Who is Averee Dovsek and Why She is a Role Model to Student-Athletes?
Many young people look up to college and professional athletes strictly because of their performance. However, they often know very little about the person behind the performer.
My guest on this episode, Averee Dovsek, is a Division I golfer at Hofstra University. Perhaps more importantly, she is a flat out hustler. Averee is a journalist, content creator, and entrepreneur all while tackling the rigors of being a Division I student-athlete.
In Episode 24, Averee talks about her drive to be successful in everything she does. She also talks about her laser focus on life after golf. Avery is a role model to young athletes because she starts with the end in mind. Avery has a clear plan for life after sport and started executing that plan the day she stepped onto campus at Hofstra.
My suggestion to young athletes is to think about college as a stepping stone, not an end-goal. Unfortunately, sports end for all of us at some point and having a clear plan beyond athletics will help you successfully transition out of sport when the time comes.
I want to thank Averee for her kind generosity and the wisdom she shared with The Freshman Foundation Community.
You can learn more about Averee on her website at https://dovsek.wixsite.com/avereedovsek or check out any of her awesome content at https://linktr.ee/Averee_dovsek.
You can learn more about The Freshman Foundation on our website at freshmanfoundation.com.
Thank you for listening. We’ll see you back soon for Episode 25!
Mike: Hey Averee, how's it going?
[00:00:02] Averee Dovsek: It's going good. How are you?
Mike: I'm doing great. Thanks for coming on here tonight talk to me. For those on in the audience who are listening, why don't you tell everyone a little bit about yourself?
[00:00:13] Averee Dovsek: Yeah, so my name is Averee Dovsek. I'm originally from Southern California, and I currently reside in Long Island, New York which I'm bouncing all over the place right now. But home basis, long Island at the moment, I'm a senior at Hofstra University, which is a division one golf school, and I was recruited out of high school to play division one golf here. Why [inaudible 00:36] California to play in the cold? I still don't know, but it's been a great experience and I have now transitioned into a golf media career, which I'm sure we'll get into.
Mike: Excellent. So how did you start playing golf?
[00:00:51] Averee Dovsek: I picked up a club when I was five, but I don't really count that. I played volleyball for a lot of years. I'm really tall, and around 13, 14, my dad said, you should play golf. And I was like, no, absolutely not. So he kind of forced me into the sport, really against my will. I hated it. I hated practicing. I hated everything about it twice a day, every day and I started liking it once I got good. I made varsity my freshman year and went on to be team captain and VP, you know, just starting to look at schools and I'm the first to go to college and my family. And my immediate family at least and you know, it's gotten me a scholarship to a really great university, and I have my father and my mom to thank for that. Because if I had stuck with volleyball, I'm not over 6’ feet tall and very tall. But the chances of me going to [inaudible 01:41] school were not as high as they are with golf.
Mike: That was gonna be my next question. How tall are you?
[00:01:48] Averee Dovsek: 5’10’’
Mike: 5’10”, okay. So you were forced into playing golf which that is not the answer I was expecting you to give right? I was expecting you to give the, I started when I was five, it was supernatural, and I loved it and I have been nope. And so it's really interesting right, because you didn't like it at first because you weren't good at it, which is like so sports psychology, I won't get into that. But the fact that you were able to make that leap and that much development, not short of time just seems to speak to your athleticism.
[00:02:22] Averee Dovsek: Yeah, I'm pretty good athlete. In my free time, I trained for bodybuilding. So I'm actually looking to compete in a show this summer it was supposed to be during the pandemic. But all of them got canceled on me. So I took a long needed break away from dieting, living my life right now. And then I'll get back into it in a few months. But yeah, I'm pretty athletic. The only sport that I really suck at is soccer. But besides that, it's not too bad.
Mike: Nice. So bodybuilding, so the level of commitment and dedication to bodybuilding. I, as you know better than I do. I've known some bodybuilders is really, really significant, even if you're doing it at an amateur level. So how do you play division one golf at a university and travel and do the things that you're doing and still trained to compete in a bodybuilding competition?
[00:03:13] Averee Dovsek: Yeah, bodybuilding is, out of everything I do, bodybuilding is the most mentally tough thing I've ever put myself through. Being 21, and I started when I was 20. Like I'd always worked out, but I went from working out to training and there's a very big difference there. And weighing your food is very meticulous. And controlling every variable of what you put in your body is very meticulous, and getting asked [inaudible 03:36] do you want to go out for drinks and you being like, NO, I can't, I have to weigh my food and sit home. You don't have to sit home you can go out but it's a very mental thing. The training is the easy part for me, asked me to do the cardio, asked me to lift pull heavy weights, that's not a problem. But the food having social events, having travelled team dinners, that's the hardest part, but it's definitely something an outlet for me. A lot of people go to therapy, whatever that is my therapy. A lot of my stress gets out there, it's my time but my headphones in and don't want to be bothered, unless I'm training a teammate, which happens quite often right now.
