For those that know me and/or have been listening through all 3 seasons, it will be no surprise that I met today's guest through sport. Maddie McPherson and I met playing on the same professional women’s football team in Pittsburgh. The thing I love about playing sports, especially demographically diverse sports, is how competing in sports provides an opportunity to bring folks from all walks of life to a single place determined to achieve a goal, mission and vision together. Truthfully, many of the people I have met throughout my life, wouldn't have been achievable without the sport we all choose. To be quite frank with y'all, I don't think I could have asked for a more messy and perfect way to expand how I see the world, nor could I have predicted how blessed my life would become encountering the full and beautifully rich spectrum the human story offers that can only be find sharing intimate spaces; In this case, humans I had the privilege to call "teammate". Maddie is one of those humans.

Maddie and I have known each other for ten years and have stay connected through sharing a love for learning the depth of human story and a thirst for knowledge that expands beyond the surface. Since she was a child, Maddie has sought to understand the world. With that desire, a humbling journey to understanding herself has inevitably followed. I can speak to my own growth I have gained personally gained from Maddie’s thirst to know and see the world intimately through our texts and conversations about hard things varying from policy to relating the world we perceive through music. Currently working toward her PhD in Criminology, Maddie stays focused on how to make the world a better place through facilitating personal connections between people and, ultimately, love. You can find Maddie on Twitter @Maddie_McP

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