in the home and giving them access to help develop that love of reading, that love of books, which becomes the foundation really for their academic success and ultimately success in life. So it's bridging that achievement gap. And just continuing to, we're passionate about literacy, especially being a children's book author and a mom of two daughters, but hoping that we can do as much as we can for the kids out there. Speaking of being a mom and an author, you are not just an author. You're a New York Times best-selling author of three books. Can you tell me about those books and how it's really impacting a lot of these kids? Well, actually, I think only one was the New York Times. Oh, well. The first one. Hey, hey, nonetheless, nonetheless. I'll take that. You know, it's, with each book, there was inspiration behind a message for each book. And a lot of that had to do with my daughters and, you know, little things I wanted them to think about or to, you know, experience in their lives. The first book, Dream Big Little Pig, is all about the persistence and the perseverance of Poppy the Pig, you know, going after her dreams, but obviously having hurdles and, you know, challenges along the way, but she keeps at it. The second book, it's all about recognizing that we're all different, but embrace those differences. We're from different parts of the world, but friendships can pop up in the least expected places, right? And the third book is Care's Kindness. It's all about passing kindness forward, because, you know, you can't teach our kids and, you know, to be kind enough, right? You know, it's just, you know, unfortunately, still got to get these messages out in the world, you know, but it's, they can't hear it enough. And, you know, why not do it in a fun and playful way? I love hearing that, Kristi. And, you know, once a best-selling author, always a best-selling author. Thank you. Your books are having such a great impact on so many kids across the United States. It's amazing. Well, hopefully. Thank you. So was yours. Yeah. Well, I hope mine. You know, I want to be like you, Kristi. Now, let's talk about Dancing with the Stars. You won Dancing with the Stars in season six. So you weren't competitive since you won the gold until you, you know, committed to doing Dancing with the Stars. Why did you decide to do Dancing with the Stars? It took a lot to decide to do this, because I was kind of throwing myself back into the fire. Oh, yeah. And I wasn't sure I was ready for that again or wanted to even do that again. But, you know, ultimately at the core, I was a fan of the show. And to have the opportunity to learn and to challenge myself and to work with Mark Ballas, as you see there, incredible, talented professional dancer, and to dive into that world of ballroom dancing was a huge privilege and opportunity. And I just, I wanted to soak it all in. And it was cool to kind of become a student again. And, you know, at first I was like, oh, you know, I'm just going to do for fun and enjoy it. And, you know, you got to have fun and, you know, not take it so seriously. But of course, you know, three, four, five weeks in, you start going like, okay, I don't want to get kicked off yet. You know, let's keep it going. The competitive beast in you was coming out, huh? It was. I mean, we had such a great cast that year. We all were having fun and supportive. And it wasn't competitive within each other. But, you know, Mark Ballas was incredible that way, where he pushed me and he challenged me. And at times I was like, no, like, I'm not a professional dancer, but he wouldn't let me off the hook. And he's like, no, you did it. I saw you. We're keeping that in. And so, so, yeah, it really kind of got me to challenge myself even more and, you know, and to trust again, you know, a professional. Yeah. Now, just a little bit more insight into that. Now, how many dances did you have to learn through those weeks? It was, yeah, the first five weeks, one dance a week, and then six through 10 was two dances a week. So, yeah, I mean, if you asked me, oh, what was your, you know, jive number, I'm like, I have no idea. I learned it in four days. And then I was off to a new dance. So it's an intense kind of, you know, your brain. I was ready for the physical side of it. I wasn't ready for the emotional and mental side of it because it does happen so fast. And you're learning so much so fast. Yeah. Well, that's, it's amazing. I mean, I watched that episode when you won, you know, the, you became champion of season six. Yeah. The mirror ball. I want to ask you, Christy, you know, my mom, my mom absolutely loved Dorothy Hamill. I absolutely liked watching Scott Hamilton. Who was your ice skating idol? You, so Dorothy Hamill was one of my idols starting as a skater. And, you know, Scott Hamilton was one of my idols and mentor. When I turned professional, I joined his tour. And, you know, every step of my professional career, he was beside me. Brian Boitano, another idol, Tiffany Chin, who was a U.S. champion. She was the first Asian American U.S. women's champion. And I think that connection with her was something that I really looked up to and wanted to emulate. So, yeah. So, you know, that's funny because there's so many people that you are their idol. Okay. Now, how did you feel the first time you met Dorothy and Scott? I was, you know, I mean, I was shy anyway, but I think I was just like you don't know what to say. I mean, even to this day, like I know Dorothy really well now. I mean, it's, you know, it's fun to be in the same club as her. But I still get, you know, very anxious and in awe of her when I'm with her. I mean, she's an incredible woman and has always been so supportive and an ambassador to our sport. So, you know, I'm lucky to have so many great champions like Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Fleming, Tendley Albright as, you know, the ones who paved the way. Awesome. Now, Christy, you've achieved, I mean, obviously, extraordinary success in your life, winning the gold, doing what you're doing with Always Dream Foundation. How do you define success? Yeah, I think it's, you know, setting out and going after goals that you set for yourself, whether it's academics or in sports or whatever it is, you know, maybe in your community and going and working towards those goals and doing what you can and staying focused and on track. And sometimes you reach them and sometimes, you know, you're almost there. But it's, you know, it's having that direction and continuing on the path. Makes sense. Now, and you know, you are, I mean, I mean, like I said, you're so successful and you're very competitive. You're telling me how competitive you are. Now, why are you successful? Is it because of that competitive, competitive enough in you? I don't know. I mean, it's funny because sometimes I'm like, well, you know, I don't kind of trust myself too much. Like I go after things that I know I can achieve. But then, you know, I think it's just always looking for a challenge. And, you know, after the Olympics, I was 20. And really, it's sad if you think, oh, that's going to be the peak of my life at 20. No, there's got to be something more out there, right? And that's the foundation is what it gives me the passion to really make a difference and to continue on and to grow it. And we are growing, we're continuing to become more efficient and more effective in what we do. So, you know, it's always constantly challenging yourself in, you know, each little step is a success. For sure. Christy, before we wrap up, I want to ask you one more thing. What are you hoping to aspire to achieve in your future still? Yikes. I'm just trying to get through each day as well as I can. You know, I mean, continuing to grow the foundation and make a bigger impact. Right now, we're throughout Northern California, Hawaiian, Arizona, and would love to see it grow and, you know, be more of a leader in the early literacy space, the innovator in that space as well. I'd love to see, you know, continue to be a mom and watch my kids grow and develop into the humans they are. You know, it's a fun thing. Great. Well, I love hearing all of these insights today, Christy, and really appreciate you being on Beyond the Lines today. And I have to say one more thing. I want more Christy Yamaguchi's in the world. Oh, no. Thank you. We need more Rustys in the world. So I appreciate you having me on. Thank you, Christy. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. For more information, visit my website RustyKamori.com. And my book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all Costco stores in Hawaii. I hope that my book and TV show will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.