Kneading Dough: Featuring Simone Biles

Announcer Chase presents an Uninterrupted original. Hosted by Maverick Carter 

♪ Playing Kneading Dough ♪ 

Featuring Simone Biles. 

Uninterrupted with Chase, Kneading Dough. 

Maverick: Simone thank you for being here on Kneading Dough. To have an athlete like yourself, who was named the most dominant athlete. 

Announcer: Simone Biles 5 time Olympic medalist. 

Maverick: Did you ever get comfortable with everybody knowing you? 

Simone: Yes. 

Maverick: Like everywhere you go everyone knows who you are. You could probably walk around, and not many people know you then one day everybody knows you. Coming up for pictures. What's that been like to like take this meteoric rise to now everyone knows you everywhere you go. What is that like? 

Simone: It's kind of surreal that everybody knows who I am, but I feel like it only gets hard if I'm in a rush somewhere. 

Maverick: (laughs) Exactly. 

Simone: Like in a store and I usually don't wear makeup, and my hair is like in a knot a lot of the time. I'm just like going to the grocery store. It took a lot of time to get use to it, but it's pretty normal now. 

Maverick: As a youngster growing up you obviously went through the adoption process and foster care. What did it teach you? 

Simone: I only remember a couple of things from it, but you know I think the most important thing is family. So I'm very thankful that I had a good process though it all. A lot of people don't even know that I was adopted until I told some of my teammates, and they were like "No way!". So it's kind of normal for me. 

Maverick: Exactly. 

Simone: I thought everybody was adopted to be honest. 

Maverick: (laughter) 

Simone: That's what I seriously thought until whenever I said I was adopted. They said "No Way!", I said "Well where did you come from?". Because I thought everybody was adopted! 

Maverick: That's hilarious, and was being named the most dominant athlete was that-- 

Simone: That was very shocking. 

Maverick: Was that the highest of the high for you or was it winning one of the medals? 

Simone: Probably the Olympics because I had waited my whole entire life for that moment, and nothing compares to when you get that medal, and you stand up and then you hear your country's anthem. Nothing can compare. 

Maverick: Nothing compares to that moment right? Now after the Olympics you actually decided to take a year off right? 

Simone: Yes. 

Maverick: Why did you decide that, how did you come to that decision? 

Simone: Yes, I thought it would be better for me mentally and physically, and it would give me time to work with my sponsors so that I wouldn't have to focus on training, and doing some of the events that I was doing and to kind of be a normal teenager. 

Maverick: Did you talk to your sponsors before, and tell them you were going to do this, and they were fine with you taking a year off and not competing? 

Simone: Yes because then they got more time with me. So it was great for them 

Maverick: Did you actually take a break did you like not go to the gym? 

Simone: I never went to the gym. 

Maverick: For 365 days you did not go to the gym? 

Simone: Yes sometimes I would go jump on the trampoline, but that made me tired so I left. 

Maverick: Now when you got back into the routine when you went back to working out and training, was it hard to get your mind clicked back into okay now I'm back training? 

Simone: It was hard in the beginning just because I lost a little bit of muscle. So it's like I had to do spots, and I just felt bad in a way in the beginning, cause I'm like wow I've never had to have spots or needed help. 

Maverick: Was the mental part of like, oh now I need a spot, like were you over thinking things and wondering about things? 

Simone: Yes in the beginning everything was muscle memory, I never really had to think about a lot of the skills that I had to do and I had a little bit of mental blocks coming back because I usually just let go and let my body do whatever, and then I was like well I'm flipping twice, and twisting twice like I can really hurt myself. 

Maverick: laughs 

Simone: That's what I would think! 

Maverick: Exactly, it's the thing we all think watching all gymnast, whoa that looks like you could really get hurt. 

Simone: Yes so I started to over think a lot. So then it just kind of like you close your eyes and you pray. 

Maverick: And you let go. Did you ever doubt yourself when you were getting back in there like, 'will I ever be able to get back to what I use to do?'. 

Simone: Since I ended on such a high note I didn't think it was possible, and I was a little bit nervous because once you do come back to the sport and you take some time off. You're not as good as when you left, and you know I ended on the Olympics such a great note. 

Maverick: Of course you ended on the highest of the highest. 

Simone: Exactly I walked out with five medals. So I was a little skeptical about that, but then I surprised myself because I came back even better. 

Maverick: Got it. Obviously so your coach is kind of your person that you lean on when your competing, when you're training, but then when your not competing and training, and making business decisions, who's the person that you lean on the most or the people? 

Simone: My super agent Janey. 

Maverick: Nice, she's a super agent? 

Simone: She is, she's a super agent! She's not just an agent, she's a super agent. We always talked to her, my parents and financial advisor, to her about making all my business decisions. 

Maverick: What do you think to this point is the best business decision you've made? 

Simone: I'm very picky with who I work with because it has to be meaningful to me, and it has to fit my life. So I'm very picky with that, but I feel like working with a financial team is probably the best decision. 

Maverick: What's the best advice that you've gotten about saving money? 

Simone: This is kind of strange, but it's actually spend more money. 

Maverick: Really? 

Simone: Yes! 

Maverick: Who told you this? 

Simone: My financial advisors! 

Maverick: Really? 

Simone: To at least put them in good investments. Not just spend crazy amounts of money. 

Maverick: So that's not spending, that's investing. 

Simone: To spend wisely. 

Maverick: Was that hard to get your mind around investing? Like actually putting money into something? 

Simone: I'm still getting use to it. My boyfriend always tells me, "Pay more attention in those meetings!". 

Maverick: laughs 

Simone: Because I walk out of it, and he says "So how was it?", and I say "Oh I just ask them if I'm broke or not!". 

