Sometimes, the difference between success and mediocrity can come down to that one move or that one decision in one’s life that if it had not been made could make all the difference.
Tamera Young, who is from Wilmington, North Carolina and has played for the Chicago Sky and Atlanta Dream (currently), was a recent guest on the “1 On 1” Podcast with Jon Evans of WECT-TV Channel 6 (NBC affiliate) and initially, the plan was for her to become a dentist instead of a professional baller.
Basketball really wasn’t the thing that I wanted to do when I got older until I started really playing in middle school and high school.
While at that adolescent stage of her life, she and her sister both played basketball at the AAU level. There was a team in Wilmington they played for, but it closed operations so they hoped to join a team in Raleigh, but there were concerns from her mother due to the travel and expenses.
She mentioned that her sister had decided to sit out and let her play.
When I was younger, I didn’t really understand the gist of it and how finances played a big role in it. Even with my sister backing out and knowing that I loved the game much more, giving me that opportunity – I’m always forever grateful for that and it’s a blessing.
The sacrifices that my mother even made to put the money aside for me to have that opportunity to play.
In addition to talking about a number of other topics – including her college career, her time in Chicago, and playing on basketball courts named on great players and the effect it has on a young player’s mindset – she also mentioned her TY1 clothing line.
Just being an athlete, people know me as a basketball player, a lot of people don’t really know me as a businesswoman. They’re starting to know me as a businesswoman, but the same determination is there – but it’s just two separate things.
Young says she wanted to ensure her as a basketball player is different from her as a business owner – and that she wanted to make sure her line is not only tailored to athletic apparel.
I didn’t want to only focus on just sports gear, but I also wanted to focus on different lifestyle clothing that you could wear outside of working out or training as well.
Fashion is something that Young has also branched out in not only through her clothing line, but via other modeling initatives. While with the Sky, she participated in a modeling campaign with the franchise’s fashion partner — Model Atelier with other Sky players.
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By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
