 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 also titled Beyond the Lines and it's about leadership, creating a superior culture of excellence and finding greatness. Today's special guest is an amazing woman and a two-time Olympic volleyball silver medalist for Team USA. She is Lindsay Berg and today we are going beyond volleyball. Hey Lindsay, great having you here. Thanks for having me Rusty. I remember you at Punahou years and years ago playing tennis and you were ranked in the top five in the state of Hawaii. Yeah, a lot of people don't know that about me but as much as I played volleyball in between maybe 10 to 14 years old, I played just as much tennis. I loved it. I enjoyed it. My mom played tennis. My grandmother played tennis. My auntie played tennis. So as much as I went to the Aloha Airlines championship in the Big Island, I loved tennis. I still do. And that sport was just as much as a part of my growing up as volleyball was up until about 14 and 15 years old. And how was your experience at Punahou school? Well Punahou is great. I'm so thankful for my parents being able to send me there. Yeah. And sometimes it's not your choice as a child, you know, so you just have to have that confidence that your parents are going to put you in the right spot. Yeah. And they definitely did. Punahou prepared me for everything after high school. Sports were amazing. Academics were amazing. You played basketball as well. I did. So once I stopped tennis in school, starting in the intermediate, I played both volleyball and basketball up until junior year. I took it back to the tennis court. My coach that I had signed a letter of commitment to in Minnesota preferred that I did not play my senior year of basketball in case my knees were getting bad, injuries, so I tried out for varsity tennis. They were very nice. So let me on the team and let me play doubles. I think I was like third or second doubles. All I could do was serve. I hit almost every ball out. Proven ballings, what I did, and no, but it was a great way to end my career at Punahou. And Punahou just provided so much for me. And then you ended up going on a full scholarship to University of Minnesota. Yeah. How was your experience there? I cried. Everyone asked, how did you end up from Hawaii to Minnesota? And a lot of times I'm like, I really don't know. But the real story is I had a very interesting recruiting process. I did get recruited by the other big schools on the West Coast. But I didn't want to leave my high school team if we had a game. So it was very hard for me to go on recruiting trips. So I kept, I wouldn't commit. I was like, I'm not going to your school if I don't see the campus. So these schools were crossing me off my list. I was, okay, we're going to take the next person. And my dad was like, will you please go to Minnesota and take a, take a visit? And I was like, where is Minnesota? I know it's cold. So my dad had actually coached my keyboard at University of Santa Barbara. And they were friends. And he had just built a great program at Illinois and recently was going to go to Minnesota to build this program. I took a trip. I wanted to be a part of something special, growth. And I just kind of like threw in the towel and was like, okay, can you get me in business school? I was like, yes, I need a jacket. All right. I was there in the fall. It wasn't too cold. So I committed there. But I have to say the freshman year was rough in weather wise, culture wise. We were bad. I'm like, I'm better than this. And but I stuck it through. Yeah. No. And then you were back right now on your trip. Because you got inducted into Punahol's Hall of Fame. I did. I was, thank you. I was surrounded by some greats as well. Super special to have a high school that is so much tradition in sports and academics. Yeah. So you have that honor. Yeah. And it was great. My whole family came. My sister surprised me with my niece, obviously my grandma is one of my biggest support. And she's still here. Yeah. Came and kicked it with us. It was amazing. And I had everyone, my friends that I went and played with in Punahol. It was really special. Yeah. A few weeks ago, I had Coach Dave Shoji on my show. Yeah. And he had high praises for your dad, Dennis, because your dad is such an amazing volleyball coach. Yes. In person. Yeah. And your family. Tell me about your family. Yeah. Obviously we started volleyball because of my dad. Yeah. He went to UCSB. He coached at UCSB and that's he coached Dave and made his way to the islands to play some beach volleyball where he met my mom. And he started us playing. I mean, he was on the Albuquerque courts playing. He played national. So he was 50-55. So we grew up with the volleyball and it was fun. And we were always at the Albuquerque beach courts and he taught me everything at the end of the day. He was not always my coach for the team that I was on, but he was always my coach and I mean, that's who I look up to in the volleyball world. It's not another coach that I've had, not necessarily a player that I looked up to is he was my person. So Lindsay, what did you