Maverick: laughs 

Simone: He said "that's not a good idea!". He said "You really need to listen.", and I'm like I'm trying but it's just zoom zooms. I just get so lost. 

Maverick: Yeah and that's kind of the point of this show is as an athlete, all athletes makes money, and a lot of money at such a young age is hard. 

Simone: Such a young age. 

Maverick: They must of been speaking a language that you've never heard? 

Simone: It's a different language to me completely. Like if I started speaking gymnastics to you, you would have no idea. 

Maverick: Zero idea. 

Simone: So that's like when people speak money to me, I'm like "Just tell me if I'm broke or not." 

Maverick: But do you ever ask them, 'Hey can you slow down, explain this to me and tell me what the definition of this means?' 

Simone: Yes and then we have a little book that we'll flip through. She'll look at me and she's like, "Okay Simone, this is what were talking about okay.". Okay that makes a lot more sense now, because to me it sounds like a different language. 

Maverick: I heard you talk about one time when you got your first check you were still an amateur. How old were you when you got the first? 

Simone: I was probably 12 years old or 13 years old, and it's this huge check! My coach said "Whatever you do don't touch it, because that will forfeit your eligibility for college gymnastics", and then my coach came over and she said, "No you're just not allowed to cash it.". 

Maverick: You can touch it! laughs 

Simone: And I thought touching it would forfeit everything, so I refused and I jumped off the podium, and I didn't let it touch me at all. 

Maverick: I like that, you follow instructions well. 

Simone: I did I follow instructions very well. 

Maverick: And you want to do what's right, I get it. 

Simone: Yes exactly. 

Maverick: But how old were you when you first were able to literally touch the check? 

Simone: So the other day actually maybe two weeks ago, I wrote my first check. 

Maverick: What were you buying? 

Simone: It was for a down payment for my house. 

Maverick: Nice, congratulations! 

Simone: Thank you. 

Maverick: Did you enjoy this process? 

Simone: Oh I loved it, I'm obsessed. I couldn't even go to sleep last night because I'm so excited. 

Maverick: Now you know homes are a good investment, you could buy homes. 

Simone: Yes that's what she told me. 

Maverick: You do it in the right place, right time, and the right home that is a good investment. 

Simone: It is. 

Maverick: And then before the Olympics you talked about your dad giving you a credit card. 

Simone: Yes 

Maverick: And what was that like? Were you just spending, swiping, getting what you want? 

Simone: No. 

Maverick: How did you deal with that? 

Simone: I have a fear of going broke. 

Maverick: And does this fear is this everyday, you wake up I don't want to be broke feeling? 

Simone: Yes sometimes I go on days to see if I can't spend any money, and then my gas light comes on. So I have to go get gas, and so I never really swipe the card maybe once in a while I would go get Subway, but other then that I didn't swipe it and then you have my sister on the other hand, swipe, swipe, swipe. Let's go get food, let's go get the nails. 

Maverick: Obviously you're widely respected as an athlete, but do you feel like you have a responsibility to speak up for people who don't have the platform you do? 

Simone: Since we have very big social media followings, and platforms they listen to us, and it's something they can relate too. So I'm always up to do it as long as it's in a positive manner. 

Maverick: Of course. 

Simone: So I'm very, I pick and chose my battles, but as long as I'm standing up for what I believe in then I know it's okay. 

Maverick: Tell us about your approach, you obviously look like you have a blast. What is your approach to using social? 

Simone: So for me my approach to social media is for them to get an inside glimpse of our lives. Because a lot of them don't think I'm real. I heard a lot of them say I'm a robot and I'm not real. 

Maverick: Of course, because your sport is all about sticking the perfect move with the perfect landing. I understand how people could feel that way. 

Simone: I'll wake up and my hair is crazy, and I'll still put out a Snapchat so they see. I'm normal like I don't wake up pretty everyday, I need some work too. 

Maverick: laughs. Get it in gear like the rest of us. 

Simone: Yeah there are no secrets. 

Maverick: There's no secrets exactly. And besides Louis Vuitton bags you have another guilty pleasure something like an everyday thing? 

Simone: I was shopping for towels, and those things-- 

Maverick: For your new house? 

Simone: Yes, those things are expensive! But you know I got them on sale. 

Maverick: Your gonna learn a house sucks money all the time. 

Simone: Oh I know. 

Maverick: There's always something it needs, it's never finished. Something breaks then you fix that. 

Simone: But if you have a house warming party, then you can get gifts. 

Maverick: That's true, that is very true. Is it hard to splurge on yourself knowing that you love to save and you're always worried about going broke? 

Simone: I will only splurge if I earned it. 

Maverick: Oh so you only reward yourself after championships, or Olympics or something like that? 

Simone: Yes, something big, and I know that I've earned it. 

Maverick: And do you usually now that going into championships, do you have in your mind like I've got to win because if I win I'm getting this thing? 

Simone: No! 

Maverick: Do you have things in your head? 

Simone: I never think about winning, but I always think that if I do good maybe I can reward myself. 

Maverick: So you know I've got to follow this now, so after the next Olympics I gotta know. After you do great, you're gonna do fantastic, I'm gonna be more interested in what you reward yourself with then when you stick the bows one or two. I wanna know what you get after the Olympics. 

Simone: I already have an idea! 

Maverick: What is it, tell us can you tell us? 

Simone: I can tell you, it's a G Wagon. 

Maverick: Oh nice, what color? 

Simone: Matte black. 

Maverick: Matte black, and what color interior? 

Simone: Red. 

Maverick: (laughter) Nice, nice. Well everyone, let's give Simone Biles a big round of applause.