Mike: Yeah, I mean, I've gone through phases like that in my life where I was actually weighing my food as well. And it only lasts for so long. So to be able to do it in a sustained basis in preparation for a competition probably is the only way you can do it right when you know there's like a goal in sight. You have to show up on stage and people are gonna be judging you, that keep you home at night.
[00:04:36] Averee Dovsek: That’s difficult right now. I mean, I went through a dieting phase of eight months. It was supposed to be only 16 weeks of often on dieting because shows kept getting canceled. So I was really lean at one point. And my blood results just got all wonky at the end and I was like well, we have to pull back. I need to take some time off eat. Get my hormone levels in check. Get everything back before I can do this again because I mean I've now been weighing my food and tracking macronutrients for two years, and it's just so easy for me. I don't even think about it, but for a lot of people very tough. But even in this improvement, they call it an improvement season, not an offseason. I still really do see the bigger picture. So I don't have an issue, weighing that and getting into all that.
Mike: Yeah, it's become a habit, right? Well, basically automatic you do it, and you don't even think twice about it, which it's an amazing, it's an amazing thing to have for the rest of your life. You may not always do this, but you'll always have it to go back to where a lot of people never even get to that point. So that's really cool. And I guess I'm curious, and I always get sidetracked because I'm so interested in what you're saying. So how does the bodybuilding impact your golf performance? And how does it I imagine it conflicts at some level?
[00:05:50] Averee Dovsek: Yeah, so I learned you cannot play a solid round of 18 holes on 1300 calories. I learned that really hard, especially walking. So there is some struggles, but it does help for the bigger part of it. I say mentally, I've never been as mentally strong as I am now, since I started bodybuilding. It's a different kind of struggle. Yes, I've gone through a lot of life events that have put me through hardship, struggle, whatever, it may look glamorous from the outside, but there's a lot that goes on, but that's just a whole different thing. Because you're in charge of every variable. You mess up, it's on you. Like golf, you have bad bounces right, you can't control everything. But you can control pretty much every variable in bodybuilding, which is a great thing and it can be a really struggling thing. And you learn a lot about yourself on how to keep yourself accountable and how to have discipline, but it's helped a lot in that respect. I've obviously picked up quite a bit of distance on the tee. It's, some days I'll be more fatigued than I probably should be and have to play golf. I just kind of learned to roll with it. Yeah, mostly is like you just have to if you're dieting and you're trying to play competitive golf, it's just not going to work. Because carbs are your energy. And when you have no energy, you don't play good golf.
Mike: Makes sense. Especially if you're walking for however many five miles, you know, with a bag on your back or whatever, right?
[00:07:20] Averee Dovsek: Yeah
Mike: So last question, and I'm going to move on, but how much distance have you picked up off the tee because of the body building?
[00:07:30] Averee Dovsek: By 50 to 60 yards.
Mike: Wow. That's yeah…
[00:07:35] Averee Dovsek: I went from like, I went from like, 220 to like 280, 300 with some clubs.
Mike: And how does that compare to some of your competitors and teammates, contemporaries in terms of driving, you're like blowing them out of the water? Yeah, you also have the height, which gives you the lever and then you add the strength and the power behind it, then you're like, you're like a machine?
[00:08:00] Averee Dovsek: Yeah. Damn, if I could put a GoPro.
Mike: Well, talking about having mental strength.Yeah, so you started 13, 14 you weren't into it, but you started to get good and that's when your outlook changed. But at what point did you realize that hey, maybe there was a future in golf beyond high school?
[00:08:26] Averee Dovsek: That was honestly the only way I was going to college. Financially, we didn't plan well. And we lived in a very financially stable area and rents expensive in California. We lived really close to the water, which I'm very grateful for. But you know, it did put us at times of a stretch. So yeah, that was the main thing. It was like, Okay, you kind of have to be good at this if you want to go to school, which is not typical, not the typical story. But I think that really fueled my fire and gave me a bigger goal to shoot for. The difficult part was since I was the only person who attend college in my immediate family, I had zero help. So my parents had no clue that I was emailing coaches, talking to coaches, they literally did not know they did not understand when I committed they didn't think it was a big deal. They're like, oh cool, like, and meanwhile my other friends were getting parties and all this stuff, and not to say that I was envious or something. It just my parents didn't understand the volume that it speaks to sign that kind of contract.