learn from your dad? What are some principles that you learned through the years from him? He was a big old school fundamental guy of technique, of it being very simple. This is all it takes and then obviously repetition. It's hard sometimes when I go and try to coach a little kid because I learned so long ago that I forget sometimes how to break it down and I call my sister because she's the coach. And I was like, how do I break this down? What I do because I've done it so long, but I just, there was no pressure. Never put pressure on us. So I didn't feel it enough. And he kept it fun? Kept it fun. I loved to play. He wanted to play with us. I think it did help that he wasn't always my actual coach on the teams. Sometimes he was, sometimes he wasn't, but he wasn't my varsity coach and this and that. So I always had him to come back to, though, even if I wasn't with him as a coach on the actual team. He was always there with me. And I learned everything from him. And then Dave coached me a little bit, learned from Dave and Charlie Wade. They were big in my club years before I went to college and I just had a lot of good volleyball people around me. Yeah. Well, that's why you became one of the best in the world. Yeah. After graduating University of Minnesota, what did you do after that? So I graduated a little early and fortunately enough, there was one year that they decided to do a professional volleyball league because for most people don't know a lot. There isn't a professional indoor league in the United States. So there was a father of a girl that played at Penn State. He decided to fund this league. He wanted his daughter to have a chance to continue to play. And there are four teams. One ended up being in Minnesota, so of course they wanted the University of Minnesota, one of the stars to be on that team. And I played in that league until about May. We won upset the daughter of the founders team, which was amazing. I got to play with another one of my University of Minnesota teammates, Nicole Brana. She was an Olympian on the beach as well, Wiz Bachman. A lot of great people and that was kind of my into professional, led into my professional career. So after that, how did your, I mean, how did the Olympic situation come about? Yeah. So his name is Kevin Hambly. He was my assistant coach on the Minnesota Chill, the one professional season. And he was also the assistant coach for the national slash Olympic team, as you can call it. And he actually talked the head coach into giving me a tryout because he saw what I could do with that professional team. My dad and I packed up my car in Minneapolis, drove to Colorado Springs. And this was a paid tryout as in I had to pay my way to try out. Yes. And they would reimburse me after my two weeks if I made it past the two weeks. Dad and I packed up. Dad drove with me, got there probably the hardest two weeks of my life, but I made it through. I got the mileage reimbursement. And then slowly but surely, I continued to just beat out the other setters that I was in competition with, then I got the chance and I was like, I'm going to take advantage of this chance. Yeah. You seized that opportunity. Yeah. With a couple of times I packed my bags trying to leave, but my teammates brought me back. They brought me back. So Lindsay, you are a three-time Olympian. You are a two-time Olympic silver medalist. What did you learn from your Olympic experience? Well, first of all, I can't even believe that ended up being my life. I do remember one time in high school or even younger, I had one friend that was like, you're going to be on the Olympic team. Really? I'm like, what are you talking about? I just want to play. Let's go jump server. Let's go to the beach. I was like, thanks, Rava, but hey, I have so many stories and I've been through so many ups and downs that all the downs actually turned into more important lessons and experiences when I was in the down of something that seemed to be so great, say, to the outside world. I can't even say there's one thing. I think perseverance, though. You hear about being an Olympian and it's almost like, oh, they're an Olympian, but the life is not very glamorous. The amount of hours that we put in, a lot of sports in the Olympic world don't get paid. We're fortunate that we do have an opportunity to go overseas and make a living in a professional league. But when we were in Colorado Springs, there were wrestlers that had to be in the top three of their weight class to even have a place to live. And that was a dorm room. They weren't getting paid for winning. So a lot of people do not understand that a lot of the Olympic sports don't get paid and that this is their job, this is what they want to do. And they continue to do it, even though sometimes they can't eat some of the stories. So perseverance, obviously. And I just became a better leader and a better person and passion. Okay, now, I mean, it's so rare for people to just become an Olympian, let alone win a medal, let alone win two medals. Now, you also walked in the opening ceremony at the Olympics. How was that experience