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The Resilient Path Podcast with Kyle Draper features powerful, honest conversations with people who have faced life's toughest challenges and found the strength to keep moving forward.
From trauma, loss and addiction to mental health struggles, setbacks and unexpected life-changing moments, each episode explores not only what people have been through, but how they found their way through it.
Through raw stories, hard-earned lessons and inspiring journeys, The Resilient Path reminds us that resilience isn't about avoiding adversity, it's about discovering the strength to rise, rebuild and keep going.
Everyone faces adversity. The question is: How will you respond?
Mean, could barely walk down the street most days. And so, you know, they they would make, you know, they're like, well go out and do your exercise and walk. Know, here I was running marathons and bench pressing and doing all these Yeah. Now it's like, I'm making it to the end of the block and I'm puking in the bush and I'm bawling my eyes out, you know. Because like I don't know if I'm gonna be able to turn around and walk back.
Kyle:Before I introduce this week's guest, I gotta tell you where we can find the Resilient Path Podcast. Of course, we're on YouTube, so like and subscribe at theresilientpath.podcast. Also on Instagram, the Resilient Path Podcast, and of course, Apple Podcast, Spotify Podcast, wherever you get your podcasts, you can take us on the go. Without further ado, it's time for me to introduce my guest this week, and I'm so excited to have Tyree Dillingham, the CEO and co founder of NIL Foundation Literacy. Tyree, I've been following you from afar.
Kyle:I see the kind of boss work that you do. You're an inspiration. Thanks for coming on the show.
Tyree:Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me. Excited to be here.
Kyle:We're gonna get into financial literacy coming up in just a little bit, but the purpose of this podcast, Tyree, is really to inspire people, to hear people's stories, and when you're listening to this at home, you're gonna say, oh my gosh, Tyree went through that and overcame that, I can do it too. So before we get to all that, I wanna know about a young Tyree. Growing up in Sacramento, what was it like for you?
Tyree:I mean, I really live such a charmed life. When I talk about it, I I think most people my my friends in San Diego are always like, the place you grew up isn't real. Know? Like, it doesn't even sound Yeah. Sound real.
Tyree:I mean, I grew up very My mom was very embedded in the Catholic church, which obviously you know Sacramento is a very And Catholic I went to Saint Francis here, all girls Catholic high school, and there was like a group of families that we all that we grew up with, we did everything together. So like our parents went, their social activities were in the church. You know, they were going to the church crab feed. They were, you know, nobody was going to concerts or whooping it up downtown or you know, coming home drunk. Like that was not a part
Kyle:of my childhood.
Tyree:And so all the families that we grew up with were still married, are still married. I was really blessed in a lot of I did lose my dad when I was a little girl, when I was five. So that kind of made us, think my brother and I stand out a little bit because we were the only family for a long time in our elementary school who didn't have a father. Really? Yeah, there was no divorce at that time.
Tyree:You know, I think it wasn't till I was maybe in the fifth grade when the first family got divorced and then that was kinda like the scandal. At the time, know, we were the only two kids that didn't have a dad in the household. So, you know, I and there was like blessings and curses, I guess, to that. I mean, the blessing was that because we were the only ones, we got a lot of extra attention, you know, and everybody made sure that we were, you know, kind of turning our attention towards school. Right.
Tyree:It kind of kept us out of trouble a little bit.
Kyle:You know, your your story is a little different than mine because growing up in Philly, in my neighborhood, you know, there were a few dads, but you know, my dad was in the household, know, my neighbors next to me, two doors down, there were no dads. And I remember growing up and getting older and how fortunate I felt like, damn, my dad is here. So for a young five year old, a young, you know, elementary school Tyree, did you notice at the time things were different, in your neighborhood, you know, after your dad?
Tyree:Oh, yeah. Mean, it was like Yeah. I feel like it was like my life before the loss of my father and then my life after the loss of
Kyle:my father.
Tyree:Right. You know, that was like when, you know, when you're a kid, it's like you don't really remember a lot of things. Might remember bits and pieces here and there. From that moment forward, I definitely was very present to everything that was happening, know, especially with my mom and I kinda felt like we all, both my brother and I had to step up a little bit. Because my mom was a stay at home mom.
Kyle:And
Tyree:so, now all of a sudden she was thrust back into the workplace and it was very different.
Kyle:Well you know, this podcast is called The Resilient Path Podcast, and when I go out there and I speak to youth groups and people out there, resiliency happens every day in our lives, know? Even as a young five year old, you had to be resilient, and so I'm glad you told that story. So you grew up in Sacramento. Take me through just your high school years. Did you always wanna do financial literacy, always wanted to work with student athletes?
Kyle:Like, what was your dream as a young kid?
Tyree:My quite the opposite, actually. When I was five, after my father died, I made the bold declaration that I was going to be the president of The United States.
Kyle:Okay. Alright.
