The Business of Life with Dr King
Dr Ariel Rosita King brings on a variety of International guests from various countries, cultures, organisations, and businesses to talk about turning
problem into possibilities! Let's turn our challenges in opportunities together!
The Business of Life with Dr King
Lydia Davies: Building Empowerment and Bridging Gaps for Women in Sports and Entertainment
Lady Lydia Davies, the inspiring founder and CEO of Osprey, joins us to share her journey from being a young athlete and musician in male-dominated fields to creating a powerful community for women in sports and entertainment. Her story is one of resilience and vision, motivated by the lack of mentorship she faced and her determination to empower others. Lydia takes us through how Osprey bridges the gender pay gap and offers women resources and opportunities to thrive in their careers. It's a conversation about turning challenges into change and building a network where women can support each other to succeed.
Explore the expansive growth of the Global Women's Leadership Network, a community dedicated to supporting women across diverse fields, from Olympians to executives. This initiative, which started with humble online pods and pop-up events, has blossomed into a network of over 100 members in North America and Canada. We emphasize the pivotal role of mentorship, highlighting the big sister program that pairs college athletes with seasoned professionals. With an ambition that transcends borders, this network is on a mission to embrace language inclusivity and cultural diversity, ensuring every woman feels welcomed and has access to a wealth of resources globally.
Balancing professional and family responsibilities is a challenge many face, but Stephanie, a single mother of two, shares her disciplined approach to integrating her children into her work life. We address the pressures of hustle culture in America and the need for harmony in managing multiple responsibilities. The episode also shines a light on Dr. Jen Welter's exciting initiative that empowers women through sports like football, offering them opportunities to learn alongside NFL coaches and players. As we explore the significance of women's influence in marketing strategies, we express our excitement for future endeavors that continue to elevate and support women in sports and entertainment.
Music, lyrics, guitar and singing by Dr Ariel Rosita King
Teach me to live one day at a time
with courage love and a sense of pride.
Giving me the ability to love and accept myself
so I can go and give it to someone else.
Teach me to live one day at a time.....
The Business of Life
Dr Ariella (Ariel) Rosita King
Original Song, "Teach Me to Live one Day At A Time"
written, guitar and vocals by Dr. Ariel Rosita King
Dr King Solutions (USA Office)
1629 K St, NW #300,
Washington, DC 20006, USA,
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Hello and welcome to the Business of Life. Today we have a very special guest, Lady Lydia Davies. Welcome, Lady Lydia Davies.
Lydia Davies:How are you? Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I'm so honored to be on here with you today, across different sides of the globe, so honored to be on here with you today, across different sides of the globe.
Dr Ariel King:This is what we do so much in the business of life. We have people from all over the world and it's so wonderful to have you here today. You do something incredibly special. Could you please introduce yourself and what you do to our audience?
Lydia Davies:Sure. So my name is Lydia Davies. I am the founder and CEO of Osprey. Osprey is a community for women in sports and entertainment, and what we do is we take athletes, entertainers, executives, college athletes all women and elevate them. What I mean by that is we provide them with resources, we get them brand deals, we showcase them at events, we find ways to help them generate more wealth because, as we all know, there's still a big gender pay gap and we support them in this awesome nest of a safe space to discuss and network and create collaborations and partnerships and friendships. Create collaborations and partnerships and friendships. And we also bring in brands and elevate the brands as well, and it creates this really influential and magical community for women in these very male dominated sectors.
Dr Ariel King:So I would think that the support I mean just seeing and knowing that there are other women like themselves makes all the difference in the world. May I ask why did you decide to start this and what was, what was the beginning like for you?
