by Meredith Hudson
What if the most important classroom you ever sat in had no desks, no textbooks and no teachers...just a coach, a team and a scoreboard? Raised by Sports explores how athletics shapes the humans we become. Host, former D1 athlete, sports mom and entrepreneur, Meredith Hudson brings real conversations with former female athletes who credit much of their success off the field to the lessons they learned on it.
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Publishing Since
4/12/2026
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May 4, 2026
<p>The game ends. The lessons don't. ⚡</p><p>This week I sat down with Margarita Neymark, former D1 rugby player at Rutgers, post-grad athlete, triathlete, girls rugby coach, and currently Senior Director of Media Partnerships at Firefly. Margarita found rugby late (her senior year of high school!) and it completely rewired how she saw herself and what she believed she was capable of. </p><p>We got into it all: the audacity it takes to belong before you're invited, what "I'm with you" means on and off the pitch, the career setback that turned out to be the best thing that never happened to her, and why success looks a lot quieter now than it used to.</p><p><strong>In this episode:</strong></p><p>⚡ Why Margarita never saw herself as an athlete until rugby showed her that there's a position for every body⚡ The audacity framework: acting before you feel ready, taking the seat before you're handed the invite⚡ "I'm with you": the two words from the rugby pitch that still define how she leads and collaborates⚡ The NYC sales manager role she didn't get, why she's grateful she didn't, and the cross-country journey that followed⚡ From chasing PRs and promotions to Ikigai and how she defines success now⚡ Playing against rugby Hall of Famer Phaedra Knight and what it taught her about setting your own scoreboard⚡ Her one piece of advice for young athletes stepping into their careers: know yourself first</p><p><strong>Your action item this week:</strong></p><p>Grab a pen or open your notes app. Write down one lesson sports taught you. Then finish this sentence:</p><p>Because of that lesson, I approached my life or career differently by...</p><p>Keep it somewhere visible this week. Those lessons don't stop when the game ends ...Margarita's living proof!!</p><p><strong>Connect with Margarita:</strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaritaneymark/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">LinkedIn</a></p><p>If this episode hit home, screenshot it, share it, and tag me @meredithhuds — I read every single one. 🖤</p>
April 27, 2026
<p>In this episode, Meredith sits down with Abiola Wabara — former professional basketball player, Italian national team athlete, Baylor Bear, Accenture consultant, artist, and founder of GloBall Life — a platform built to help athletes find meaningful careers and opportunities after their playing days are over. Meredith and Abiola met at the Leadership Academy for Women's Sports at UC Berkeley, and from the moment they connected, Meredith knew she had to bring her on the show.</p><p><strong>In This Episode:</strong></p><p><strong>How Abiola found basketball at 13, completely by accident.</strong> Growing up in Italy where sports happen through clubs, not school teams, Abiola was simply walking her friend to a fencing sign-up when a basketball manager spotted her from the next office over. She went from zero experience to practicing alongside Cynthia Cooper and Tina Thompson within a few years. You do not have to start perfectly. You just have to start.</p><p><strong>How she walked into Baylor and asked to play.</strong> She literally showed up, told the coach she wanted to be on the team, and made it happen. The original shoot your shot story.</p><p><strong>The competitive hack that got her promoted three times in three and a half years.</strong> She created a private game with herself: make manager in five years, compete against peers who did not even know they were competing. The scoreboard was in her head but the results were very real.</p><p><strong>The failure she almost let stop her.</strong> Abiola had the idea for GloBall Life for nearly a decade before it became what it is today. She almost walked away entirely. What pulled her back was vulnerability — opening her business up to outside criticism and being willing to hear what she could not see on her own.</p><p><strong>The financial win she is most proud of.</strong> Maxing out her 401k for three years in a row, plus a cash-only envelope system that changed how she thought about spending entirely.</p><p><strong>The best piece of advice she ever received.</strong> Stay true to who you are. People remember how you make them feel far more than anything you said.</p><p>Follow Abiola:</p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/abiolawabara/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">LinkedIn</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/abi_whatyoudiying/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Instagram</a></p><p><a href="https://www.globalllife.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">GloBall Life</a> </p>
April 20, 2026
<p>What happens when a Penn State swimmer tears both rotator cuffs her freshman year and turns that setback into her superpower?</p><p>Ann Ragan Kearns is a former DI swimmer at Penn State who went on to build not one but two companies; a successful PR firm and Medallist Skin, a clean skincare brand designed specifically for female athletes. After 12 years in the beauty industry and years of watching female athletes scrub their faces with products never designed for their skin, she finally did something about it.</p><p>In this episode we talk about:</p><ul><li>Why "just keep showing up" is the most underrated lesson sports teaches us</li><li>How tearing both rotator cuffs her freshman year taught her more about teamwork than any season she competed in</li><li>The idea that lived in her head since 2009 and what finally made her act on it</li><li>Why not knowing how to do something is never a good enough reason not to start</li><li>Her top piece of advice for any athlete turned entrepreneur: start scared</li></ul><p>Ann's message is simple yet SO powerful: if there's an idea in your head that won't go away...listen to it!</p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Find Ann Ragan:</strong>Website: <a href="https://medalistskin.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">medalistskin.com</a>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/medalistskin/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">@medalistskin</a>Personal<a href="https://www.instagram.com/annraganmcglone/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">: @annraganmcglone</a></p>
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What if the most important classroom you ever sat in had no desks, no textbooks and no teachers...just a coach, a team and a scoreboard?
Raised by Sports explores how athletics shapes the humans we become. Host, former D1 athlete, sports mom and entrepreneur, Meredith Hudson brings real conversations with former female athletes who credit much of their success off the field to the lessons they learned on it.
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