Tyree:So ironically, most people here when I come home, everyone's like, when are you running for president? So, and I kind of forgot about that, actually, like I always forget about it. And then I come home and I run into somebody when I'm at the mall or and they bring that up. And so I was really driven by politics. And I think part of that was because I was watching my mom navigate this, you know, mean that was when like women's lib was getting really big and women were entering the workplace, but like I said, the majority of the families in my community, the moms stayed home and didn't work.
Tyree:And so, I was watching my mom sort of struggle her way through on a path that she didn't pick. Know, she signed up for the happily ever after package, thought that that's what she was getting, you know, the two 0.5 kids, the golden retriever, the station wagon, the whole bit, Right, you right. Like that's the package she bought and you know, there were no returns. It's like, okay, here you go. This is what you got.
Tyree:And so I love the idea of being in politics because I I was like, how do I make life easier for other women like my mom? And so I actually started working in on political campaigns, and I worked for the Attorney General, was like my first big job interning when I was like 12 years old.
Kyle:No way. Yeah. What did you do? What's a 12 year old Tyree doing at that age?
Tyree:So, and remember, this was like, I had to go to the library to do research to But find these internships I did anything and everything, and so they all loved me because I would sit there and do all the work that nobody wanted to do. I'm like, oh, you want me to file? No problem. Like, you want me to stuff envelopes? I'm here for it.
Tyree:Like, you wanna feed me free pizza and donuts? Like, all day long, right? I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Was like, okay. And so, I mean, it was, I was really fortunate because I worked on a ton of different campaigns.
Tyree:Then I worked for Dan Lundgren when I was, when he was AG. I worked for Governor Wilson when I was in high school, so you know, I was always a really hard worker. And you know, I knew that, you know, I mean I did work study at Saint Francis so that I could go you know, qualify for the tuition, so I would have to work and clean classrooms after school. I worked at Leatherbee's, was my first job.
Kyle:Oh, Leatherbee's, that's a Sacramento staple, people, check it out, yes.
Tyree:Oh, yeah, the Leatherbee family are really good So friends of I worked at Leatherbee's, I worked at Nordstrom when it was at Arden Fair, and then I interned at the governor's office. So I always had two two, three jobs plus an internship, and then I worked at school, and you know, I had to do like work study for like my karate classes and stuff so that we could afford different things like that. So I mean, I was always like really driven and really focused about what I wanted to do because I really had to, you know. I knew that I was getting opportunities that I shouldn't necessarily have gotten, and you know, I mean had my dad still been alive, he was a real estate investor and developer, I'm sure we would have been just fine. My mom was thrust back into the world that she didn't even wanna be in.
Tyree:And so we definitely struggled and I felt like I had to carry my weight and I did.
Kyle:You know, resiliency is gonna keep coming up in this podcast and I'm thinking about how your mom had to be resilient, you know, when she had to go back out into the workforce. Did you recognize the sacrifice, the hard work that she was putting in during that time, as a kid growing up?
Tyree:Oh, yeah. 100%. I mean, aside from the fact that, I mean, they literally started daycare or extended after school programs because of my brother and I. So there was no such thing as that Oh really? At the And so there was a teacher that would stay after and kind of kept us in one of the classrooms till my mom could get off work.
Tyree:And then slowly but surely we had another kid join and another kid and then as the years went on, it became a whole thing. They built a building for it, nobody knew any different. Nowadays, kids have no idea.
Kyle:Yeah, Everybody does it. So
Tyree:it was very, I was totally aware at the time of all the sacrifices that she was making. And I mean, my mom is like Betty Crocker, right? Like she made all of our Really? Our costumes, she cooked every meal, every kid got a cookie with their name on it for every holiday. Like, you know, I mean it was truly like a fairy tale in so many ways.
Tyree:And she kept doing that, but then I would see her go to work and it was so out of alignment with who she naturally is, And you at the time, she would have to put on her black pantsuit and carry her square briefcase and walk out the door and like go try to do this stuff, which is so, That is so not my mom.
Kyle:She's like
Tyree:a fairy over here, you know? Right. Like just trying to Yeah. Fit the I saw I was like, I don't know about this. I feel like in order for me to come back to it again, it would have to be somebody who could really make a big impact because I saw all of the shenanigans that were going on.
Kyle:Yeah. Wanna ask you because you've seen the sausage, how the sausage is made in politics. Did that turn you off to politics a little bit or did it, you know, was it, like you said, the excitement of knowing, like, what what was that like?
Tyree:I think it was both. Okay. It's like, I think it's always both, you know. It's like knowing that because you have a seat at the table you can have the influence, but then it's also sort of being a little disgusted by, you know, like some, the way that things get done and you know, the third house and you know, all these kind of things that have an impact and an influence and like knowing that the general public is bamboozled in a way. Mhmm.
Tyree:You know, think that those things are a little discouraging
Kyle:Yeah.
Tyree:For someone like me, but, you know, like, because I'm such a, you know, ideologue over here, you know, like, all bright eyed and bushy Right. 52.
