TESTIMONIALS
Here's what some people have had to say about working with me:
Masterminds
It was honestly just great to talk to other derby people in a more in depth way. It's so hard to do that in the brief time of a game/tournament. And I think it's so helpful to get other perspectives and be able to enjoy the camaraderie of roller derby in a different way. - Bonita, Gotham
I think the part that awed me the most was the culture we created amongst ourselves. We were all very vulnerable and upfront about our goals and ambitions and with that openness came a natural progression of important dialogue and feedback. It was very cool to see how comfortable we were with one another by the end of the whole thing. - Big Bang Fury, Rose City Rollers
Best parts of the mastermind:
The best part has been intentionally looking at my own challenges, sharing them and having accountability and support in overcoming them. - Scar Trek, DC Rollergirls
The fact that I could consult different leagues about my personal experiences and get real life answers. - Doppelgänger- Wasatch Roller Derby
It's been great to connect with other roller derby league leaders to learn from each other and help our respective leagues improve. - Spork
The relationships that were cultivated throughout this process. It was an amazing experience being able to get to know so many kind and genuine people. We all brought something different and important to our sessions in terms of our background and knowledge and that diversity made for a very In-depth and helpful mastermind. - Big Bang Fury, Rose City Rollers
It was great getting to connect with like-minded individuals. Roller derby leadership is hard! It's refreshing to know that many of us are not alone in our various day-to-day struggles to keep the league moving forward. I've received some great input on some of the obstacles I'm working to overcome within my league as well as provided some guidance to others who are struggling with something that I have already overcome. - Gillotine Grace - Dallas Derby Devils
Sharing stories with other people, getting suggestions on my issues. Also, knowing I had this session that I was going to be held accountable for the actions I had committed to the previously. Helped me not let things fall to the wayside. - Bonita, Gotham
I love having access to other captains from all experience levels who have insight and experience that offer unique solutions to problems. - Doppelgänger- Wasatch roller derby
Meeting the other members and getting specific feedback on an issue I’m experiencing - London, SO Derby
Being able to connect with so many other leaders from around the world. I’m very new to role of captaining and it’s been incredibly inspiring to be a part of a forum that promotes creativity and brainstorms knew ways of strengthening team culture. - Big Bang Fury (Home Team Captain), Rose City Rollers
Connecting with other leaders who have faced or are facing similar challenges -- knowing I'm not alone in my experience. - River Strong, Charlottesville Derby Dames
It has been great talking with other people in roller derby to bounce ideas off of. I have gotten some great reading and activity suggestions. - Bonita, Gotham
Mastermind surprises?
I guess not surprising but more reassuring to know that I am not the only one who has had certain challenges and that other people have been able to work through them. I've also been able to think about how I approach the role of "leadership". - Bonita, Gotham
Getting to know more about how other leagues function in comparison to my own. I’ve only ever skated for one league and it’s been very interesting to hear about other people’s experiences. - Big Bang Fury (Home Team Captain), Rose City Rollers
How many shared experiences/challenges we all have - London, SO Derby
I guess it was a little unexpected how easily people shared what they thought were their personal failings. It wasn't just abstract team/league issues, but also how to deal with things on a personal level a be better individually. I guess maybe that's not surprising, since it's probably someone like that who would join a mastermind session. But it was refreshing for people to be open in some ways. - Bonita, Gotham
I genuinely thought that much of the meeting discussions would circle around the current political climate, and that we wouldn't be able to really dig into any of the long standing obstacles we have managing leagues in this sport. That was not the case. There were some good points brought up as it pertained to the big, overall picture pertaining to COVID-19, BLM, etc, but it didn't dominate. - Gillotine Grace - Dallas Derby Devils
The amount of awesome brainstorming and willingness to help each other out! - Doppelgänger- Wasatch roller derby
Learning more about how other leagues function was incredibly interesting. I think that being able to hear about other people’s experiences has helped to broaden my understanding of just how multifaceted the roller derby community and the people within it truly are. - Big Bang Fury, Rose City Rollers
I really enjoy all the people involved, it's great to hear about their challenges too and learn more about how they are adapting. - Scar Trek, DC Rollergirls
Growth/learning or insights gathered from the mastermind:
There are so many great ways of connecting with your team, league and sport. This mastermind has prompted me to get creative about how I do that and has helped me think about how to best utilize that knowledge in my future derby endeavors. - Big Bang Fury, Rose City Rollers
It's been useful to think about how to leverage my teammates better (we'll see if it works IRL). - Bonita, Gotham
The perspective offered around my issue in week one helped me rethink the challenge and definitely find more empathy for the other party, which has helped me take a step back and not allow it to weigh on me as greatly - London, SO Derby
