Robert Peterpaul (00:06.67)

Hello beautiful people! Welcome to the Art of Kindness, where we have compassionate conversations with artists from all areas of the entertainment industry who are using their voice to spread joy and make this big spinning planet in the universe a better place to be. I'm Robert Peter Paul and I'm so glad you're here!

Robert Peterpaul (00:37.954)

Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum

Robert Peterpaul (00:47.758)

don't even know what note that was, but I hit it. I see the rings, baby! The Olympics have officially kicked off in Paris and I'm excited! I think any event that brings the world together is worth marking. I know I'm not alone there. And what better way to do that than by catching up with one of the most beloved Olympians in recent years. So here's the dealio. I spoke with Laurie Hernandez way back in season one of our show.

the A -OK was just a bae -bae. And you can tell. You really, you can tell. The sound quality, meh, not too great. We were just learning how to walk. OK, my voice even sounds a little younger, I think. But one thing that has remained true as I grew, huh, that rhymed, rhyming all the time, is Laurie's wisdom. I was so honored to speak with the lovely Lori Hernandez.

Robert Peterpaul (01:50.798)

Laurie Hernandez is a two -time Olympic medalist, earning gold and silver at the Olympic Games Rio 26 as part of the final five U .S. Women's Gymnastics team. During a break from competition, she authored two New York Times bestselling books and dazzled us on Dancing with the Stars. Lori is also a UNICEF USA ambassador, advocating for children's rights and wellbeing.

Although she is officially a retired gymnast, Laurie stays in the game by serving as a commentator for this year's Olympics in Paris. She is just a true beacon of light and inspiration to

Robert Peterpaul (02:35.906)

we discuss so much under the kindness sun in this throwback chat, like Lori's self kindness checklist. Yeah, I use that all the time. And most importantly, ice cream. Because what do you do when you have an Olympian on your show? You scream for ice cream. We all scream for ice cream. OK, I'm going to go get some ice cream. Stay tuned for a brand new episode of the Art of Kindness podcast coming your way next week, friends. But first.

Please enjoy this summer rewind with the outstanding Olympic gold medalist, Laurie Hernandez.

Robert Peterpaul (03:25.646)

Hi, Lori. Hi. I'm so excited to talk to you today. same here. Thanks for having me. Of course. I'm a Jersey boy and a Gemini. So I'm extra pumped. know there's like 20 people here right now between both of us. There's at least four. Yeah, at least four. I did the math. Since you are such a positive person and always seem to really lead with kindness, which I admire so much, I would love to know what does the word kindness mean to you? The word kindness means

to make sure that you're going out of your way to help other people, but also to take care of yourself. I think kindness is remembering the little things. I love that. That's so true. Growing up as you started gymnastics and your amazing career, looking back, do you remember a moment of kindness or a random act of kindness that changed your life? Yeah. I mean, I had so many moments, but I remember there was one time I had a really...

bad workout and I came home and I was sad and my dad took me to go get ice cream. Just cause he knows that that's like my favorite. What flavor is your Cookies and cream. I've been a cook in cream kids since God knows how long. Wow. I dig that. Yeah. I love with Oreo where you can like crush up the Oreos and like make it the bottom. Yeah. It's either an Oreo like cup or it's a smooth or milkshake. I like the way you roll and I'm glad you brought up your dad because that leads perfectly into your new collaboration with Lily.

Your latest venture seems to really showcase your relationship and how you're inspiring him, which I think is so cool. Can you just tell me a little bit about your partnership with team Lily and how it came about? Yeah, I mean, being partnered with Lily is absolutely wonderful. It's me. It's it's seven athletes that, know, in total, and it's self or a loved one who is impacted with with disease. And my dad has type two. And so that's kind of where I come in.

And I get to just talk about him and raise him up and talk about how supportive he's been and kind of his journey with type two. He pricks his finger and would check his blood sugar. And my grandma had type one, so she would do shots every day. And it was just interesting to see that representation of people kind of consistently checking in with themselves and taking care of themselves. And I think it really helped my athletic career in terms of like checking in with myself and actively taking care of myself.

Robert Peterpaul (05:49.07)

And I think it's really beautiful that you've been so outspoken about how your parents support you so strongly and now you can in turn support them. There's just something so beautiful about that. Yeah, it definitely feels good to kind of mirror that for sure. Yeah. And do you have any advice for people out there in your position who are dealing with a parent, you know, who is sick or going through something? Do you have any advice for how they can support them but also take care of themselves?

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, definitely taking time to take care of yourself and check in with yourself and have somebody to talk to is very important. I think in terms of a loved one or if we're kind of angled towards diabetes, I think just making sure that we're being really nonjudgmental and not holding people to certain standards like, should you be eating that or like, can you do that? Like, I'm sure they know.