Kyle:High in the sky? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Tyree:So, yeah, a little both.
Kyle:You mentioned you wanted to work for someone that could make real change. Did you find that and who was that?
Tyree:Well, so after after college, it was like right at the end of college, I actually worked for a real estate investing company. Yeah, I lived in Boston for a stint.
Kyle:Shut up, I lived in Boston for What eleven part,
Tyree:where at in Boston? I was right across the street from the MFA on Huntington Avenue.
Kyle:Oh yeah, yeah, oh my gosh, all right, small world. I was in the suburbs like Lexington and Bedford and up 128 and yeah, okay, all right.
Tyree:I was in Boston proper, it was a
Kyle:whole All right, yeah, you were in Boston, yes.
Tyree:It was a whole other Oprah, like that's for sure, you know, being such a, I'm so Cali, I'm like as California as
Kyle:It's a California different world out there, right?
Tyree:It is a different world, like I was so nice to everyone, I'm like, hi, how are you? And everyone's like grunting at me, I was like, what the, yeah, like beat it lady, I was like, oh, okay, Hi. You know, I'm like in the grocery store like, hi. As I pull my card up, you know, everyone's like, why are you talking to me? Right.
Tyree:Right. Oh, okay. Sorry about that. Like, didn't mean to impinge on your day
Kyle:over here.
Tyree:So, yeah, that was a whole, not to mention the cold and all the things in Boston, but I was working in Boston for this real estate investing company and the owner had all these massive properties across the country, like in their student housing division and that's who I worked for was their student housing division. But they never really did anything to give back to the community. So I think that at the end, I was like, okay, is there somebody else that I would feel this committed to spending this much time? Because I work seven days a week. Had three BlackBerrys, personal BlackBerry, campaign BlackBerry, Politics, government BlackBerry.
Tyree:I mean, I miss like a lot a lot of birthday parties and family events and weddings and, you know, different things like that because I was always traveling and on on the road. There was a lot of sacrifice that came with it too. And I decided that I wanted to get married and have a baby. I was like, so I was like, I don't think politics is that conducive for And what I so, you know, I kind of made the decision not to further pursue something in politics. Doesn't mean that I wouldn't go back, I mean I would still maybe go back at some point.
Kyle:Yeah.
Tyree:But I just knew, I was like, I don't wanna work seven days a week That's just not for me.
Kyle:She got married, had a baby?
Tyree:I haven't done neither.
Kyle:What happened, Tyree? What happened? That was the plan, what It was
Tyree:a really great plan. Working on the baby thing now, but you know, I think, so we'll come back and do part two of the Resiliency Podcast and we can talk about that piece.
Kyle:Alright, okay, okay, But
Tyree:yeah, you know, I mean I think that's, yeah.
Kyle:So what year did you stop in politics? What year was that?
Tyree:I stopped in, oh boy, now you're make me do math, 2010 I Okay. Guess it I wanna say right around there. I mean I did a few things
Kyle:Yeah.
Tyree:That trailed. Yeah. Okay. A few things sort of trailed off. I did some campaign fundraising.
Tyree:I worked on a few different initiatives after that. So there was still a little bit that I was doing in the space. So I would say I was like probably completely out out by like twenty twelve ish.
Kyle:Twenty twelve ish, alright. And did you immediately switch into financial literacy or?
Tyree:No, in fact, this is like the most random Oh, okay. Random place that I could have ended up, but way back before all of this story even began in about 2000, 1999, 2000, I met Marshall Falk, who's my partner in NIL Financial Literacy. So I was out at a bar in San Diego, and Marshall sent me a drink and I sent it back. And I know
Kyle:Did you know it was from Marshall Faulk at the time or?
Tyree:Well, so I'm not a sports girl. Like, you know, because I told you my dad died when I was a little too.
Kyle:Yeah, Like,
Tyree:we didn't, and I went to all girls school. I didn't, I was a dancer, not really an athlete. And so, you know, I didn't really know that much about sports at the time. I still don't, actually. But, so this guy sent the drink over, the bartender put it in front of me, and I was like, oh, didn't order anything, you know?
Tyree:He was like, he's like, oh, that gentleman at the end of the bar sent a tuning point over to Marshall, I don't know who he is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was like, oh, no, thank you, you can send it back. And he was like, oh, you want this And I was like, no, no, I really don't. So I'm thinking this guy's a freaking, like, roofied my drinker.
Tyree:Right.
Kyle:Right. Right. Yeah.
Tyree:You know? Like, and he's like, oh, that's Marshall Falk. And I was like, who the hell is Marshall Falk? Oh my god. And he's like, what?
Tyree:You know, he's on the cover of Madden and Sports Illustrated. Yeah. He's the MVP of the Super Bowl, whatever, you know, I was like, oh, I definitely don't want it, send it back. Mhmm. And so I sent the drink back and Marshall was just like, so cool, kind of nods his head and he walks over and he's like, no woman has ever sent a drink back.
