Alana Beard: Taking The Untraditional Path

This week Andrew talks with WNBA champion, philanthropist, & entrepreneur Alana Beard. Alana is a 4x WNBA All-Star, 2x WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, and won the WNBA Championship in 2016 with the Los Angeles Sparks. She is the founder of 318 Foundation, a mentorship program for girls in Alana’s hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. Alana is also the founder of Transition Play, an organization that helps world-class women athletes launch new careers when their athletic career is over. She is also hard at work leading a bid to buy a WNBA team. In this conversation, Alana talks about the power of taking the untraditional path, how to reinvent yourself as your career evolves, her formula for learning new things, and so much more. 

Show Highlights:

(2:18) - Alana’s childhood and start in basketball
(3:59) - First bout of adversity in basketball
(5:50) - Role of Alana’s parents
(7:05) - Seeking out challenges at a young age
(8:01) - Making the adjustment at Duke and overcoming homesickness
(10:24) - Never taking the traditional path
(11:14) - A vision to be Oprah Winfrey
(11:58) - You don’t have to meet your mentor
(12:07) - Transition from college to WNBA
(12:38) - Becoming one of the best defenders of all-time
(13:29) - Reinventing her game after major surgery
(14:40) - A life-changing internship at Jamba Juice
(17:03) - Launching Transition Play
(18:08) - Roles at Next Play Capital and Silicon Valley Bank
(18:42) - Desire to bridge gap between women and Venture Capital 
(19:13) - Leveraging a platform to help others
(20:45) - Making successful career transitions
(21:45) - Why people are afraid to ask for help
(22:19) - Alana’s plan to own a WNBA franchise
(24:15) - Working in the “background”

Twitter: @andrewhmoses
Instagram: @AndrewMoses123

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