for you? I have goosebumps right now. It's something, obviously I never experienced before, but even the second time and the third time, it felt like I did not experience that before. It's crazy. How I looked at it, though, is that I'm walking in this track or in the stadium with so many people that have the same passion, goals, heart from all different countries, all different walks of life, but the sport. Sport is what brought us all together. I would not have ever seen this person from a country of Africa or a big country in Europe. Maybe never even met them or seen them before, but sport brought us together and we were all there to compete for our country with heart, with passion, desire. And that was the most special thing to me as I walked through, is just seeing so many people that had so much in common from such different walks of life. And we were talking earlier before coming on about how you guys would actually donate stuff to other athletes. It's super interesting, as being Americans, we are given a lot. We have a lot of opportunity, a lot of freedom. We have sponsors for our volleyball team, but there were times that we would be at a tournament and anything we had extra or say we wore shoes just for one tournament, we would give them either to the Cuban team or other teams that just didn't have as much support or the money that they made, they didn't get to have. So they didn't have shoes and stuff? No, they had their sponsors, but they didn't get as much stuff as we got, so anything and you know, but they were our friends and they would sell us things and we'd help bring them things and you got, we played them so much, these different teams that were in our region, you become friends with them even though you're competing, but the competition is just when you're on the court, there's no reason people that you have so much in common with to share your life with each other and it's something really special that you really can't get anywhere and that's what sport does for people. Yeah, Lindsey, how was your the Olympic volleyball team culture like, you know, when you guys won the silver in 08 and 2012, how was the culture like on the team? We were a team. We really, we really grinded for each other. The culture was a little different in my first Olympics. We had the best players in the world, let me tell you, the best players, but sometimes when it got rough, we scattered away from each other rather than bringing each other together and uplifting each other. I think the best teams win when you are consistently uplifting each other and making each other better, no matter rough day, good day, not everyone's going to be perfect all the time and as a leader of what I, how I kept myself on the court, even though not the most physical, I can't jump. I am not that fast, but I was smart and anticipated, but what kept me on the court in some of the most elite opportunities was making people around you better. And in a team setting, that's what you have to do to for a team to succeed. And so definitely Beijing and London, we were a better team. The personnel was different. We had some bats, some new, but I do believe we uplifted each other more so than my first Olympics to make each other better. I love these insights from you, Lindsay. We're going to take a quick break. And then when we come back, we're going to continue going beyond volleyball with you. Awesome. You're watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii with my special guest, two-time Olympic silver medalist, Lindsay Berg. We will be back in 60 seconds. Hello, I'm Dave Stevens, host of the Cyber Underground. And this is where we discuss everything that relates to computers. It's just going to scare you out of your mind. So come join us every week here on ThinkTechHawaii.com, 1pm on Friday afternoons, and then you can go see all our episodes on YouTube. Just look up the Cyber Underground on YouTube. All our shows will show up and please follow us. We're always giving you current, relevant information to protect you. Keeping you safe. Aloha. Hey, Stan, the energy man 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 Energy Man 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 Energy Man. Welcome back to Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. My special guest today was the captain and two-time Olympic volleyball silver medalist for Team USA. She is Lindsay Berg, and today we are going beyond volleyball. Lindsay, you were the team captain in 2008 and 2012 when you guys won the silver medal. How was it being in that leadership role for you? Well, fortunately, in 2008, my co-captain was Robin Amos Santos. And I can't thank her enough for guiding me through this whole Olympic process as we played in two together. And she led the way as when I was growing up. Also, I saw her playing for UH. So she's been a big part of my career and a great person to look up to. But I took that being a captain very seriously. I got to a point where I knew my skill level was kind of what my skill level was going to be. So how can I enhance my whole game in another way that wasn't