Tyree:And I was like, oh well, you know, I guess there's a first time for everything.
Kyle:Right, right.
Tyree:He's like, I'm Marshall, I'm like, I'm Tyree, nice to meet you. And we talked for about five minutes and he's like, so can I get your number? And I was like, no thank you. He was like, can I give you mine? And I'm like, no, it's okay.
Tyree:And he like pulls, you know, this was pre cell phone, he pulls a piece of register tape, writes
Kyle:his name on it
Tyree:and his phone number and shoves it in my purse. I swear to God for most of our friendship I thought he played for the New Orleans Saints.
Kyle:What? This is MVP, pro, like this
Tyree:is I know, I know.
Kyle:Super Bowl champ Marshall Faulk we're talking about, okay.
Tyree:Was like, I just remembered the New Orleans thing, which I guess is where he's from, and I was like, oh yeah, I thought he played for the Saints forever. You know, and so I never called him. And then we got to be friends really because he had the Marshall Faulk Foundation. Yeah. And he started doing a lot with inner city kids in San Diego.
Tyree:I was working for Arnold's foundation at the time, also working with inner city kids.
Kyle:Okay,
Tyree:that's how we found ourselves sitting at the same table and how we got to be friends. Because I was like, oh, okay, wait a minute, this guy's actually giving back and doing something in the community, I'm here for this. And so that's how we got to know each other and eventually, you know, I was like, fine, I'll have breakfast with you, you know, whatever. We got to be really good friends over the years doing backpack drives and turkey giveaways and mentorship programs and being perpetual do gooders.
Kyle:Right.
Tyree:Philanthropists as we call ourselves. And so, you know, I think when Marshall asked was like, he said, I got a project for us. And I was like, oh yeah. He's like, another one?
Kyle:Here we go, right?
Tyree:And he's like, come meet with me. And so I showed up at his office and he's like, wanna teach financial literacy to athletes because I wanna make sure that there are no athletes that go broke. I watch so many of my peers go broke. And I had, ironically, by now I had gone to Georgetown for my MBA and I had actually gone to a Tony Robbins event. Okay.
Tyree:And he was talking all about money. At the Tony Robbins event, it was like a big eye opener for me because I was like, I could sit here and analyze your corporate financial statements and your annual report and you know, tell you how to leverage debt and do all this stuff from a business standpoint, but when I went to the Tony Robbins event, was like, you know, nobody really ever like, you know, sat me down from start to finish in like, in the beginning. Mhmm. And told me, you know, this is what, how much you need to save for retirement. So I, this was probably like two months before Marshall called me and so I bought all these Tony Robbins books, read all these money books, know, and I was like, okay, you know, I I think that I really wanna like get into this and like maybe start teaching this is what I'd actually already thought.
Tyree:And then Marshall called and I was thinking, I don't even know where I would begin. Like how would I
Kyle:possibly And start teaching
Tyree:so, know, long story short, we sat down, we designed a curriculum and we started taking it out to NFL teams and teaching players financial literacy.
Kyle:And
Tyree:it kinda caught on like wildfire and then we worked with some NBA teams and some MLB teams. Then a lot of guys, if we weren't with their team, they would still call.
Kyle:Still reach out, yeah.
Tyree:Or their agents would send them to us. So we would have people in the office all the time teaching them about financial literacy. Then when Marshall took the job with Dion, coaching for Dion Sanders about a year and a half ago, Dion was like, you know, financial literacy is important and I want a full on curriculum. So I took what we had already done and expanded it into the college space and wrote like a full semester long 15 module curriculum.
Kyle:Curriculum, yeah.
Tyree:To teach financial literacy. And we'd already been kind of working one off with some NIL athletes.
Kyle:Okay, okay.
Tyree:Basically through their agents. But you know, that was, it was sort of Dion's idea that made it like the catalyst for where we Right. Are
Kyle:So how many universities, schools, colleges is that program in now, would you say?
Tyree:So in the twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six school year, we served about 2,000 students. Okay. So and it's it's kinda spread across the map. So some schools, we do all of their athletes. Yeah.
Tyree:Some will just do one team, sometimes we do one or two teams. This coming year for the twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven school year we'll serve about 10,000 students.
Kyle:Dang. What's the one thing that you stress immediately when you talk to these students? I
Tyree:would say there's two things. Two, okay. One is getting control of your budget.
Kyle:Oh, the big B word, I hate the budget. I yeah, hate I the Oh my I mean,
Tyree:the good news is budget apps make it a lot easier. So like the Co Pilot app, you know, some people use Rocket Money. Make it a lot easier just to track your spending because most people are delusional about where they're spending money.
Kyle:Right, right.
Tyree:And so you have to have a good grasp on your cash flow before you can do anything else.
Kyle:So
Tyree:it's kind of like in fitness, it's getting on the scale. And you you gotta I
Kyle:hate the scale too, mind you. Hate the scale too, right?