Documentation is KEY, but it needs to have a sound revision process that isn't bulky. It needs to be responsive and conducive to our ever changing environment. It's so easy to get in the weeds on a project, make it more complicated then it needs to be. - Gillotine Grace - Dallas Derby Devils
Yes, I think that these meetings have made me take a closer look at just how much of an impact a captain can have on their team and their team culture. I want to be someone who connects with my teammates in a playing capacity as well as in an emotional capacity and I think this mastermind of helping me develop those skills. - Big Bang Fury (Home Team Captain), Rose City Rollers
I think I started to find a better sense of when to step forward and when to hold back. Still working on it. - Bonita, Gotham
I think so far I've learned how valuable it is to devote time and mental energy to becoming a better leader, to face challenges head-on and be intentional about overcoming them. - Scar Trek, DC Rollergirls
That I wasn’t alone. Every league has problems and it was refreshing to realize that and comforting to know there were solutions to my problems. - Doppelgänger- Wasatch Roller Derby
Team Redirection
Scald Eagle - Wheels of Justice, Rose City Rollers
I would say one of the number one thing you do that encourages full communication is that you are silent for just long enough after asking a question that you force us to actually come out with what we actually don’t want to say but what we need to say. There’s that awkward silence that you force that makes us get honest. Genuinely makes us think about it. I think you’re going to move on to the next topic and you’re like “anyone else?” You create safety. You really do.
Coperna Cuss, Wheels of Justice - Rose City Rollers
We are an incredibly competitive team made up of incredibly competitive personalities and we all have very different personalities. You don’t make onto this team without being a competitive person. Something that we are deliberately working toward this year is a feeling of trust in our team to the point where we feel like we can be vulnerable around each other; and there’s not going to be negative consequences for that vulnerability both in terms of skill development, because you have to mess up before you master something, and also in terms of emotional vulnerability, opening up to each other. I’ve noticed in our sessions people feel safe enough to say things that I don’t think they’d feel comfortable saying outside of the session. And that’s been really helpful.
Brawn Swanson, Rose City Rollers
We’re a sports team and we got to work together and our mental health is really important and having these meetings is going to make us better. It takes us to that next level of excellence - which is where I want to be. It’s fun to win a trophy but it’s better…..it’s like when you go hunting and you go out on opening day and you bag your game. Like it was fun and it happened right away and now it’s over. I like the drive and the fight and to endure for something and work really hard and when you close the deal it’s magnificent!
Jenna “Bashonista” Specht - Wheels of Justice, Rose City Rollers
One of the biggest things you’ve done for the team is when you called us out last week. When you were like: alright people took accountability now go home and let go of all the things you think people should have taken accountability for. Everyone in the room was like, oh that’s me, I judged people...worry about yer damn self. I think it’s brought us closer together I think it’s opened lines of communication that were not even real last year - and that’s what we need so bad. You create a safe space for us to get ugly. If we get ugly in an unsafe space it can go downhill fast.
Brute - Rose City Rollers
You did a really good job facilitating honest discussions that are maybe a little difficult for our team to get to in a way that didn’t feel hostile. It didn’t feel like a confrontation it felt like a conversation and I really liked that. Not just a conversation about difficult subjects but also stuff we don’t usually talk about like why are we here on the team, how we feel supported by the team and communicating ways our needs have been met. As well as needs that aren’t being met. Stuff that we don’t usually get to talk about. Good check-ins.
Ryan Sage (Spank) Rose City Rollers
You got us talking about things we hadn’t had a chance to talk about yet as as team. We’re 50-50 a team of old timers and new recruits and I think there were some things shared in our teambuilding session that both halves were not aware of. That was a big epiphany for a group of people to come to. What I like about your style in general is that in my 15+ years working in corporate environments sometimes I feel like teambuilding or coaches that are brought in are a little bit patronizing and I’ve felt like “I ain’t got time for this s$#!”. I didn’t even realize you were doing what you were doing at our last meeting. I was like, “Who’s that person? I like what she’s doing.” It was as simple as that. You have a certain jenesequa about your approach that is very sincere. You can’t blow smoke up people’s ass in this crowd because they are very direct, very real. You have a sense of humor, you have to have a sense of humor with this crowd. I think just the fact that...what’s the opposite of patronizing?... I don’t ever feel like you blow smoke up my ass. That’s why I think that people are receptive to you. You also have a good reputation that precedes you. People look forward to your interactions with the teams. I never hear anybody say “oh, god no.” Everybody’s like “Iggy is the s$#!.” I have no history with you and there are a lot of people here that do and everybody genuinely appreciates you. I don’t think that you earn that reputation with this particular group easily. You’re doing something right even though I can’t put my finger on it.
