Olivia: Okay, Jackson. Abby Wambach's Wolfpack. Review it in exactly five words. Jackson: Hmm. Stop competing, start conquering. Together. Olivia: Ooh, I like that. Mine is: Fairy tales lie; wolves win. Jackson: That's a little more... aggressive. I'm intrigued. What's with the fairy tale smackdown? Olivia: It perfectly captures the energy of Wolfpack by Abby Wambach. And what’s fascinating is this whole book, which became a New York Times bestseller, started as a commencement speech she gave at Barnard College that just went completely viral. Jackson: Right, she’s the legendary soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist, World Cup champion. So this isn't some academic leadership guru; this is someone who lived and breathed teamwork at the highest level. Olivia: Exactly. She’s not writing from theory; she’s writing from the locker room, from the field, from the podium. And she distills that entire experience into a new set of rules, starting with a powerful challenge to the stories we're told from the moment we're born. Jackson: And I’m guessing Little Red Riding Hood is first on the chopping block. Olivia: You have no idea.

Olivia: Wambach opens with this brilliant takedown of the Little Red Riding Hood story. She argues that it's a cautionary tale we feed to girls that’s designed to keep them small. Think about the rules: Stay on the path. Don't talk to strangers. Be a good girl. Do as you're told. Jackson: Keep your head down, don't make waves, and whatever you do, don't wander into the woods where the interesting stuff happens. Olivia: Precisely. It’s a blueprint for limitation. And Wambach shares this really personal story about how this played out in her own life. As a kid, she hated wearing dresses. She said it felt like a costume, like she was hiding her true self. But everyone told her, "Good girls wear dresses." She’d look in the mirror and just feel this pit in her stomach. Jackson: I think a lot of people can relate to that feeling, whether it’s about clothes or something else. That sense of performing a version of yourself that society expects, and it just feels… wrong. Inauthentic. Olivia: Exactly. And Wambach’s first new rule is a direct rebuttal to that. She says: "You were never Little Red Riding Hood. You were always the Wolf." It's about reclaiming that identity you had before the world told you who you were supposed to be. Jackson: Okay, but I have to push back a little here. "Be the wolf" can sound a bit like that generic, "unleash your inner beast" self-help advice you see on coffee mugs. What does it actually mean in practice? How does it go beyond a slogan? Olivia: That’s a fair question, and Wambach grounds it immediately with her next rule, which is where the real teeth of the argument are. The rule is: "Be Grateful AND Ambitious." The "and" is everything. Jackson: Ah, so it’s not one or the other. Because "just be grateful" can be a trap, right? It’s what people tell you when they don't want you to ask for more. Olivia: It's the ultimate trap. And she illustrates this with one of the most powerful stories in the book. In 2016, after she retired, she was given the Icon Award at the ESPYs, a huge televised sports awards show. She was on stage with two other retiring legends: Kobe Bryant and Peyton Manning. Jackson: Wow. That's the pinnacle of sports royalty. Olivia: Absolutely. And she describes standing there, feeling this immense wave of gratitude. She's thinking, "I made it. A woman is standing here with these titans of men's sports. This is a win for all of us." She’s just soaking in the gratitude. But then, as they are standing there, a different thought cuts through the noise. Jackson: What was it? Olivia: She looks at Kobe and Peyton, and she thinks about their retirements. They are walking off into the sunset with immense financial security, with lifetimes of earnings that dwarf hers. She, on the other hand, is walking into a future with much more uncertainty. The pay gap in sports is a chasm. And in that moment, standing on stage, the gratitude curdles into a flash of pure, hot anger. Jackson: Whoa. To have that realization on live television, in front of millions… that’s intense. It’s the perfect illustration of how gratitude can be used to keep people in their place. You’re so busy being thankful for being invited to the party that you don’t notice you’re being served a smaller slice of cake. Olivia: A much, much smaller slice. She quotes the prize money for the World Cup. In 2018, the winning men's team got $38 million. The winning women's team in 2015? Two million. And that’s despite the fact that the U.S. Women’s team was generating more profit than the men’s team at the time. Jackson: That’s infuriating. And it makes the "Grateful AND Ambitious" rule so much more potent. It’s not about being ungrateful. It’s about holding two truths at once: I am deeply thankful for this opportunity, AND I deserve to be compensated and respected equally for my work and my success. Olivia: That's the wolf. The wolf is grateful for the meal, but it will still fight for its territory. It doesn't apologize for its hunger. Wambach says our gratitude is often how power uses the tokenism of a few women to keep the rest in line. By breaking that cycle, you’re not just helping yourself; you’re changing the game for everyone who comes after you. Jackson: So the internal shift is step one. You have to stop seeing yourself as the lost girl in the woods and start seeing yourself as the wolf. You have to be willing to demand what you're worth, even if it makes people uncomfortable. Olivia: Exactly. And that realization—that the system itself is often the problem—is what leads directly to her second major idea. Once you've reclaimed your own power, you can't just stop there. That's when you have to find your Pack.