Lydia Davies:Yeah, so I. So I was a, I was an athlete as a teenager and I, you know, I was on traveling teams, I played college soccer, but I was also a musician and I was a singer songwriter and I spent 14 years in the music industry as a singer-songwriter with various different labels in various parts of the world, and when I started that I was only 16, and I found that it was obviously an extremely still male-dominated sector and I had male agents, male managers, male A&R, male producers, whatnot, and I was the only female in my circle and, being a young age, you know, I was given contracts and this and that, and like I didn't have any support or mentorship or guidance or anything, and it kind of left me with this feeling of resentment and I left the industry like not happy, which was really sad for me because it's a huge passion and you know something that I love very much, and so after that I, you know, I dove into entrepreneurship a lot more. I'd already had my own little record label and then I started doing performing arts academies for kids and I kind of swung back around to sports, because I just noticed that the sports industry for women was the same as the entertainment industry where it was male dominated. They all felt alone. They all felt like they weren't being paid fairly or treated fairly. And I started doing women's like local and here in Houston women's sports clinics, golf clinics, pickleball clinics.
Lydia Davies:I started a sports meetup app during COVID where you would meet up with other women for golf and it just became this like almost epiphany for me. I need to create this space, like these women all need the same thing. You know, I was talking to DJs and news anchors and Olympians and it all came down to the same thing of needing the network, needing the space, needing support to find ways to make more, create more wealth for themselves and how to use that wealth. And so I just started really organically building it. From the other company, I had an Olympian and a news anchor and a DJ and a couple of friends that I knew and I was like let's just try this out and see if it works, and I was already well-versed in community building so I started doing it.
Lydia Davies:We started going on little online pods, we did a little pop-up event and from there just really built through referrals. So we now have over 100 members, from Olympians to actresses, all different kinds of entertainers. We have executives from the NHL, from NBC, all different amazing businesses. And then we just started our college athlete circle and for that we have a really cool big sister program where every college athlete gets a big sister from the community to guide them and mentor them, and it's just become this really cool, warm, welcoming space that also is very influential and powerful, because these women don't mess around right, they're professional athletes, they're trying to get their songs on the radio, they're trying to become the CEO of their league or their company.
Lydia Davies:So these are all really incredible, very driven women and when they come together and collaborate and discuss and share, it's just honestly like every time we've had an event and they've all come together, it's been like it's absolutely incredible to watch them support each other, network with each other, give each other ideas, talk about starting a business together. So, yeah, it's been very organic and it's very natural for me, since I actually wanted this community when I was in, you know, when I was in the music industry. So I've really just built it around what I needed and then what they're saying they need.
Dr Ariel King:That's really fantastic. I really love the idea that what you didn't have, even at 16, not having a mentor, not having people to show you where I I don't even want to imagine what you had gone through, because you're not just an artist, but you have to do the business portion without really knowing what does the business portions mean. So you and I both know that, um, business sometimes be quite brutal. Let's just say that, yeah, and and without mentorship and without understanding of which way to go and how to go, and without have somebody there to really guide you along, um, it's difficult because, uh, you represent you and they don't. Not to be, it doesn't matter, but that makes a big difference. So now, the fact that you're giving this back to other women within various categories of leadership is just not just amazing, but needed. May I ask are you working with women all over the world, or are you limited to North America or South America or the Americas? I'd love to know more about that.
Lydia Davies:So we have been building North America, canada, which is our region one, and we're planning to build that up to a thousand members this year, and then we will be launching region two, which is Europe and the MENA region, and then region three, which is like Australasia, and I think we already do have some members in Europe and Australia, but it's really hard for them to get on our calls and stuff because of the time difference.
Lydia Davies:So I think it's really important that they're the foundation of it, but that region is going to have its own and then you know, we can all come together at specific events, but they'll have their own, like online sessions and speaker sessions and all that kind of stuff. But the cool thing is is that you know, one day it will be a Olympic athlete in Australia and an actress and executive in LA and they'll be collaborating globally through the network and sharing brands and whatnot, and that's that's. The goal is to create this web of resources globally so that, no matter where an offspring member goes, they can get help, they can get support, they can get a photographer or a brand deal or security whatever they need, wherever they are it's in the network.
Dr Ariel King:That's absolutely fantastic. I love that, and can I ask, do you mostly function in English or do you function also in Spanish? Is there a place for those who speak Spanish, or is the main language currently English not?