Tyree:Everybody does, but how are we gonna know where the progress is if you don't know how much you weigh right now? Right. And so, you know, I mean the budgeting piece is you getting on the scale and you know, like, okay, let's take a look at this. And then I think the most important thing that we teach that we drive home really hard is the rule of 72.
Kyle:What's that?
Tyree:The rule of 72 is the law of compound interest. So it's a quick and easy way for you to think about the law of compound interest. So you take whatever interest rate you have, you divide it into the number 72, and it will tell you how long it takes for your money to double. Invest when you do.
Kyle:You know, one of the best lessons my dad ever taught me, and I would love to hear your advice to people on this, he always talked about the four zero one ks. He said, Just invest, you don't even see it, get the match. And I'm very thankful for him because I don't know if I would save on my own as much as I'm doing, you know, and the $40.01 ks for me has grown so much. What's your thoughts on that $40.01 ks and the company match and investing even, you know, when I'm 21, 22 years old, I was still putting in?
Tyree:Yeah, money is always about timing and risk tolerance. When you need it, and how much are you willing to lose. And so the four zero one k is a great tool because it's a long term And so most people wanna look at like a short term, a mid term and From a long term a long term strategy perspective, if your company's gonna give you free money, you should 100% take it. Right. Up to the match.
Kyle:Up to the match, right.
Tyree:But it's also a tax deferred account. Tax deferred means that you're paying taxes later.
Kyle:Later on it, yeah.
Tyree:And so you're now paying taxes on a larger amount. So if your company's not matching it, you're increasing your tax exposure for no reason.
Kyle:Okay, yep. So what did you do then? Like, what's the alternative?
Tyree:I mean, depends on what your goals are. So like, you know, never like to say like, this is like what everybody should do because everybody really had, like I said, it's always about timing risk tolerance.
Kyle:Right.
Tyree:It's when do you need it, what are your goals, what do you want to accomplish. But there are, you know, I mean, like pulling money, automating your savings, whether that's going into putting some in stocks if you need something that's more short term, Putting some money into a Roth IRA depending on your income limits. If you can't get a Roth IRA going into an IUL, which is an indexed universal life insurance policy that can create cash value tax free just like a Roth.
Kyle:Yeah.
Tyree:You know, so understanding you should have something that's short term, mid term, long term and something that kind of falls into all the different tax buckets so you can really diversify your portfolio. But setting it up so in an automated way is obviously gonna be the best so that you can pay yourself first, like you were just talking about, because I think that's the struggle is that if you don't set yourself up to win and automate the situation, then you're paying yourself last.
Kyle:Last, after everything else, yeah.
Tyree:And that's never gonna work because we already know Amazon's probably taken everything that you've got.
Kyle:Oh man, they make it too easy, Tyree. They do. Indeed. The phone right here, know, I can have something here delivered later this afternoon. It's unbelievable.
Kyle:Alright, Tyree, so I'm listening to you. You've told me about your career. You told me about your upbringing. You know, you have this aura about you. It looks like, it sounds like you got it all figured out.
Kyle:Things have been great. But I know there have been some challenges for you along the way, and I wanna talk about the health scare you had about ten years ago. Let the people know what happened.
Tyree:Yeah, so my whole life I had grown up with these stomach pains and I would go to the doctor and they would push on my stomach a little bit, be like, oh, whatever, you just have an upset belly or whatever. Or worse, they were like, oh, it's gas, you know, and I was thinking, oh my god, like if the whole world is dealing with this, like And what the heck, you so when I was, about ten years ago, I was in grad school, I thought I was on a high, like, you know, everything was going great for me. I had a boyfriend, I was running my own business, like doing all these things, and then all of a sudden on the July 4, I had this stomach pain that I always get, but it wasn't going away. And so the night of the July 4, was like doubled over in pain, the next day I woke up, I had to finish paper for grad school, and my boyfriend at the time comes over and he's like, you really need to go to the hospital. And I was like, no no no.
Tyree:I do not have time to He's go to the like, you don't not have time to go to the hospital. Like yeah, no, that absolutely does not fit into my schedule. I'm so sorry, but I cannot do that right now. And then my assistant showed up, they were like, really need to go to the ER. And so I did and it turns out that I have a birth defect in my intestines.
Tyree:So you have these like fibers that hold all your intestines to your abdominal wall, and I don't have those. So my intestines like flop around like a fire hose on high
Kyle:Oh my god.
Tyree:All the time. And so they twisted around like a balloon animal, and so nothing could get through, and then my organs started to die on the inside. And so, you know, it was like I went in, did the CAT scan, and then I felt like was in an episode of ER where they're like, running me down the hallway. They're like, sign these documents, you you might come out with a colostomy bag. I'm like, what?
Tyree:What? You know, and so, know, in the surgery I went and they cut out two feet of my colon, my cecum, my appendix, two valves, five feet of my small intestine. When they intubated me, they paralyzed my left vocal cord. So I actually have an implant in my throat so that I could speak. Couldn't talk for four months.