going to be physical of how I sat, how I jumped, can I serve better, this type of thing? So I took it very seriously is how can I be the best teammate I can be and the best leader I can be? Everyone says in the game sometimes you can treat everyone the same. Well, women, it's not true. Let me tell you, we all wish that we could speak the same way to every woman and everyone will react in the same way, but it's not true. And so I took pride in, I played games a little bit. My teammates didn't really know. But how do I get the most out of rest of you as my teammate? Can I just say something really specific or bark something really quick and you're not going to take it personal and you're going to do it? The other person, maybe I have to, you know, blame it a little bit on myself, which I'm okay with as a captain, take some responsibility. But then maybe also say, but if you do this, it might help us both. So let's both do this. So I practiced, I practiced my communication. I practiced my body language of what worked for my teammates. Like, I don't, I want this person to be the best they can be next to me. So how can I bring that out of them? So I really took it seriously. I worked on it. I worked on having the best relationship I could with my coaches at that point in time. The coaches at that it's a relationship. We're professionals at that. It can be a partnership, I believe. So the coach can't play. So how can I bring what he or she has onto the court and use that to help the team as well? So I'd love to be in a captain. I was okay with that pressure. I was okay taking responsibility sometimes for things that might have not been my fault. That was also my position as a setter. Often we do that as well. Just, I got it my fault. So I loved it. I love to be in a captain and what I learned. Also, I use in real life, I call this real life, which Volleyball was done when I was in real life. I really use a lot of those skills and it's really helped me. Yeah. Well, I remember watching those Olympics and I was cheering for you through the TV and I'm like, come on, Lindsay. Now, you were also an assistant volleyball coach for the University of Hawaii for a season. And how was that experience for you? It was awesome. A lot of the volleyball world, my family, my sister knows that I don't necessarily want to be a coach. But this opportunity came up when Dave was ending his career, whether everyone knew that or not. There was a possibility that that could have been his last season, which it did end up being. Robin had just moved. I think it was back to Las Vegas or with her family. So they lost an assistant coach and I heard that through my dad, I kind of got thinking, I love being back here with my grandma. The Hawaii program is insane. Something I didn't get to experience as a player. Maybe I could experience this as a coach and be a part and give back to the state that meant so much to me. So we kind of juggled with it. Dave and I throwing it out there. Yes, I would do that, talked it over, had a couple more talks. And I ended up here for a season and it ended up being Dave's last season. It was awesome to be with him while I was an adult as well. I grew up as a kid with him as like a second dad. It was really special also with him having Kavika and Eric players. And we talk about all of this. It was really special to spend that season with him and be a part of the University of Hawaii program, which supports volleyball, like no other program out there. And it was, it was great. And if, you know, if I changed one life of the girls on the team, that's enough and hope I gave them some things to take away. Well, Coach Dave was just surrounded by all kinds of Olympians with you guys. Now, what Lindsay, what made Coach Dave so great? You know, when I was growing up, he expected a lot. And so when you're growing up, sometimes that's hard. Like you're not prepared for that. You could think it's mean. You could think it's too blunt. I can't do this. Like the amount of times he told me to get lower for defense and I physically can't get lower, I just feel like Dave, I can't do it in my head. I can't do this. But he knew where I had it in me. So that was his way of showing that respect and just high expectations of us as growing up and being good volleyball players. And he had that all through his career coaching at UH. Obviously I didn't play, but I heard he's pretty tough on his players. You know what I mean? And I see that, but it's all because he wants the best out of you. He wants, he has high expectations. He knows you can do it. And I think I caught him on the end of the coaching where he, you know, he had kids and he's got grandkids. And he was a little calmer when I got to coach with him. But at the end of the day, he cares. Yeah. So knowledgeable at the IQ. He's been playing his whole life as well. And he just really cares. And that's a great quality. Lindsay, I know you're working on my book, Beyond the Lines. And you definitely go beyond the lines. And that's why you are extremely successful. Now, part, there's a part in the book where I talk about welcoming