Mike: Yeah, how did you figure out how to navigate the system?
[00:09:39] Averee Dovsek: Honestly, I've always been like a go getter. I got my first job at the age of 14. I had my first internship at 17, and I kind of just went on a limb. I really had no help. I didn't hire anyone to help me through the process. I just started emailing and I started putting together really bad videos that make me literally cringe. I am also pretty much self-taught at the sport with the help of my father who isn't very good at golf, sorry. So it was hard, like, I didn't know what they were looking for. I didn't even know like, what angles to take videos from, like down the line or in front or what even a proper recruitment video looks like. But now, I mean, it's the industry in that respect for golf has grown tremendously.
Mike: Okay, so when you were going through that, obviously, it was it was sort of self-managed, self-taught as well, which is seems to be a theme. Like, how did you like, what were your, did you have criteria for where you'd go or was it just hey, I need to get a [inaudible 10:43] offer. I can get the most amount of money or like, what were you looking at?
[00:10:48] Averee Dovsek: Money was a big factor. Originally, I remember looking at local schools, and then I was like no, let's go big or go home. So we went big, and we will do the farthest I could away from home, besides leaving the country. So I ended up 25 minutes away from the heart of New York City, which was great from a career standpoint. I entered college as a television business major, which at the time sounded great. And it sounded like, I could encompass a bunch of things. And I wasn't stuck to just being a journalist or just being blah, blah, blah, but as I got more work, which I'm sure we'll get into, I really shifted my focus in what I wanted to study. But having the city right there, at my fingertips has been awesome. I couldn't have asked for a better location.
Mike: Yeah, I grew up on Long Island, right near Hofstra, and so it is a great location. It's almost like I used to like wonder, how did I get so lucky to grow up in the in the New York area? You know, people say, where are you from? And you say, I’m from New York, and they're like, really? Wow, like, what's that like? And, you know, we can have a whole conversation about what it's like to live on Long Island, but you know, but in the fact that you took that leap is really amazing, you know, and I went away from home myself, I didn't know where I was going, my parents didn't go to college, we have a lot of a lot of things in common. And I showed up in Michigan, and I didn't know one person and I barely had a diamond my pocket and it's like, well go figure it out you know. So I get that and there's a lot, you know, to be said for that. And it's also makes you feel good about yourself that you're able to do those things on your own. Now ultimately, you were sending out crappy videos, you were self-taught, you had only been playing for four or five years. What Hofstra see in you as a golfer that made them say, we want to have this person.
[00:12:45] Averee Dovsek: I had some good rounds under my belt. I performed well, at some tournaments at the state level I performed well. I think they really saw though, is like, an athletic build, and a potential for an even better golf swing. Because in these videos, like you see I was powerful and maybe like, you know, twitching was slight to become from good to great. So I was really fortunate that the first coach who was no longer with us. John Jordan, he took you know, gamble on me, and we met in person, and we clicked very well. He seemed very family oriented. We just conversation flowed. I mean, when you're recruiting an athlete, you're recruiting the athlete, but you're also recruiting the person. Because you have a lot of Van rides, you have a lot of, you know, overnight stays a lot of travel and that's something a lot of people don't think about is yes, your scores matter how you play matters, but how you are and how you act as a person also matters. Because if you don't jive as a team, you're not going to play well.
Mike: Yeah, absolutely. So I mean, so it sounds like the coach who recruited you and you had that relationship with there was a coaching change at some point, and what was that like?
[00:14:00] Averee Dovsek: It was interesting because we are my first coach was a golf professional, very educated in the sport, I really respected his advice and I really liked him. My teammates didn't really weren't really in favor of him. So however that unfolded is what it is. So we got a new coach who I really like as a person and he is a very, I find him kind of like a friend. His golf abilities aren't as strong as the first coach, which sometimes since I am self-taught, I went to college thinking that I would be able to kind of get a Swing Coach under my belt. So that's kind of rough sometimes but I can't complain. I mean, he I've been given great opportunities played great courses. I've grew a lot as a person and a player so it's been nice.
Mike: I appreciate the honesty that's not probably not the easiest question to answer especially since you're still there. So you decide to go to Hofstra and this is sort of the meat and potatoes of what this podcast is about right, you pick up your pack your bags, you get your clubs and you move to Hempstead Long Island Uniondale wherever right, you know, middle of Long Island, Rocco and big time. So what was that transition like, when you get onto campus and it doesn't just have to be golf culturally, the people like what was it like that first year you were in college?