Because if not, unfortunately, something very wrong will happen. Like they know, I assure you, they know what they're doing. just kind of, giving them the space to do that. Or like, they go and like are having cookies and ice cream, like just let them have it. Like, don't, you know, if that's, that's their choice and just making sure that on the outside, that we're being as supportive as possible and letting them know, like we're here for you no matter what, eyes, like we will always have your back.

That's great advice. I feel like you've always just seemed like such a supportive person. You've always appeared to be a big ray of sunshine. So it was no surprise that you have this new project and so many other projects in the works and you've been on Dancing with the Stars. You've written a book, the list goes on. It's like, just put out so much joy and you seem to get a lot back. I remember hearing at one point when I was researching, you said that you showed up for an event. might've been in 2016 when you had an extra crazy year and someone said,

not to you, but made a complaint being like, she's not as bubbly as I thought she'd be. First of all, rude. But I think that brings up an interesting point that we kind of just touched on with the duality of kindness, how you have to find the balance between really being kind to yourself, but also making other people happy sometimes. But especially for you who's still so young, you should be having fun. Do you have any advice for striking that balance? I do think kind of exactly what you said, like kindness is a balance.

Robert Peterpaul (08:08.142)

And that includes setting boundaries for yourself. Like that is being kind to yourself that is respecting who you are and your feelings and giving them value. And unfortunately, other people may not hold that same value for you and hold space for that. And that's where those boundaries come in. you know, when I was really young hearing like, she's not as bubbly as we thought she was going to be. kind of unfortunately being like.

brand, I hate saying that, but like my brand or what people know me as, it was really difficult because I started to get burnt out and I couldn't uphold this figure that I naturally felt at the Olympics. You know, it was coming out left and right. I think that's why people got so excited. But then that's what people expected of me. And that's not healthy at all. You know, I can look back on that and be like, y 'all are wild for that. So it's like, you know, this teenage who's working and having an off day and to kind of mention something like that. It's just

Again, that's where like a boundary for me would come in and say, listen, like I'm doing the best that I can. Like I know me as a person, like I'm not being rude. Like I'm not, it's just that this expectation you had of me was not met. And that is not my problem to uphold it. My job is to make sure that I can hang out with these kids today and I get to teach them gymnastics and I can connect with them. And

Hopefully that is your expectation of me. Yeah. So that definitely was huge, a big moment. And that's so healthy that you can come to that conclusion. just the two things now. Yeah. my gosh. I'm sure it takes a lot of work, right? Yeah. As soon as I heard that, was like, well, OK, cool. But you said two amazing things there in total, which I think people listening can really learn from just knowing yourself and who you are and then also instilling boundaries, which are like instrumental.

Do you have, I guess, a role model? Since you are a role model, I would love to know who your role model is in either the entertainment industry or the sports world, where you just think, that person, man, they handle things so gracefully. Ooh, I have like countless options. We have countless time. I'm just kidding. I know we don't. We don't. boy. I'm going to go ahead and say like my parents.

Robert Peterpaul (10:21.57)

Cheesy answer. Now it's one that everybody expects, but like my mom is such a saint and a social worker and is constantly helping other people. And my dad is stubborn at times. And I think that's a really important balance to have people I think see stubborn as a thing, but like that's definitely a big part of like my drive as an athlete to keep doing things is because I want more and I want better. And I, you know, I had to watch that from somewhere. So the balance of helping other people, but also like putting my foot down and knowing what I want, I think.

That's been really important. That's so cool. I've never heard an answer like that being stubborn. I'm going to look at it a whole new way now. So what's your advice for people struggling right now and maybe not being able to be kind to themselves because they don't either have the coping mechanisms or they don't really accept who they are. My advice would be to go down a checklist and see when the last time you ate was, when was the last time you had a good like sleep? When was the last time you went outside?

When was the last time you like, called someone or connected with a person? When was the last time you showered and like, took care of yourself? Go through that checklist and then ask yourself again what the problem is. because I guarantee you the problem will probably change. And it's actually something much deeper than just I'm tired. and that's like, that's the best way to kind of get started. I think. there's going to be off days and I think being.

lenient with yourself and giving yourself grace in those moments like that is being kind to yourself and knowing that being hard on yourself works for some instances, but when you're, you know, when you're really like going through it, that's when you need the most grace and kindness and you need that from yourself because so many people can tell you that but unless you really feel that way about yourself, it might not hit as hard. And that's not to say

You sometimes you hear that thing of like, have to learn to love yourself before anybody else can love you. I call complete, like absolutely not on that. I think that's great. I love the concept of being independent, but I do think that people will come into your life and teach you how to love you because maybe that's a version of love that you were not raised to see or to look at. So just accepting that from everywhere, including yourself is very important. And it's beautiful. Well, I'm to go run through that checklist right now and maybe eat something.

Robert Peterpaul (12:41.506)

But thank you so much for taking the time to chat today. I think you're awesome. And just keep putting all that light out into the world. thank you so much.