Lydia Davies:up to par to be running a whole session in Spanish when it is. We will 100% do that. Like that's the goal. You know, I grew up in a very multicultural world. I spent a lot of time in Asia and the Middle East, and it's really important for me to be able to embrace all of those cultures and allow all those women to be a part of it, especially in the Middle East, too, where you know it's they're they're battling constantly and they need the space, and I'm really excited for that. I think I think having those cultures combine and allowing them to see each other, it's that's, that's what it's about, Right.
Dr Ariel King:Yes, it makes all the difference. And may I ask, can you tell us exactly how does Offspring work? What is the mechanism of it, how does it work? How does one person join? Just these types of things.
Lydia Davies:Yeah, so the community is like a Venn diagram. It's three circles. One circle is the athletes and entertainers, one is the executives and one is the college, and they all combine at various times. So they apply to join and if they get in which generally just depends if they're in the right sector and whatnot they start with they get a welcome box and then we have speaker sessions and online pods every month. We have over seven events every year that they can be a part of on panels, speakers, djing, whatever it is. We have some on our committee right now as well for our events. So they get to be a part of it in whatever way they want.
Lydia Davies:And then we run retreats throughout the fall that they all come to. It's like wellness retreats. That was really, really awesome last year and they get connected to everyone and they get. You know we have resources they have access to. We have brands that they get discounts with. Some of the brands also do a really fun thing and drop samples at their doors. So you know they get cold press juice or hair ties or like fun things show up at their doorstep that they can then choose to. You know they get cold pressed juice or hair ties or like fun things show up at their doorstep and that they can then choose to, you know, market on on social media. So it's, it's. It's really cool and sorry, what was the second part of your question?
Dr Ariel King:no, that that's really fantastic. I had no idea that you actually had, um, you know, like away days or, you know, spa days or I mean just the time to get to know each other and to do me time and to relax and to. That's really fantastic, but it sounds like you're so busy, stephanie. Then he turns a lot.
Lydia Davies:Yes, I am extremely busy. I'm a single mom with two kids and you know I work a lot but I do find a lot of time to like balance because I'm very disciplined. So it's like I get up at five, I get some work done, then I focus when the kids are up, and here my focus is purely on them. Like that's really important to me, and same with afterschool. I take a break, focus on them, go back to work in the evening. If I need to make sure I work out every day, drink fresh cold vegetable juice in the morning. You know things. That kind of offset.
Dr Ariel King:I'm going to have to follow you, fabulous, exercising cold juice. I'm in trouble.
Lydia Davies:Yeah, I have honed in like I think it's the only way for me and everyone's personality is different, but it's the only way for me to manage the stress is to like make sure I have like a schedule that's that works for my body and makes me feel good and keeps my brain clear and whatnot.
Dr Ariel King:I love that. That's fabulous, and I think, the fact that you made this space for other women who are professionals but most likely not all but at least have some family ties somewhere. And you know, many of us are also helping our older parents, depending on how old they were when they had us.
Dr Ariel King:Many parents are starting at 30, 40, like myself. So you have older parents and then you also have children at the same time, so many of us have. Even if we don't have children, we're juggling something somewhere for others besides ourselves. So the fact that you are, actually, that you found a way to model for yourself and your family, says a lot about who you are. Not just who you are, but how you actually help others within your organization to figure out how to do that for themselves too, because you're talking about, once again, I would say, not just high powered, but high responsibility women, and you've experienced both as a musician and also as a sports person.
Lydia Davies:Yes, yes, correct, yeah, and I think you know.
Lydia Davies:I think as a mom, when you start, what I was doing before is I was trying to separate. Like when they were toddlers I was trying to separate it all. But now I kind of I get them involved. I'm like I need you guys to help me think of what I can do at this event. I need you guys to come paint the garage with me. I need like I try and involve them in everything now. And my daughter actually like when we have an event here in Houston she comes and helps now she's turning seven, but she loves it and she watches and learns.
Lydia Davies:And like I've turned it into like but she loves it and she watches and learns. And like I've turned it into like they're my little assistants.
Dr Ariel King:But that's fabulous and that's an integration, isn't it? Instead of? You know this idea of balance, and I understand you, because I, I myself, used to get frustrated with this idea of balance and I was sick of failing and I don't like failing. So then I think I scrapped balance, maybe once my, my first child was a year and I thought this, this is not working.