[00:15:24] Averee Dovsek: I always say to people like, I pretty sure you could throw me in a paper bag and I'd be okay. So I got here and end of August, like October or August, like 28th or something. I walked into a group of friends being on the team, and we clicked very well. In October month, no, I'm sorry, first few weeks, I started teaching cycling classes at the university. And then I got a job at a cycle studio like a one a boutique, one that I actually still will work out here and there. I'm a manager at now. And that had also gave me another group of friends because it was a bunch of girls my age, and it made that transition absolutely seamless. Hofster is great in the respect that you have like, 12, 16 students in some of your classes if you're in media, so I was really close to my professors. It is a bit different though in college compared to high school is. Nobody really talks in class. Like I remember in high school, I knew everybody's name. I had their numbers like we hung out outside of class, and here it is not the same. And I think that stems from most of Hofster students being commuters. So they come in study, go home, they have their hometown friends, which is fine. So the athletes definitely tend to flock together. I definitely got very close with all my professors. I've had one professor five times now. So it's been good in that respect, definitely some differences. I think East Coast people are very nice and friendly, though. People talk in elevators, something I'm not used to. Yeah, I mean, my transition for me at least was very easy. I did not get homesick. I was so concerned about what was going. And the first week I remember, we had a practice a team practice and it was to see who was going to play in the tournament that weekend. And I remember tailor made called me and was like, Hey, do you want to do a commercial? And I was like, I didn't know the rules at that time. So I asked my coach like, hey, can I miss the qualifying round or do the commercial? And one he was like, NO, you can't miss the round into, you're not allowed to do that. So then I started learning the hard rules at the NCAA. And then as my career unfolded, that's been something to be very mindful about.
Mike: That's interesting. So there was a compliance issue.
[00:17:41] Averee Dovsek: Lots of compliance issues.
Mike: Yeah, the more I learned about it, the more I realized that it's like a hornet's nest, and I've gotten to know some people in compliance, and I'm starting to spend more time within you to university athletic departments and realize what a headache is.
[00:17:57] Averee Dovsek: I'll share a story later on when we get in.
Mike: Okay, all right. So now when you picked Hofstra like, was the media department the major consideration, or was it, hey, they have it, I'm going to go and I don't really understand sort of the strength of the department.
[00:18:15] Averee Dovsek: Well, I toured, I remembered. I was interested in nursing. Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking, that was a cute idea. I saw the machine that could birth a baby and I freaked out. So um, that was a no go. But then I walked through the communications building and I saw the cameras and I saw the rooms I saw the light boards I saw, you know, really what media was. I grew up doing musicals, and I always liked to perform. My aunt was a newscaster, which always interested me. So that's why I started thinking like, wow, this is, you know, really interesting to me.
Mike: So you started with TV and business. So what happened?
[00:18:56] Averee Dovsek: So in 2019, I was looking for internships as a freshman like a weirdo. And I started applying to different places, and I saw the Golf Channel had an internship. So I like didn't tell anyone I applied or anything, but I thought, you know, worst case, it's practice with a resume and a cover letter. I ended up getting the internship. So I moved down to Orlando for the summer when I was 19 years old, definitely being the youngest person in the building and worked on their morning show, morning drive. My shift started every day at 3am, sometimes 2:30, and I was about by, I was out by 10 or 11am. With that, I saw everything, every part of TV, production, post production, editing, you know, all the ins and outs, and I really loved what the broadcaster's did in the talented. So that really clarified to me and told me exactly what I want to do, which is why I encourage everyone to get internships because if I didn't do that, I would have been stuck in something I had no clue what would tell for me? So I ended up switching to journalism, and I picked up a second major of rhetorical studies and public advocacy. So I will be a double major. And yeah, it was kind of the turning point. And I'm very glad I learned that early on, because I did not miss up any credits, I didn't mess up, I didn't get behind, I actually still had the chance to add another major. So that's how that unfolded.
Mike: That's awesome. That's good, and that's great advice. Because I've been in that boat too. I mean, getting internships and actually doing the work is gonna really clue you into whether or not you want to do something for the rest of your life.So I have to ask this question, too. Before I get back to asking you about your first year at Hofstra. What do you do? Do you have any free time, for like enjoyment? Like, I don't understand like, is it possible to socialize because you do a lot of things?
