Billie Jean

Talk about being the luckiest girl in whole freaking world! I got to meet Billie this week and let me tell you the power of her presence is astounding. I posted a few pics from that night but a lot of people are asking what the story behind getting to meet her was, so here you go.

Morgan Stanley often hosts events and fireside chats with big names from both inside and outside the firm. They’re all great and I make an effort to go or remotely watch as many as I can. A few weeks ago, I got a sneak peak of the events that were planned and freaked out when I saw Billie Jean King’s name on there and I knew I had to do whatever it took to attend. Around the same time, I was asked to present a “Getting to Know Me” slide along with two other coworkers in a team meeting where they gave us some questions to answer, one of which was to name your fictional and nonfictional heroes. Fictional- Black Widow’s sister, Yelena and Hermione Granger, of course. Nonfictional- my grandmother and, yep, you guessed it, Billie Jean King. I even inserted this picture that BJK tweeted last time she saw my grandmother.

So what’s the big deal with my grandma, Yola? I couldn’t say Yola when I was little so I called her “Yayis” and those close to her call her that now. I sometimes forget, but Yayis is an icon. She is relatively well known in Mexico, particularly in the tennis circles but she did a lot for our country and our female athletes. Just this past summer she was inducted into the Mexican Tennis Hall of Fame, which was inaugurated on that same day. This also meant she was the first female inducted. Long story short, she played professionally, though they were called amateurs at that time and towards the end of her career the tour was recognized as professional. Call it whatever you want, she was amongst the best of the best. She is a two-time grand slam champion at Roland Garros (the French Open) in doubles and mixed doubles. She has won many “smaller” tournaments that are not considered grand slams, including Cincinnati and Hamburg. My uncle is gonna kill me for not knowing all of the tournaments and the years she won. He’s like a human encyclopedia! I’ll just leave her Wikipedia link here for you to explore.

My grandma is a bit older than BJK - she just celebrated her 88th birthday! She was already on tour when Billie first came to Wimbledon and I’ll have to double check the year, but Billies first match at Wimbledon was against my grandma. Billie remembers it so well, playing on the main stadium at Wimbledon is THE dream. The court is called “Centre Court” and let me tell you, it is breathtakingly beautiful, even just experiencing it as a spectator. This year, Wimbledon celebrated 100 years of Centre Court and invited Billie to speak. They asked her about her first Centre Court experience and she mentioned the epic match against my grandma, which took place over the course of two days due to daylight, or lack thereof. My grandma went on to win that match (I think she was seeded higher at the time) and she never lets us forget that BJK went on to win the Mixed doubles title that same year. She likes to remind us that it wasn’t a fluke that she beat her and that Billie was already so good, even at her first Wimbledon.

I can’t remember how long ago it was, but my mom was at the French Open with my grandparents. Since my grandma is a former champion she gets a golden badge which basically lets her do whatever she wants. My grandpa was also a fantastic player in his own right and had a badge to go to the tournament too. They each got to bring a guest and my mom and I would argue over who got to be Yayis’ guest because of the golden badge haha. Now that my grandpa is gone, I would give anything to be his guest one last time. The French Open is a very special place for our family. It’s where my grandparents had their best results and where our family spent many vacations watching tennis and eating two croissants a day for 14 days straight! So a few years ago, my mom was there with them and they were walking into court Suzanne Langlen, looking for their seats in the reserved section for former champs/players when all of a sudden they hear someone shouting “Yola! Yola!” They turned around and it was BJK shouting to get my grandmother’s attention. Like… what?

I’ve always looked up to BJK. She is an icon that transcends the sport and has absolutely demolished so many barriers for all women in general. She used to be married to a man, who she put through law school with her earnings, and then came out as a lesbian. This is something that is thankfully more broadly accepted now, but back then it was just not an option. She shared with us that they told her not to say anything or she would lose everything, so for a long time, she did just that. I think that she is the first, if not then one of the first athletes to come out as openly gay and in such a difficult time. I can’t imagine the strength and courage it took for her to make that choice and for that, I truly respect and admire her. She spoke about being your authentic self and in her case it was about being gay, but I think it can apply for all of us. For a long time in my new job, I was a muted  version of myself. I was afraid people would judge me or say that I was “too much”. When I started being goofy self, I met so many more coworkers and was embraced by all of them. So I think her advice doesn’t just have to be for people that want to come out or have come out, but all people in general. Be your authentic self.

The event this week was held at the Edison Ballroom, which was right across from our headquarters, “1585”. It was small and intimate but there were still a lot of people. I knew that I was going to be near BJK but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get to talk to her. Of course I wanted to but during her talk with Leylah Fernández and Alice (our CMO), I worried that I wouldn’t be able to talk to her even if I had the chance. I was holding back tears just hearing her speak to the audience, how would I even talk to her one on one? For a moment I was kind of relieved I wouldn’t have to embarrass myself in front of her. I had come to terms that I wasn’t going to meet her and that was okay. My boss and teammate had told me to bring my grandmother’s book because it had that picture of her with BJK in Paris and I didn’t want to carry it but I brought it just in case.