Dr Ariel King:So I did integration bring her to the UN with me with an au pair or something, but I never thought of this thing about separation, so Bravo for you. Can I ask within your community, is that an issue that some people are grappling with? Just integration of family, whatever the family member is, along with their responsibilities and also what they're trying to do for themselves and their communities?
Lydia Davies:Yeah, I a hundred percent. Like I think you know America is very hustle culture right now and I that is not, and I I'm guilty of it too, but it's not a healthy space to be in, and I think everyone recognizes that, but it's so hard to get out of it too. But it's not a healthy space to be in, and I think everyone recognizes that, but it's so hard to get out of it because the pressure is so high and the expectations are so high. So, like other working moms or dads that I know that also, you know they have kids and they have other. You have other responsibilities. Like you said, a lot of them also have, like elderly parents now. So you've got the young kids, the elderly parents, the high power job that demands so much. And then you also have to like look after your house and stuff. Like there's things that like like you know you've got, you've got a yard maybe, or like you have to like actually do things. You have to go to the grocery store, like there's things that you have to do in your life, and it's like trying to fit that stuff in. Like whenever I sit and talk to other parents and I hear their schedules and stuff. I'm like this is this has to stop, else Everybody is going to go into complete burnout.
Lydia Davies:And I think it seemed to accelerate post COVID because all of a sudden the expectations became like oh, no one's been at work in however long, so now we have to make everyone go 200 miles per hour instead of 100. And it just seems to have not stopped. And then, with all the pricing going up and the inflation and whatnot, everyone feels like they have to work more and harder to get more money to just feed their family. I don't know what the answer is. Well, obviously the answer is for inflation to go down and things to slow down, but it needs, it really needs. There needs to be balance, like everybody feels that, I'm sure all the way. You know, I talked to friends in London, I talked to friends in Dubai, it's all the same right now, and I think there has to be a way out of, there has to be like some kind of pullback on it before we all end up like I don't know on our kitchen floor.
Dr Ariel King:A work to live, rather than the live to work. Yes a hundred percent Exactly. And how do members support each other? Do they do it online? Do they get in contact with each other? Do you do it when you do your meetups? I really like to understand more of that, because that sounds like a fantastic community of support personality of the members.
Lydia Davies:So some of them just talk when we meet up at events or we're on our online pods, and they're great on the pods. They're always helping each other out, which is amazing. Some come on the speaker sessions if they're available and then they also like text each other. They've got some group texts. We have an app. We have a Osprey app where they can like group message and post stuff, but it's being redone right now, so it's kind of not in. Not, it was not up to par, so it's, it's being improved.
Lydia Davies:So that will also take place of like a lot of communication but WhatsApp and then calling, and then some of them meet up, like if they're in the same cities, and that will get more and more. We're actually assigning a member, like for some of the cities where we have a good critical mass, and that member will be the city leader and organize the little meetups. So, yeah, there's lots of different ways. And then, like, the retreat was amazing because it was three days of, you know, sound baths, yoga, sports, whatnot. So there was tons of bonding going on and that was that was really cool to see. I wish we could have stayed there for a week because I mean, some really cool things would have come out of it.
Dr Ariel King:And where was that retreat? And I'm just curious how many, how many women did you have go to that retreat? And were there any families also, or was it just the women together?
Lydia Davies:Just the women together and we had about in the end we had about 20% of our members come and it was right outside of Austin and I think this time it was at a ranch outside Austin. My friend owns an awesome ranch there with like full plunges and saunas and whatnot, and, and I think this time because that was our first one last year was our first full year, 2024 is our first full year so there wasn't enough options, I think, for the retreat. So this year we've learned like we need a couple different ones so that people can make their timing work, because you know it's hard. A lot of them are moms, a lot of them are playing in leagues and whatnot and, um, it's hard to get time off for sure yeah, for all of us that's really fantastic.
Dr Ariel King:So looking forward to the, to the next one. Have you started to plan the next retreat? Do you have any idea?
Lydia Davies:what city?
Dr Ariel King:it might be in. I mean, would you like to tell us a little bit about?