[00:20:55] Averee Dovsek: Yes, it is. I do socialize and it's been busy, but it's filled with work I absolutely love like, it doesn't even feel like work. So a little more career stuff. I went from the Golf Channel two CBS Sports, two Sirius XM, two golf week USA Today. And I believe that's where we're at now, I may be missing Oh, and scratch with the PGA Tour. So a lot of different avenues of work, and each company has been great. I have zero complaints with anyone. And it's really kind of navigated on where I want to spend a lot of my time. So right now I am freelancing for golf week, and I do a lot of other freelance work. So I'll do right, I'll do content creation videos, or with scratch by the PGA Tour, we filmed a series of summer where we traveled to different states played 72 holes of golf in 72 hours and filmed it where to eat stay the whole nine yards. So yes, I do have time for free time. But these projects are a hell of a lot better to me than school right now. I obviously encourage school, but I'll be honest, right now my day at school is me working while I'm in class.
Mike: Yeah, but I think you said something really important that I can also relate to is that when you do something that you love, it really does not feel like work, and I had a career before it I do now in sports psychology, and it felt like work every single day. And now for the last, you know, four years of my life, it feels like every day I wake up even when I wasn't getting paid for my internships for two years. Like I was so happy and so it's definitely like, for anyone who's listening, it's like find something you love to do, and you can find a way to make money doing it.
[00:22:45] Averee Dovsek: Yeah, so I just turned down a job offer a full time job offer like a week ago. And I thought long and hard about it because it was very good money.Substantially more money than I'm making right now, and it was in a social media space, but it wasn't really content creation. It was just posting, and it's still in the golf business. And it really interested me and I was ready to move all my classes next semester, quit the golf team and I was ready to be a full time employee. But then I realized like, that's not at all what I want to do, that's a part of what I want to do. But that's not what I want my entire job to be. And I was like, I don't want to be miserable. Nine to five, my first real job at a college. So I said no,the money part hurts, but I'm sure you know, it's all part of a bigger plan.
Mike: It is, and the truth of the matter is with a degree and contacts, you can always find a full time job if you need money.
[00:23:44] Averee Dovsek: Exactly.
Mike: But if you could do it, do it on your own, that's what I'm doing. So what was the hardest part of that freshman year that transition to posture? What would you say it was?
[00:23:59] Averee Dovsek: Well, I'm not really friends there anymore, but I had a really interesting roommate. She was on the team, and which pose like, I don't have problems with any of my friends. We all get along. There's no fights, like I live with four girls, and there has been absolutely zero issues. I find myself pretty easy to get along with her. We got along but there was a little bit of promiscuity, I guess we'll call it and which posed a lot of questions and a lot of butting heads on like morals. And the team didn't know why I was acting the way I was acting because I wasn't trying to expose her life which made some of the team not like me. So that was a pretty hard first semester. She ended up quitting the school and she's transferred like four times now to different schools, but it kind of made me feel crazy because for the first time in my life, like I had people not like me. And they didn't know why, and I wasn't ready to, you know, tell us about somebody else's personal life. But now we're all good. I'm best friends with everybody on my team. I'm the team captain, and everyone knows the story very well now, because it told itself. And yeah, that was a pretty hard couple of months two that definitely was a biggest challenge.
Mike: But at 18, 19 years old, it takes some pretty strong principles to sacrifice your well-being to keep the confidence of somebody that you weren't getting along with. I mean, if you think about that, right, it would have been a lot easier to just be like, no, point the finger at her and be like, it's her fault. But you didn't do that. And I think that kind of speaks to your character, which probably is why you're at where you're at right now.
[00:25:44] Averee Dovsek: I appreciate that. Yeah, that was a very interesting situation. But I mean, it unfolded the way it was supposed to unfold you know, and that was the biggest part of problem of my college career, that's nothing.
Mike: Well, that's a great way to look at it. It's you know, how many kids go through that, you know, that they have a bad roommate, and it's like, it ruins a semester or a year, and then you just go find another roommate, you move on you know, it's like life, you're gonna work with people that you don't like, and you're gonna live with people you don't like, and you're gonna maybe marry, but like trust me, I've done that too.But it's life, and so if that was the hardest part, it sounds like, really, after that first semester, things would have been pretty smooth for you. The internship at the Golf Channel, is it fair to say that sort of was like a turning point for you to be like, okay, like, now I know what I want to do. And here's my plan going forward about what I want my career to look like?
