Do I ever get tired of being the first female everything? Not really, I just happened to be in a position where the job that I wanted was not really there for me. I had to create an opportunity instead of waiting for an opportunity.

Look at my face. Does it look like I can take a good hit?

I'm living such a lucky and blessed life and I'm trying my best to deserve it.

The kind of hope I'm talking about is the belief that something good will come. That everything you're going through and everything you've gone through will be worth the struggles and frustrations. The kind of hope I'm talking about is a deep belief that the world can be changed, that the impossible is possible.

Most people focus on the wrong thing; They focus on the result, not the process. The process is the sacrifice; it's all the hard parts - the sweat, the pain, the tears, the losses. You make the sacrifices anyway. You learn to enjoy them, or at least embrace them. In the end, it is the sacrifices that must fulfill you.

The thing that gets me up in the morning is that I’m really not ready to see someone that I know I can beat holding my belt.

As an athlete you're taught to be selfish. When I'm training, it's usually all about me.