Interview with Tia Philippart
Tia Philippart went to Arizona State University (ASU) for a semester to play volleyball. In her first pre-season she ended up hurting her shoulder. She has her degree in Marketing from the University of San Diego. She is currently working in Enterprise Technology Sales. In her free time she enjoys hiking, camping, playing beach volleyball, cooking, crafts and DIY’s like rebuilding furniture. At home she has a dog named Emmy.
Below I have written most of what we talked about but you can listen to the full podcast HERE.
Q: When did you start playing sports?
A: I started playing sports at a very young age trying all of the sports I could do. I did tennis, swimming, softball and soccer. I started playing volleyball in middle school casually. I took a break then I tried out for my high school team my freshman year. I didn’t make it so I did lessons and camps and came back sophomore year and made varsity.
Q: You were a transfer student, what was your college experience like?
A: I transferred twice and studied at 3 different schools. When I stopped playing at ASU I kind of lost my identity and didn’t know what I wanted to do. I switched majors every time I transferred and I ended up in marketing at San Diego. I found my passion in business and I think it came from sports with being in a team and being social. I graduated in December of 2018 at the University of San Diego.
Q: Do you think your athletic career made an impact on what degree you chose?
A: After Arizona State and I was in supply chain management, I felt like it was too late to do a STEM degree so it seemed easy to choose business. Even looking back now I wonder what it would have been like to do computer science or engineering.
Q: How does being an athlete have a part in being in sales?
A: Sales is a team effort. With my job now there are so many different roles involved with each sale. In volleyball our team was super close and talked about not only volleyball but life as well. We have the common goal both in sports and in sales.
Q: How did playing competitive sports shape who you are today?
A: It’s shaped me in the fact that I’ve always thought about my health and my mental wellbeing. It’s a mind game in any sport when you get to a high level. If you get in your head too much, all of your skills go out the window. I invest in my knowledge and I am still very competitive.
Q: What was your injury and how did that impact your transition out of sports?
A: My injury happened my freshman year of college in our pre-season of volleyball. We were playing in scrimmages and my right shoulder already had some wear and tear from over use. My shoulder cuff has been out of place already and during practice I tore my bicep tendon partially right before a big pre-season game. I had the choice of deciding to sit on the bench for 2 years to heal it up and come back or walk away. It was a tough decision for me but I chose to walk away.
Q: How do you think physical burnout and mental burnout compare?
A: My mental burnout matches with my physical burnout. I physically got an injury but my body was being overworked too. It was exhausting me mentally and physically.
Q: What did you do in your newfound free time?
A: Right when I stopped playing sports, I laid down a lot and watched a lot of Netflix because I had never done that before in my life. I relaxed a bunch because I could. It felt good for the first month or two but I figured I should get back into working out and have hobbies again. I lost my passion for volleyball but I realized I had no passion at the time. I tried to find a passion and I found hiking which brought me back to loving to be outside and being athletic again. I was doing weight training because I liked doing that. It brought my passions back in life.
I like to have a lot of random hobbies. I drop them if I don’t like them. I sometimes go back to hobbies I’ve dropped in the past. I like being creative and doing these DIY’s is my creative outlet. I still go back to the sport at times doing pick up games at the beach and I can stop when I want. It’s more casual doing beach volleyball. We play with people who used to be competitive and now it’s more relaxed. I still have really good skills with volleyball and I can use those skills just more casually. My arm is still kind of hurting sometimes but I live through it now. I’m also a big fan of yoga. I try to do 10 minutes every day and that has helped me with pain management all over my body.
Q: What was one of your favorite moments while competing?
A: My favorite memory is going to be from high school. We had a great team dynamic. Every time we got on a bus to go play a game we would have so much fun screaming dancing and taking pictures. That social aspect of sports feels like a family. We would come in so lit up with so much energy from that naturally.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who is recently done playing a sport?
A: I would say take time off. You don’t have to go back into something right away. A lot of athletes think they have to go do something right away because we’re so used to staying on top of our game. It’s okay to take a break. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Listen to your body and your heart with what you want to do now. Make it a walk if you want. It doesn’t have to be doing sprints.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who is currently playing a sport?
A: Find people on your team that you mesh well with and bond with. You’re in it together. My mistake was feeling alone on and being alone on a team. That was part of my burnout in college.
If you have any more questions for Tia, please leave comments below or contact me. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call the Suicide Hotline. It’s toll free and available 24/7 at 800-273-8255.
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