[00:26:44] Averee Dovsek: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, my biggest fear in life, well, one of them is living paycheck to paycheck.I know what it's like to struggle, and I never want to be in that position ever. So that's kind of been the fire or the fuel to my fire throughout my high school, or college career, or high school and college, honestly.Because I want to get out of college being at a level that is an intro.I did not spend four years of my life doing all these internships to not be ahead of the game.You know, colleges and school has always come very easy to me. I'm very blessed, I put in the work, and it comes my way normally, that's typically how it goes, though. You study and you don't go partying every night. Grades will come your way, that's just how it goes. I think school is like not always a lot of how smart you are. It's really just how much like effort you put in.Some subjects don't get me wrong, it does take a level of intelligence. But if you're failing like English, and just basic classes like that, that doesn't come from your intelligence comes from your being lazyin my opinion. So schools always come easy, which has allowed me to multitask like crazy person. So my days typically start pretty early, around 5:30am and wrap up around 10am or 11am, just to get in my workouts go to school.I have like three jobs right now, and be an athlete on top of that.
Mike: Yeah, and I think one of the things that I learned, you know, early on was how to study? How to study efficiently and well, so that you're not using up too much time. And I think that's also sounds like something you're really good at is being efficient with your time like, hey, I can do all these things in a day, if I do the right thing and I don't waste away time. And that's really important, you know, in terms of being accomplished and being able to move forward. I think the other thing I would say from personal experiences is like, grades are great, and I had good grades in college and I have two Masters Degrees. But at the end of the day, you could have none of those things and still make a career by being an entrepreneur by putting your smarts to use and taking risks, which is exactly you know what you're doing now, so why don't you talk about because you have so many projects that you do. We haven't even gotten into podcasts, we haven't gotten into any the stuff that you're doing in detail. So like what are you working on now, you know, eight months before you graduate from college?
[00:29:25] Averee Dovsek: Well, one I'm trying to stack as much money as possible so I can buy some real estate and rent that out to people that is such a big interest of mine as Airbnb arbitrage and like getting, you know, secondary income like that, but anyhow besides that. So currently right now, I hired an agent about a month ago and we are working very closely on more building my Twitter presence because I don't really get Twitter or use Twitter. I'm not really a fan, but I guess I'm going to have to be so we're really working hard on and my Instagram has grown really organically. I have not tried to gain followers. I have not done any weird follow, unfollow hashtag. What's come has come and it's been awesome this last year. So right now I'm trying to work with her on how to build my brand a little bit more and get some bigger broadcast and media deals. I love playing golf for entertainment. I mean golf in competition is a little stressful just with everything because I'm not really just focused on golf, I'm still thinking about work, I'm still thinking about school, I'm still thinking about the eight other things, I have to do that date and I can't really just dial it into golf. But when I play it for entertainment, and I'm really not, don't have that pressure of like what my score is, I absolutely love it. And if I could double dip that as being work, it's even better. So you know, that's what I'm trying to do right now. I am with golf week, USA Today, mostly at the moment. I write a couple articles a week, I do some video stuff, content creation, and we're working on some ideas for this winter on some encore stuff with them, and maybe some in studio videos come in. So lots of them, and then stuff I just get emails for stuff that just like when you think there's a lull something else pops up.
[00:3x:xx] Michael Huber: And you're at a point now where like, you're going to be out of college and you know, less than a year, the sky's the limit. And then you know, all of a sudden you said something before that really resonates with me where you said like where you think there's something starts to pop back up. And as somebody who's been building a business for a couple of years now, it's starting to get to that point where you're seeding everything, you're seeding, you're seeding, you're sending out emails, no one replies, no one replies, you make phone calls, you do this, your post on social media, nothing happens for a long time. And then all of a sudden, emails start popping up, and people start reaching out and say, Oh, I listened to your podcast, or I saw your website, and oh, and then before you know it, you've got more than you can handle and then you get to call the show.
[00:36:06] Averee Dovsek: That's my year in a nutshell. Thank you for just perfectly explaining that.
Mike: Yeah, because you know, it's funny, because it's like you know, I think we were talking before we started recording of this idea that, you know, when people sit when you when you make it big, when you get noticed, and you become more of a celebrity, or you become a figure in the public, people just like, Oh, where did she come from? Where did he come from? They don't know what you've been doing behind the scenes for the last four years you know, and beyond that, breaking your budget, like spending all this time doing the right things, so that you get to the point where you can reap the benefits of that by investing all that time and energy. And that can be a really hard thing to starting to deal with some of that, because I've even started to get some hate. And I, you know, I'm nowhere near follow you. Like, I got my first troll, and I was like, holy crap, this is what it's like, imagine if you got like, 100 of these a day and people are trolling you. I'm like, I don't know if I can handle it emotionally.