adversity and looking forward to challenges. What was your biggest adversity in your life? Yeah, I joke these days that I'm comfortable being uncomfortable because I put myself through these situations, whether it's Hawaii to Minnesota or all of these uncomfortable. But I did go through a very difficult point in my volleyball career that I was always very doubted. Everyone thought I was fat. They thought I was fat, which meant they thought I was slow, which really, I got to the ball all the time. I had to deal with these comments, coaches, volleyball fans, a lot of bullying. And back then there was just like a little forum. But I saw the major bullying. My first Olympics, I read some stuff. And I just... Wow, as an Olympian. Yeah, I just broke down. Why is Lindsay Burke on this team? She's not an All-American. She's fat, she's slow, blah, blah, blah, which is fine because it has helped me so much to have these people doubt me and push me and understand it's OK to be me. I might be different than others. And so it was a struggle through my whole career, let me tell you. Even to the end, my third Olympics had people. Why is Lindsay Burke on the team? You know, but they helped me. So I'm very thankful for those people that doubted me because it pushed me. It also taught me how bad that felt for me. So I'd never want to make someone else feel that way. So through my coaching or through my motivating this and that, I choose how I speak, how I communicate. I don't want anyone to ever feel like how I felt. And so that was, it was a big struggle. It was hard. As my parents, I cried sensitive. I really care. I cared what people thought about me. Well, you know, I just, I just think that, you know, if you were being attacked like that and bullied in that way, can you imagine how many other boys and girls are? And you were an Olympian. Yeah, exactly. And I really feel bad right now with the social media world of the access of saying anything to someone you don't even know or feeling like you have to be this way because that person looks this way. So I really hope that my story can resonate with some people of just like, OK, I'm OK how I am. Yeah, I can still do what I want to do. Like this is me and own it, accept it, keep going. And you use it as motivation and positivity right there. And you actually, I mean, that you had like a relentless drive. Yeah, I was not stopping. Don't care what you say. I'm fast. No. Now, Lindsay, what what do you think the best coaches, the best leaders do? It's definitely all comes down to communication. There's a way to be hard on your player. There's there's a way to give a very thorough feedback to make them better rather than just yelling at them for doing something wrong. Still, the player might not know what to do to change that. You can be passionate. You can yell, but give like positive and constructive criticism of direction of how to change that and how that's going to make it better. I think communication is the number one thing in life and a lot in sports leadership, making each other better. And yeah, it makes things easier. I totally agree with you. I mean, there's communication is an art and you've got to. I mean, there's you have to find a way to press the right buttons to get your team and each individual to rise to the occasion. And you're not going to get it right every time. Yeah, like you're not. And but it's you test it out. You see what works one day you might have a bad day and it's OK to like take responsibility than the next day. Sorry, guys, I was too hard on you, maybe. But this is what I was looking for. And this is why I was hard on you. Yeah, we're not all perfect. We we lose it sometimes. I lose it all the time. But it's something that's really important. Lindsay, before we wrap up, I want to ask you one more thing. Let's go to flip side of this. Have you had a bad coach and what did they do? Yeah, like I explained what a good coach is. I think that is also a bad coach is is not explaining how can I be better? Just always a control and yelling. I don't think yelling is necessary. There's a way to be passionate without yelling. But it's not giving instruction to them be better. I think that would be considered a bad coach. Yeah, a coach is supposed to help you achieve your goals, help you get better, not just be a control figure. Yeah, and really have the best interests of the players and the team. Yeah. Yeah. Lindsay, I appreciate all your insights and taking time to be on the show today. It's awesome. Thank you. You are awesome. I know you for so many years and I feel so proud to just see you on this journey. And I know there's going to be like amazing, great things that's going to be in your future still. Yeah, excited. Thank you, Lindsay. Thank you. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii and a special thank you to my clothing sponsor, Ilani Incorporated. For more information, please visit my website, RustyKamori.com. And my book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all Costco stores in Hawaii. I hope that Lindsay and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.