Day 10: Dinner in Versailles
Enjoying Paris (Video included)
How did I get invited to a private dinner in Versailles?
In my last post, I promised you all that I would share about my dinner in Versailles and the men who made it possible, so here is the story.
Nine months ago, I was invited to the Netspend Box at an Austin FC game. Legend Labs, the company I work for, works with Netspend’s parent company, Ouro Global, on a few projects, which is how I got invited to the event. At the Austin FC game, I met Roy Sosa, one of Netspend's founders and the CEO of Ouro Global.
I shared my story of coming out of retirement to pursue the Paris 2024 Olympics with Roy, and he was moved. He expressed that he wanted to support me on my journey to Paris. I told him that there was no guarantee I would qualify for Paris, but he said with confidence that he believed in me and that he knew I could make it. From that moment on, he started planning his trip to Paris.
Over the next few months, I had the opportunity to work closely with Ouro Global to launch one of the largest and most impactful college NIL deals in the country with their product, X World Wallet. While I was working on helping build and launch that initiative, I was also training and competing. Roy followed my journey the whole way, helping support me financially as I worked and trained.
Before I even made the Olympic team, he began planning the dinner in the Versailles palace, with full confidence that I would be in Paris. His unwavering belief in me was incredible, and the dinner at Versailles was the perfect way to celebrate our journey to the Olympics.
There is something moving about someone believing in you and supporting you even when, at times, you think it’s an impossible achievement. Roy recognized that few people in my sport are supported and sponsored. So often, we are overlooked and forgotten. But he saw the potential in me and my work ethic. He took a leap of faith to support me, and that faith played an important role in getting me to where I am today.
Dinner in Versailles was so much more than a dinner in an amazing place. It was a celebration of belief. A celebration of success. A celebration of dreams coming true. A celebration of hard work. And a celebration of excellence.
This post is a thank you to Roy and Bertrand Sosa for everything they have done to support me over the past few months. They continue to inspire me and so many people around them.