Kyle:No way.
Tyree:Yeah, yeah.
Kyle:I would've never known, like, I mean, this is why I have you on the show right here, because I talk about resiliency, and from the outside, people think, man, Tyree's got it all together, Kyle's got it, These guys have it made, but they don't see the challenges and the struggles that people go through. And so how difficult of a time was that for you?
Tyree:I mean, it literally brought me to my knees. I was in the hospital for two weeks, which usually they're like, you'll be out in two days, you know? Two weeks later, my doctor is like, I don't know. I don't know what's going on. Know, they have to make sure that you're okay before they can release you.
Tyree:And then I thought that I would be able to just get right back into the groove of things because I mean, I was training to compete in a bikini competition, so I had a six pack going into surgery. Like I was ripped, and you know, I thought that I would just be able to get right back to things and I could not. And I mean, I could barely walk down the street most days. And so, you know, would make, they're like, well go out and do your exercise and walk. Know, here I was running marathons and bench pressing and doing all these and now it's like I'm making it to the end of the block and I'm puking in the bush and I'm bawling my eyes out, you know, because I don't know if I'm gonna be able to turn around and walk back.
Tyree:And, like, I really had no one around me at the time. My boyfriend was, he had a little girl so she took up a lot of his time and I had no help, like nobody that could buy groceries, take out the trash for me, like kinda do some of the basics, cook. And so it was really, really challenging just to survive. And then I started to put on a lot of weight, and I was sleeping like sixteen hours a day, and still waking up and like I was forcing myself out of bed after sleeping for And sixteen I I was like, there's there's something seriously wrong and I went to go see my doctor who is great, by the way, but I went to go see him and he was like, you know, work out more and eat less. I'm like, thanks, Tip.
Kyle:Thanks, right, right.
Tyree:Got it, great idea. Thank you.
Kyle:Right.
Tyree:And so it was really a struggle for me because I was like, how do I get the energy? I can't even walk one block.
Kyle:Right.
Tyree:How do I get the energy to do what I know I need to do in order to drop this weight? So I had a dear friend, he owns a company called Organifi, it's like a powder supplement company. And he's like, you need to learn how to sleep and become the best sleeper, buy this pad for your bed, read this book on sleep, he's like, and go see a naturopath and get a poop test. And I was like, okay. And so I did, I became like the best sleeper that I possibly could.
Tyree:I read all these books, I went to the sleep store, I bought all the pillows that I for needed to the way that I sleep and started to track it all and slowly but surely I was able to kind of come out of that, but that wasn't until I had to, I broke up with my boyfriend, I closed my company, I put on all this weight, I wasn't, know, my bikini competition dreams were out So the like, it literally, life just clean slated everything that I identified with that I thought was who I was.
Kyle:Right. Yeah.
Tyree:And I was like, the one thing I know is that this is happening for me and not to me, and I would just pray to God to reveal, remove, and redeem every day.
Kyle:Say that again. Reveal, remove, and redeem. Explain that to me.
Tyree:Reveal to me like where, why this is happening, where am I supposed to go, show me the signs, like reveal the information that I need to know about whatever it is, whether it's a relationship, a job, my health, anything, reveal the information to me. Remove the people, the obstacles that are not supporting me, that, are not taking me on my path. So you know how life does, you know? Yeah. It's like it has a way of just removing people, jobs, other things from your life.
Tyree:And then redemption is like, you know, bringing back in a way that only God can and basically rewarding you for, you know, all of the sacrifices and stuff that you've made.
Kyle:So you're going through this health scare. What's rock bottom during this time? Like, or did you always have the mindset, I'm going to get through this? Was there ever doubt that you'll be able to live a healthier lifestyle going forward or return to the kind of person and stuff that you were doing before this health scare?
Tyree:Well, didn't know if I would get back to the way I was before.
Kyle:Yeah. But
Tyree:rock bottom was like, I mean, it was it was dark. Like, it was lots of tears, lots of, you know, not being able to get out of bed, lots of like, what do I do when I can't do anything, you know? Like, what and you know, I think that's where I really developed the mentality of, okay, what can you do right now? Because it was very easy for me to focus on all of the things that I couldn't do because I couldn't do most things. I couldn't talk on the phone, I had no voice.
Tyree:I could barely eat because my vocal cord was stuck open. So when you eat, your vocal cord's closed so you can swallow So, and eat and things like you know, I had to like turn my head sort of a certain way to like be able to swallow bites of food. You know, people would call but I couldn't answer the phone because I couldn't talk to anyone. Yeah. When my friends tried to get me out of the house, every restaurant feels like a rock concert when you have no voice.
Tyree:Yeah. And so it's not fun to be out with friends when you can't participate. I couldn't order my own food, like, you know, so every single little thing required a lot of introspection. And like, what is it about my voice? How am I not owning my voice that God felt like I needed a break from
Kyle:it Yeah.
Tyree:To make me realize, to reveal to me
Kyle:Right.