[00:37:04] Averee Dovsek: I'll be honest, knock on wood. I have never received a rhodium, or message on social media. Now, maybe not to me or my face, but I'm sure it's been said behind my back. But I think that's, you know, like something you don't hear very often, especially as a female. No, I don't know. It just kind of blown me away, because I thought by now it's been like, your golf swing sucks, or like that picture was ugly, or I don't care like, I honestly haven't had any of that.
Mike: Yeah, I think it also speaks to the tee you're following, in terms of the types of people who gravitate to you. And you know what you're doing, like you have a set of guardrails. This is where I want to be, I'm talking about golf like, it’s really hard to get on somebody for doing good work and doing good things and entertaining. And I think the way you handle yourself which is very businesslike, doesn't leave you open as much to somebody who's just sort of trying to game the system. Like, you're actually putting out valuable content versus like, I'm just trying to get noticed here by posting a pic. And, you know, a million people follow me like, and what did I do? Well, nothing really, other than show myself off.
[00:38:21] Averee Dovsek: Well, that's a big issue that I've had mentally. I mean, growing up in Southern California. I grew up in a bathing suit. Being in a bathing suit was not [inaudible 38:29] to me. Now I get to the East Coast and apparently, that's promiscuous. So that's been something like posting a picture in a bikini, in my hometown friends, that's something not weird, that is so normal. That's not seen as like, in any which way. But different parts of the country in different parts of the world, it very much is. So that's been something like, I went to Greece in August, and I was very fortunate to get some time off to do that. And I posted a picture in a bikini and like, I was scared to do that for the first time, just because I don't want my brand to be reflected in that way. I want to be seen as a professional. Now, if I wanted to gain a million followers, I could swing a golf club in a bikini on a beach in Greece and like be done.I don't want that. I don't want to be hired from that I don't want to see be seen as the dumb blonde.I want to be seen as the business person, the entrepreneur, someone who brings good ideas to the table, and I'm not just there because of my appearance.So that's been something very interesting, just because I was brought up in a very different community and learning different people's viewpoints and stuff. So yes, I'm careful, and I try to be careful, but sometimes I am still fearful that I do push the limits.
Mike: Yeah, I mean, it's a shame that it has to be that way. But I think it does speak to different cultures in different places and then I think ultimately to. It's just we're living in it, things are changing in the world. And so ultimately, whatever we post whether it's a picture of ourselves, whether it's a blog post a video, like, we need to be prepared for criticism, and that if we believe in stand behind what we are about, then you kind of just say, hey, I know what I'm about like, they can come at me. And that's hard, that's not easy. You know, it's a hard thing to do. You know, it's like, the first time I got this person trolling me, I thought I wrote an article about how parents should talk to their kids. And I'm like, who can criticize that? And it was like, well, you're teaching this is a quote from somebody, you're teaching our kids to be pansies. And I was like, I'm not teaching them to be. I'm not teaching you to do anything. You could do whatever you want, like, but there's research to support what I'm saying. I'm not like taking a controversial position here, and I was like, hurt by it. I was like, what's this is crazy. And then I realized like, this is just the way the world is like, if people don't like what you're saying, and offends their way of thinking, they're gonna come at you. Because that's the only way they know how to make themselves feel better and so you just gotta roll with it.
[00:40:59] Averee Dovsek: I mean, you just have to go and everything, whether they say to your face or not, you will get criticized for every single thing you do, whether you just put your pinky out, drinking that cup of coffee, whether you what you were outside, if you draw the wrong color sweater. I don't care from the dumbest things to the most extreme, you will get criticized for everything. Now you have people who will want keep their mouth shut, or to say something because it truly makes them feel better. You know, putting somebody else's insecurities, you know, at the forefront, maybe makes them sleep better at night. I'm not one of those people, I'd rather say nothing but there is those people out there. So maybe raising hell comes from a stem of compliments, honestly. So that troll person could have really liked your content and could have been kind of pissed that maybe he isn't raising his kid the most optimal way, and maybe that came from a sense of oh no. So I mean, there's just different ways to look at things and everyone thinks so different.
Mike: Yeah, and if you take it back to athletics, it's what we can and can't control, and what we can't control is what going goes on around us, like if I'm doing all the right things, and I'm not getting the results right now, it's only a matter of time. If somebody doesn't like the way I'm doing something performing playing, like I part of being mentally tough part of being a mentally strong athlete is to say, I know that I'm on the right course, and that I'm not going to judge myself by results, nor am I going to judge myself, you know, as to what other people are saying. And think about, and you know, this is better than anyone as an athlete and an entertainer, as a journalist, like you're taking risks every day, emotional risks about putting yourself out online, giving people the opportunity to judge you, and those people are the ones not willing to take those risks. And it makes them uncomfortable, because they're not able to be in the position you are because you were the one who put your neck on wine.