Chevy - Rose City Rollers
I think it affected me and my team by bringing us together in a different kind of way. It was nice to do some other kind of activity together that wasn’t technically physical, it was more emotional and bonding. It was nice to have that kind of experience. I feel like personally, it helped me be more aware of my own teammates and where they’re at in their own headspaces. It’s important to know when your friends are struggling and make a bad joke or say something weird. It was nice, I really enjoyed it and wish we could do it more often.
Yer Mom - Rose City Rollers
That you came in when we were in the middle of the season was super important. We had just drafted all these new people so being able to cohesively meld our minds, and our souls actually, was super helpful. I felt like you came in at a time when we were having some personal drama, not even necessarily within the team, but people within themselves. We were doing these fun games and you were like “Hey OK that was a stressor or how did you react to this challenge?” Seeing how we personally dealt with challenge and how that reflected how each of us does that on the track and with each other was really eye opening. I was thinking, oh shoot, they do that on the track as well. I got insights into what I was actually doing without having to do the soul searching myself, on my own. Having that come out we were able to move forward as a team knowing these are my personal things and those are your personal things. I realized how we interact together under stress and I thought that was super helpful.
Harki - Rose City Rollers
I always see a big improvement in our team whether it was the juniors, home team or travel team. Really bringing to light things we never really touch base on when we just sit down and talk. With you we talk about how we feel about the team, are we part of the team, what makes us a team - just talking about that seems to bring everybody closer. The games are always fun because there are things that are brought to light as well that just kind of make you go: hmmm, ok, we all did that, not just one person, all of us together. It’s really helpful. It brings us closer. It’s really the best thing that you do.
Bad Wolf - Rose City Rollers
Working with Iggy has helped our team figure out where we are strong and cohesive as a group. She also helped clarify, in a really safe environment, ways we can work better as a team. Together we identified good structured ways we can pursue improvement that are supportive to everyone involved.
Amber Castaldo
Working with Iggy has been amazing. She really helped us identify where overall we are a pretty strong team and where our weaknesses are and helped us become even stronger. Sometimes you don’t notice when people are upset. When you feel like you have a really strong dynamic and relationship with your team you end up overlooking that. Working with Iggy helped us identify those people that are getting lost in the process and make us much stronger both on the track and off the track both mentally and physically.
Member Rep #2
It was value added for me. Is there a way I can tell Iggy that directly. She's better than fat free mayo.
Sarah Gaither - Wheels of Justice, Rose City Rollers
The work Iggy has done with my team has been key to our cohesion and success. She has met with us in times of high pressure, in times of grief, and in times of conflict and has always been able to discern what our team needs most and facilitate a positive, engaging session. Her work with us has helped align our actions with our goals and build a driven and positive team culture.
Cindy "Minstrel Psycho" Young, Rose City Rollers
Most of the people on my team have not been athletes their whole life so when we came together we really didn’t have that mental toughness, that mental athlete mindset. You taught us how to talk about that, to look at it and try to get it. That is really important because you can do the skills, but when we go in and don’t have mental toughness and the “I can do it” attitude then, it’s gone, it doesn’t matter. Also trust, you teach us how to trust each other. That is earned, but there are things that you showed us that helped us do that.
S.R.
I've been thinking about the things you did with my team and I've changed how I think about myself. Awesome.
NLD
Wow, what an experience! Thank you so much for finding time in your busy schedule to meet with us before we left. It was so helpful to have set those intentions before leaving and helped us remain in a positive, team oriented head space. I really can’t say enough what a difference it made. You were part of what we did on that track!
NB
The things we talked about really helped. I tried some things pushing my comfort zone and it’s going great.
L.A.S.
Your work helped our team. It is so important and was needed.
R
We were all grateful to for her ability to reveal to us exactly what we needed to discover about ourselves and the team overall with ingenuity in leading, patience, and efficiency.
J.J.
Even after a few sessions, my teams functioned with improved cohesion, communication, and respect… …she excelled in the art of allowing my teammates and I to discover our strengths and areas of growth versus lecturing.