Tyree:What it was that I needed to step into. And so every single little thing along the way turned into a what can I do, even if it was something totally minuscule? But focusing my time and my energy really on those little tiny progressions and those little tiny movements that I could put a lot of energy into and know that they would have a big impact.
Kyle:One of the things you told me, you know, during our first conversation was stacking wins.
Tyree:Is
Kyle:that what you were doing at that time?
Tyree:Yes, wind stacking, all the little things. I made my bed today.
Kyle:That's a win.
Tyree:That's a win.
Kyle:Making bed, yeah.
Tyree:I made my bed today. I still consider that a I'm like, oh cool, know, it's freaking 9AM and I've already made my bed, had my coffee, read my book, done my journaling, you know. Like it's on there. I took a shower, all the little basic things. Never left those things in the dust.
Tyree:I consider those a win every single day.
Kyle:Right.
Tyree:And so, you know, win stacking all the little things because that's the law of attraction. And what you focus on expands. And so that's why I say I started focusing on what I can do even if it was small and I even if it was small, I still put all the energy I could into it to try to multiply it and hope that the next day would be something a little bit bigger and the next day would be something even bigger. You know, now I look back and it's like, I've done my bikini competition and I've done, know, I'm in the best shape of my life. Yeah.
Tyree:And you know, all of these things that have brought me to where I am today.
Kyle:Yeah. Yeah. You know, and this is the purpose of this podcast because your career was taken off, you know, you're feeling good about yourself and then you're dealt this. And in our lives, excuse my language, shit's gonna happen, you know? And I know for me, you talk about making a bed, this was the first year I started making my bed every morning.
Kyle:I never made my bed, I'm like, but it's a sense of accomplishment, you know? Every day this year, I've actually made my bed. This morning, like, I gotta make my bed. And it feels like a small win, but it's a win, like you said, you know? And so I guess I wanna ask you, you're at such a low point during that time.
Kyle:When you look back on it, how much of that is part of who you are today?
Tyree:Oh, I mean, it's literally because I feel like I got that was my I called my rebirthday. And so I have a totally different life now than I did before. Mhmm. I mean, some of the things that I didn't talk about are like, I also lost all my hair, like, you know. What?
Tyree:I know. And like, I mean my hair fell out, broke off, like it was I it's all the thing. I still have scars, I have four scars on my stomach. Know, every day when I'm doing abs at the gym, my stomach still cramps.
Kyle:Really? Yeah.
Tyree:You know, and it was like in the beginning when I started working out, like, I couldn't even do one sit up and I was like, how in the heck am I gonna get my abs Right. Back if I can't do even one sit up and, you know, and that would be my win. It's like, okay, did one today without a cramp. I did two, you know, and now I do like 200, you know, three days a week.
Kyle:Sit ups you can
Tyree:do Today as I did them with 50 pounds on And addition to, you know, now I can't, there are some days that I don't necessarily cramp but then there's days that it's really bad, like it still happens. I mean last week I was doubled over screaming in the freaking gym because my stomach was spasming so bad. So it totally changed my way of thinking in every way shape or form. I discovered I have food allergies. I had to get really intentional with the food that I eat, the way that I eat, like I had to hire a nutritionist to come in and teach me how to eat because I found out that I have celiac disease.
Tyree:I didn't know what that was. I didn't know what gluten was. Didn't know, I'm Italian, get out of here, right? I'm a walking piece of gluten, whatever the hell that is. So I had to get very intentional and deliberate about my goals in every way, shape or form.
Tyree:Like, what do I wanna feel? How am I going to accomplish this? And so I eat very intentionally now. I bring, every time I travel, I pack all my food with me.
Kyle:Really?
Tyree:I make it in advance and I bring it with me. Like I'm taking a baby along. Right, I bring everything, I bring it on the plane depending on how long I'm going. Sometimes I'll pack the rest of my suitcase. Sometimes I'll order things and cook in the room.
Tyree:But, you know, I mean, I really the way that I feel now, I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. And so it changed the way I go about everything. Think even prior to that I used to take the doctor's word as bible. If the doctor was like, oh, you just need this prescription. I haven't taken a prescription medicine since my surgery, which was ten years ago.
Kyle:Really? Interesting.
Tyree:So I'm always, because I had to find alternatives to heal myself and to heal my gut. And I had to go to a naturopath and I had to learn how my stomach absorbs nutrients and I had to get IVs weekly with all my nutrients. I had to heal, I had a yeast overgrowth in my gut because of all the antibiotics they had me on during surgery. So I had to learn all about probiotics and balancing my
Kyle:Yeah, yeah.
Tyree:And like, you know, I had to go out and find a Mayan masseuse to help, so that I wouldn't get any scar tissue in my colon because now I'm two feet shorter on So my I do castor oil packs every single day to make sure that I don't have any scar tissue that forms in my abdomen. So I mean, it is with me daily. My life, I didn't end up with a colostomy bag, thank God, but everything else has traveled with me. And what I consume in every way shape or form, I don't drink anymore. I quit that, I don't watch the news, which is crazy for a girl from politics.