[00:42:50] Averee Dovsek: I’ll give you a good example. Back around this time last year, I was approached by Holy Moly on ABC, and I ended up competing on the show. But I was so fearful, because a lot of contestants on that show are made out to be plain idiots. And I told them repeatedly, one after another, I do not want to be on the show if you're going to portray me as the dumb blonde golfer. Don't want it, don't want any part of it, and don't want you don't know what angle you're going to take it because you don't know. What happens in production and post-production is completely different than how the stories actually hold. Like, for instance, half the shots you saw on that game show didn't unfold like that, fun fact.
Mike: They are clipping it?
[00:43:41] Averee Dovsek: Maybe not.
Mike: Fair enough.
[00:43:45] Averee Dovsek: But it's just interesting how you know, and yeah, that's something you like, when you take these risks, you have to be very careful, because everything you do right now is truly forever.
Mike: Yeah, it's funny, you say that. So I was part of a documentary very recently, within the last three months. I was interviewed for, it was on CNBC, and I did like a day worth of shooting with a colleague, and it came out like a few weeks ago, and I knew like, I was worried. I was like, how are they going to spin this information? Now it turns out, I was in it for about two seconds. And it wasn't about me at all, there was all this other content that they shot. And I was like, at the very end, I was like on camera for like two seconds. So it didn't affect me, but I'm thinking to myself like, how could they spend what I'm saying to be something like, Oh, this guy's you know this and get criticism. So I know exactly what you're saying, you know, but I was like, I'm going to do this, because it's important to me. And you know what I'm going to say what I believe, and whatever they do with it, and however they spend, it's not up to me. And as long as I know what I stand for and what's happening, then you know, I'll be able to get through it and move forward versus like, I'm going to be too scared to try something and then what? I'm just gonna regret that I never did it, and that's what the point of that is.
[00:44:58] Averee Dovsek: Yeah, now I truly agree, that's all.
Mike: So just a couple more questions, because I know it's late and you’re burn it and on both ends. So five years from now, I've never asked this question before, but I want to ask you because of all the things that you've done and accomplished so far, five years from now where do you see yourself?
[00:45:15] Averee Dovsek: I see myself having some kind of morning show, or day show, or night show about golf.
Mike: All right, that’s pretty simple. There's you go, sometime in the 24 hours of the day, there's a show about golf that you're hosting.
[00:45:34] Averee Dovsek: Get you there you. Hopefully not in the morning though, because that was really early work.
Mike: Yeah, I know. You gotta get getting up in the morning for TV, that's no joke.
[00:45:41] Averee Dovsek: I like getting up early
Mike: But not that early.
[00:45:45] Averee Dovsek: That's different.
Mike: That’s alright. Last question. So if you had to give one piece of advice to a student athlete in high school, college, whatever, like what's the one thing you would say to them right now that you think would help them the most?
[00:46:01] Averee Dovsek: If your coach just says that you do not have time for an internship or job, debate quitting that team. If you don't plan on going pro, or you have no desire to go pro, realize how your career needs to align. And if you're missing out on opportunities for athletic experiences, there's a time and a place for everything. But you want your coach and a big part of the recruiting ask these questions, will I be allowed to work my junior year? Will I be allowed to do an internship if it comes up and I need one to graduate? Because a lot of majors you need one to graduate. Ask these questions during the recruiting process because I hear from a lot of people that their coach will not let them have a job, even in the offseason which that's big. I mean, if you have aspirations of working, and let's say you're in finance, JP Morgan, or Citibank or some really big place, you can't show up with an empty resume. So I would say that's my biggest piece of advice.
Mike: That's great advice. And I think it's the first time I've heard it here on the podcast, and I think its good advice for kids. Yeah, there you go. I mean, you're blazing trails here. But listen, I'm so grateful that you came on, this is your super interesting. And, you know,so just, you're super interesting. You know, when I reached out to you the first time like, it's because I've sort of follow you from afar, and I've seen all the moves you made. And I think it's just super admirable that you've been able to do all these things in such a short amount of time with somebody who clearly has a laser focus about what they want their career to look like beyond golf and beyond sports, beyond college. So it's amazing, and I'm sure you're going to get whatever you want, because you're pretty persistent, and I'm looking forward to watching that show one day.
[00:47:48] Averee Dovsek: Thank you. I really appreciate it.
Mike: You're welcome. Come back anytime.
[00:47:52] Averee Dovsek: Thank you.
Mike: Thanks Averee.