We were at the reception following the event and my book was tucked away in my bag with my laptop.  It was an opportunity to meet a lot of women across my firm from different offices and departments so I tried my best to meet a few people. As you know, I have horrible anxiety when it comes to meeting new people but nothing a couple of glasses of champagne couldn’t help with. We took a few pictures with our team and honestly, I was ready to go. I was getting hangry, and that’s not good for anyone. If you’ve ever seen me hangry, YOU KNOW. I decided that after this drink, I would push for us to go, when all of a sudden people start to crowd by one side of the room. I hate crowds so I didn’t even think twice about it but my boss and teammates turned to me so quickly and told me to get my book because “SHE’S HERE!!!”

I frantically reach for the book and then for the rest of my champagne because I was literally freaking out. I had already decided in my mind that I was not going to get the chance to meet her, much less get the book signed. There were so many people surrounding her but because we are colleagues and professionals, no one was being too bold or forceful. My boss kept encouraging me to get closer but I was paralyzed. My boss said to a lady in front of us “can she please squeeze through so she can get an autograph?” And you could tell that she and the other women around didn’t understand why we deserved to go before them. I mean, quite frankly, we didn’t deserve that and I knew that. But I did know that this would mean something to Billie too and not just me, so I had to get over it and push for it.

I finally got close to her but still so far away because there were people protecting her. One thing they don’t know about BJK is that she is the most chill and down to earth person. Obviously, I don’t know her personally but I’ve followed her for as long as I can remember and she wouldn’t have come up to the reception if she didn’t want to have some interactions. I had the book opened to page 170, where on the top, left corner was their picture from Paris. A lady told me “NO! We’re not doing pictures or autographs!” But Billie saw the picture and said to give her the book. Suddenly I was the one that had people around me watching and keeping others from getting to us.

This interaction was so pure and sweet. I struggle to find the words to describe it and struggle even more to get through this paragraph without crying. She started talking to me about the photo and telling me the story associated with it, which is a famous story at my family gatherings. We laughed that she was the one trying to get my grandma’s attention instead of the other way around. She asked me what book this was and I was scared she was going to say she didn’t approve this or something (LOL) but then she made her security or body guard take a picture of the picture. She asked me how my grandma was doing and if she was still alive. She told me she sees Rosie, my grandma’s doubles partner and fellow French Open champion, more often and that she asks her about Yola all the time. I told her that she was indeed still alive and that today (March 1) she was celebrating her 88th birthday. I wish you could see the smile on her face and the joy that that brought her. We chatted and laughed for what seemed like an eternity and a millisecond at the same time. She signed the book “Happy Birthday” with a heart and at the end she blew it a kiss.

It was incredible. I was so happy and I was worried the event organizers wanted to murder me because they were trying to get her out of there (hehe, sorry!!) but then someone told us to take a picture. My teammate had already been recording the whole interaction and snapping pics left and right so she was already ready for the pic. When I started to walk away, Billie pulled me back and said “Thank you so much, this really made my day.” And gave me the most genuine smile I have ever seen in my life.

Like…. What????? I made YOUR day? I was thinking does she know who she is? I made her day? She made my whole entire life. Yeah, sure it was super special because of the connection with my grandmother, but even without it, I absolutely love and admire this woman for the infinite barriers that she has absolutely obliterated, particularly in a time when that was not as accepted. In her chat with Leylah, she told us that International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month as a whole should be celebrated to an extent but they should be reminders of the long way we have to go. We had not had the best of days in the office that day and I was feeling a bit deflated, so it was like hearing her speak was exactly what I needed in that moment. After all, one of my favorite quotes from her is “pressure is a privilege”. I came to work the next day completely reenergized and motivated, and with a slight hangover.

I still can’t get over the fact that this happened. I can’t believe we got to even attend the event and breathe the same air as her, haha just kidding. Kind of. I can’t believe I had accepted defeat of not meeting her. I can’t believe my newest teammates know me so well that they knew exactly what I needed in that moment to get over all of my insecurities and excuses to not make that moment happen. My boss has been my boss for less than six months but I feel like she knows me and she hears me, even when I’m not speaking. They all knew I wouldn’t go up there without that push and the way they followed me up to BJK was a really cool feeling. It was like having my own personal entourage, in a way, advocating for me and justifying me having to meet her rather than just being a bratty girl that wanted to meet her and cut everyone in line. They have my back.

Women’s History Month has a way of making us feel like superheroes and incredibly supported. I wish we had this feeling year-round, but to Billie’s point, that’s something we still have to work towards. I challenge and invite those of you reading this to help make someone feel appreciated and supported, particularly in your places of work. It is an incredible feeling on both ends. I was once told that I would never be happy if I was always looking for the next thing and that I should enjoy what I have when I have it. I don’t generally agree with that but in this instance, I’m gonna take a second to enjoy this moment and just be really incredibly grateful for this.