Lydia Davies:that I think it's going to be at the same place because it was just so great for us. Um, if it's not, then then we'll be looking at Sedona. Um, so it really depends, or maybe we'll do both, but we've already planned most of our events this year already. Um, they're what we have one that started at the Superbowl, uh, on Friday before the Superbowl, which we do with Dr Jen Welter, um, and it's a women's day for football, so you get to learn football all day. And, uh, you have. We have NFL coaches come and like NFL players come and coach and some of our offspring members coach. It's a really fun day. Like, that's the first time I ever got to tackle, was the one last time? Sounds fabulous.
Dr Ariel King:So fun, I'm signing up for that one.
Lydia Davies:Yeah, who knew tackling was so fun? I just want to take something down.
Dr Ariel King:I love it and you know what I really love also about what you're doing, is it's not just business, it's the integration that you're doing is it's it's it's not just business, it's the integration that you're talking about. So it's being with other women, learning from other women, supporting other women. So it seems to be a 360 in a full circle, rather than you know specifically a business, so specifically entertainment, and it really seems to answer um, what we women look at is we are full human beings with full lives, and it seems that what you do is actually really engage. All of that, which is fantastic.
Lydia Davies:Yeah, I think it's important to realize that, like athletes and entertainers, like what they're doing ends at some point, like they can't just keep doing it, so they need a road ahead of them and they need to see what they can do next and what is suited for them and how to get there. So that's why, like the magic happens with the executives, they can help lead them into jobs or support them. And I think it's important to think of the person holistically, like, as you know, who are they and what would they feel happiness doing for work, instead of like, oh yeah, you can, you should just go into marketing after you're, after you're a soccer player, because you've done some good posts like that's, maybe that's not who they are and maybe they want to go do something with their hands or something physical or you know. So that's really important is to focus on, like, the inner, the inner person, and not the you know what you think you should be doing.
Dr Ariel King:I love that. Thank you so much. Let's see we're almost coming to the end of our time, so is there a specific part of your organization that you'd like to talk about? We've talked about so much, and would you like to talk about how people can possibly get in touch with you or with the organization and what does entail the membership, for example, is it a year long, or the application process and these type of things so people can actually be a part of what you do?
Lydia Davies:Yeah, well, you can go on our website. It's joinospreycom. It's up and running. There is a new and improved one also being made, but that one will be there. It's up and running. There is a new and improved one also being made, but that one will be there. There's applications on there. You can email me at Lydia at joinospreycom. On Instagram and TikTok it's joinosprey and LinkedIn, lydia Davies, you can find me. I always answer everything and I think just really letting people know that the problem we had last year was, like people would say, is it brands or investors or whatnot, like are women's sports here to stay? Is this sector of sports and entertainment actually here to stay? And I would have to constantly argue like, yes, yes, it's here to stay. Have you seen the numbers? Numbers, have you seen this?
Dr Ariel King:It seems a bit of a bizarre question. To be truthful, yes, it's more than half the population and most marketing realizes that most buying in the house actually is initiated by not necessarily always, but initiated by females within the household. So it's a very strange question. Perhaps they haven't looked at the money within the household. So it's a very strange question.
Lydia Davies:Perhaps they haven't looked at the money. Well, I think what it is for people is like they want to see the ROI and they haven't, like, seen it in its true form yet, because it just took a large acceleration last year. But you know, it's there, it's there and it's going to be there, and it's going to be, you know, impactful and huge, and now's the time to get in, like if you wait too long, then you're not getting in anyways.
Dr Ariel King:So yeah, that's my message. You can take it as far as you'd like. I think if they don't get in, that's their problem. You're doing a wonderful job and I'm so looking forward to following everything that you're doing for the years to come. I'm really looking forward to it.
Lydia Davies:Thank you so much. Thank you for having me on and having this platform, and it's incredible of you and I appreciate you.
Dr Ariel King:Thank you, we appreciate you. So all of you. Thank you so much for joining us on the business of life. And remember, if I'm not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, then when? And I always like to say that was Hillel, and I'd like to say, if not me, then who Go out there and do everything you can positively in the business of life. Thank you.