Jackson: This is the part of the book that really got me. The "Wolfpack" metaphor is so powerful. Olivia: It’s the heart of the whole book, and it’s based on another incredible true story. Wambach tells the story of the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in 1995. They had been gone for seventy years. Jackson: And what happened in their absence? Olivia: The deer population exploded. Without a natural predator, they just multiplied and ate everything. They grazed the valleys bare, which led to massive soil erosion. The riverbanks started collapsing, and the rivers themselves started to meander and lose their way. The whole ecosystem was out of balance, slowly dying. Jackson: So the absence of the predator was actually destroying the environment. That’s counterintuitive. Olivia: Completely. So, park rangers made the controversial decision to reintroduce a small number of wolves. And what happened next was miraculous. The wolves, of course, hunted some of the deer. But more importantly, they changed the behavior of the remaining deer. The deer started avoiding the open valleys and gorges where they were vulnerable. Jackson: They got smarter. They started playing defense. Olivia: And because the deer moved, the vegetation in those valleys began to regenerate. Trees started to grow again—in just six years, the tree height quintupled. And with the trees came the birds. With the trees came beavers, who are ecosystem engineers. The beavers built dams, which created habitats for otters, ducks, and fish. The wolves left carcasses, which fed ravens and bald eagles. The bear population grew because they could eat the berries growing on the regenerated shrubs. Jackson: Wait a minute. You’re telling me that reintroducing a few wolves literally changed the course of the rivers? Olivia: It changed the physical geography of the park. With the regenerated forests and stabilized banks, the erosion stopped. The rivers narrowed and flowed more freely. The wolves, initially feared as a threat to the system, became its salvation. They healed the entire ecosystem. Jackson: That is an unbelievable analogy. It completely reframes the idea of being a 'threat' to the status quo. It’s not about destruction; it’s about restoration. You’re not a disruptor; you’re a keystone species. Olivia: That is Wambach's core argument. She says, "Women—who are feared by many to be a threat to our system—will become our society’s salvation. WE. ARE. THE. WOLVES." It gives me chills every time. Jackson: It's brilliant. So how does this translate from wolves in Yellowstone to people in the real world? What does a human Wolfpack actually do? Olivia: They follow two key rules: "Champion Each Other" and "Lead from the Bench." For "Champion Each Other," she uses a soccer analogy. When a player scores a goal, what does the rest of the team do? Jackson: They go wild. They all sprint towards the scorer, piling on, celebrating. Olivia: Right. The bench erupts. The coaches are ecstatic. It's pure, shared joy. Wambach says that's how women should be for each other. When one woman scores a victory—gets a promotion, launches a business, passes a policy—the rest of the pack should rush to her, celebrating her win as their own. Because her victory makes the whole pack stronger. Jackson: And the flip side is also true. She says when you're the one who scores, you better start pointing. Acknowledge the people who passed you the ball, who made the defensive play that started the attack. Olivia: Exactly. It dismantles the myth of scarcity—the idea that there's only one seat at the table for a woman, so we all have to fight for it. Wambach says that's a lie power tells us to keep us divided. The Wolfpack builds a new, bigger table. Jackson: That "Lead from the Bench" idea is also so critical. Most of us aren't the star player or the CEO. This gives everyone permission to be a leader, right where they are. Olivia: She learned this lesson at the end of her own career, during the 2015 World Cup. She was the team captain, a legend, but she wasn't at her peak anymore. The coach made the tough call to have her come off the bench instead of starting. For a competitor like her, that was devastating. Jackson: I can't even imagine. To go from being the centerpiece to a substitute in the biggest tournament of your life. Olivia: But she made a choice. Instead of sulking, she decided to be the loudest, most supportive voice on that bench. She cheered for the starters, she coached the younger players, she screamed until her voice was hoarse. She led with her energy and her belief in them. And they won the World Cup. She said the pride she felt in her leadership from the bench was as profound as any goal she ever scored. Jackson: That’s it right there. That’s the whole philosophy in one story. Leadership isn't a title. It's an action. It's an offering you give to the world, from wherever you stand.

Olivia: So you see the arc. It starts with an internal revolution—realizing you're the wolf, not Little Red Riding Hood. You have to claim your ambition and reframe your failures. But it can't end there. The wolf's true power is only unleashed when it joins the pack. Jackson: Individual empowerment is the spark, but collective action is the fire that changes the landscape. It’s a two-part process. You can’t have one without the other. Olivia: And that’s why this book, which some critics have called too simple or too short, has had such a massive cultural impact. It's not a dense academic manual; it's a rally cry. It’s accessible on purpose. Jackson: Right. It gives people a new, shared language. The term "Wolfpack" itself has become a cultural shorthand for the kind of supportive, powerful community that so many people, especially women, are craving. It’s a way to name the thing they need to build. Olivia: Wambach isn't trying to give you a 300-page dissertation on feminist theory. She’s trying to hand you a megaphone and a map. She’s saying, "Here are the new rules. Here is the new game. Now go find your people and start playing." Jackson: It’s less of a "how-to" guide and more of a "permission slip." Permission to be loud, to be ambitious, to fail, and most importantly, to rely on each other. Olivia: Exactly. It's a starting point. So the question Wambach leaves us with is a powerful one: Who is in your Pack? And if you don't have one, what's the first step you can take today to start building it? Jackson: A question worth reflecting on. It might be as simple as sending a text to a friend and saying, "I'm for you." Olivia: That’s a perfect place to start. Jackson: This is Aibrary, signing off.