Kyle:Right, right. Why not, does it affect your mental health It affects just everything. Yeah, yeah, me too, yeah.
Tyree:And I don't need the negativity. Our brains were not designed to know what's happening in Taiwan. That is not the culture that we were born into. You do not need to know what's happening in Taiwan. Promise your life is gonna be okay.
Kyle:It'll be okay.
Tyree:So it's it's that, like, it's the negativity, it's what you focus on expands.
Kyle:Yeah.
Tyree:And so I'm very intentional, like I don't, I was in New York last week for a bunch of, for the World Cup and Fan Fest and I was sitting at dinner with some women and I'm trying to have a baby right now and you know, women asked me, they were like, oh, you know, everybody works in sports. There was one guy and three girls. One of the girls was like, oh, what are you working on now? I'm like, having a baby. And one of the girls was a little tipsy and she's like, oh, god, why would you wanna do that?
Tyree:I quit all that, I divorced my husband, I quit
Kyle:Oh, man.
Tyree:You know, and I just looked at her and I was like, I'm so sorry that you've had that experience, if you'll please excuse me. And I got up and I left, and the other women at the table were just like, we don't want you to leave, you know, whatever, and it was, you know, I'm like, we can catch up and grab coffee you know, I'd love to hear about what it is that you do a different time. You know, I was like, this is the one thing that I've worked on probably the longest is trying to be a mom.
Kyle:You don't want that negativity I don't need anything. You don't have it, yeah.
Tyree:And I don't agree with it, know, and she was man hating and this and I'm like, men don't show up for me like that. All the men that I work with and have in my life are complete gentlemen and carry my purse and get the car for me and do all of those things. Like I don't have any men who are pigs in my life. Right. I don't know who, you know, she's not ready for that conversation but it's like I don't know how you're calling that into your life.
Tyree:And so I think that's one of the biggest things that going through this whole experience has taught me is we cause and create everything in our life and most people are not ready to have that conversation with themselves. Themselves.
Kyle:That might be part two. Might be part two Let for me ask, what would be your advice, people listening right now, whatever they're going through, you know, you talked about the days you woke up crying, you know, couldn't even walk a block, but here you are thriving right now. What's the message you want people to know out there?
Tyree:Who are going through a Going through
Kyle:things. Yeah. Yeah.
Tyree:You know, I I think when you're in it, it literally feels like there's no way out. Mhmm. Mhmm. Even if you know that it's coming, it just feels like the days feel long, they feel hopeless.
Kyle:Mhmm.
Tyree:You know, and I think that, you know, I I mean, I already said it, but I'll say it again that there's really the things that saved me were my meditation and knowing, trying to shift every time my mind went to I can't do this, I can't lift this, can't walk down the block, I can't do this. It's like, okay, what can I do right now? What can I do that's going to move me forward? And doing those little tiny things and know that it's like the rule of 72, the law of compound interest, that it is going to compound. It's the aggregate of the small decisions and it does eventually turn around.
Tyree:And, you know, even if it takes a year, two years, you know, it's I never would have imagined that this would be my life right now, not in a million years. If you'd asked me two years ago, I would have told you, you know, like if you'd said I would be teaching college athletes at schools all over the country and testifying at the legislature and working with all these other states, I would've told you to beat it. I would've been like, I don't know who you're talking about, like is that me? I don't
Kyle:know what you
Tyree:got here going on. You know, I think it's literally what can you do and being in flow.
Kyle:Yeah. Yeah.
Tyree:Because when you're in flow, which means, like, it doesn't have to be hard, and I think our generation really learned that it felt like everything had to be hard.
Kyle:Yeah. Yeah.
Tyree:And it doesn't.
Kyle:It doesn't.
Tyree:It really doesn't. And when it's not hard, that's when you know it's right.
Kyle:Yeah.
Tyree:And I mean, it sounds so cheesy, but to say, sometimes the phone just rings with opportunity, it really does. People call me all the time and I'm like, wait, what's happening? You want me to do what? Right. And you just never know, but when you focus on what you can do, the universe will conspire in your favor.
Kyle:Tyree Dillingham, I appreciate you coming on the Resilient Path Podcast. This was an excellent conversation, and you're an inspiration to people. I love the fact you're glowing right now. You're oh, this was great. Make sure you go out there and subscribe to the Resilient Path Podcast on YouTube, the resilientpath.
Kyle:Podcast. Also on Instagram, the resilient path podcast, and of course, on all your social media apps. I'll leave you with this, Tyree, this final message. People always say, Kyle, how'd you get to this point? How did you overcome what you had to overcome?
Kyle:I'll say this, failure for me is not an option. And so I'm a just keep going on no matter what life throws at me, failure is not an option. You've been listening to the Resilient Path Podcast. Tyree, thanks so much.
Tyree:Thanks for having me.