Narrator: For seventy years, the wolves were gone from Yellowstone National Park. In their absence, the deer population exploded, grazing the land down to the soil. The riverbanks eroded, the trees stopped growing, and the ecosystem began to collapse. Then, in 1995, scientists reintroduced a small pack of wolves. What happened next was a miracle of ecological regeneration. The wolves didn't just hunt the deer; their presence changed the deer's behavior. The deer avoided open valleys, which allowed trees and vegetation to return. Birds and beavers came back. The beavers built dams, creating habitats for otters and fish. The revitalized forests stabilized the riverbanks, changing the very geography of the park. The wolves, once feared as a threat, became the system's salvation.

This story of ecological rebirth is the central metaphor in Abby Wambach's groundbreaking book, Wolfpack. The retired soccer legend argues that women have been taught to act like Little Red Riding Hood: stay on the path, be quiet, and don't cause trouble. But Wambach proposes a radical new vision. What if women, so often feared as a threat to the existing system, are actually the wolves society needs to restore balance and change the game forever? Wolfpack lays out eight new rules for women to unleash their individual power, unite as a collective, and build a new, more equitable world.

Narrator: Wambach’s first new rule challenges the foundational myths told to young girls. The story of Little Red Riding Hood, she argues, is a cautionary tale that teaches them to be good, stay on the path, and fear the wolf. This narrative conditions women to be compliant and to shrink themselves to fit societal expectations. Wambach urges women to reject this story entirely. The new rule is to create your own path, because you were never the damsel in distress; you were always the wolf.

She recalls her own childhood, where she was taught that "good girls wear dresses." For Wambach, wearing a dress felt like putting on a costume, hiding her true self and making her feel small. This early experience sparked a lifelong questioning of the arbitrary rules imposed on women. Later, in an all-girls high school, she observed a fascinating phenomenon. Away from the male gaze, her friends transformed. They became louder, more opinionated, and more comfortable in their own skin. They dressed for comfort, not for attention. It was a powerful lesson: women don't have to perform for anyone. They can wear what they want, love who they want, and become what they imagine. The wolf inside every woman, Wambach explains, is who she was before the world told her who to be. It is her untamed spirit, her power, and her truth.

Narrator: The old rules teach women to be grateful for any opportunity they get, which often keeps them from demanding what they truly deserve. Wambach’s second rule is to be both grateful AND ambitious. She illustrates this with a poignant story from the 2016 ESPY Awards. She was being honored with the Icon Award alongside retiring legends Kobe Bryant and Peyton Manning. Standing on stage, she felt immense gratitude. She had made it. But as she looked at the two men beside her, a different feeling surfaced: anger. She realized that while all three had made similar sacrifices and reached the pinnacle of their sports, their retirements would look vastly different. Kobe and Peyton were walking into immense financial security, while she, a champion in a sport that generated millions in profit, was not.

This experience crystallized for her how gratitude can be used to pacify women and maintain systemic inequality, like the staggering pay gap in sports and beyond. Women are taught to be so thankful for a seat at the table that they don't dare ask for equal pay. Wambach argues that women must hold both gratitude and ambition, demanding what they are worth.

This requires a new relationship with failure. Rule four is to make failure your fuel. Wambach notes that women often internalize failure as a sign of their unworthiness, causing them to quit the game too soon. She points to her U.S. Women’s National Team. After a devastating loss to Norway in the 1995 World Cup, the team didn't bury the memory. Instead, they taped a picture of the victorious Norwegian team celebrating to their locker room door. Every single day, they looked at that picture and used the pain of that failure as fuel. The next year, they won their first Olympic gold medal. Failure, Wambach insists, doesn't mean you're out of the game. It means you're finally in it.

Narrator: Traditional leadership is often seen as a top-down hierarchy, a position you earn. Wambach dismantles this idea with her third rule: lead from wherever you are. The most profound test of this principle came during the 2015 World Cup, her final tournament. As a veteran co-captain and the all-time leading international goal scorer, she had always led from the front. But her body was failing her, and after a few games, the coaches made the difficult decision to move her to the bench.

For a competitor like Wambach, this was a devastating blow to her ego. But as she sat on the sidelines, watching her teammates sing the national anthem without her, she made a choice. She decided to model the behavior of her former teammate, Lori Lindsey, who had been the ultimate bench leader—always cheering, always supporting, always putting the team first. Wambach became the loudest, most encouraging voice from the sidelines. She celebrated every success as if it were her own. The team went on to win the World Cup, and Wambach realized that her leadership from the bench was as vital to that victory as any goal she had ever scored. She learned that you are either a leader everywhere or nowhere.

This philosophy is reinforced by her seventh rule: lead with your full humanity. She tells the story of coach Pia Sundhage, who transformed the U.S. team's culture. Instead of demanding invulnerable followers, Sundhage brought her authentic, quirky self—even singing Bob Dylan songs in meetings—and cultivated a team of leaders. She encouraged players to bring their whole selves to the game, fostering a culture of shared creativity and trust. True leadership, Wambach concludes, isn't about creating followers; it's about cultivating more leaders.

Narrator: The most critical element of Wambach’s philosophy is the power of the collective. The old rules pit women against each other in a fight for scarce resources. The new rules—Champion Each Other, Demand the Ball, and Find Your Pack—are about building collective power. Wambach uses the metaphor of a soccer goal celebration to explain this. When a player scores, the entire team rushes to her. The scorer, in turn, points to the players who assisted her. This is the Wolfpack in action. "Rushing" is celebrating another woman’s victory as your own. "Pointing" is giving credit and lifting up those who helped you succeed. This behavior dismantles the lie of scarcity—the idea that one woman's success means less for another.

To be part of this, however, you must also believe in yourself. Wambach tells a story of her hero, Michelle Akers, who, in a losing scrimmage, ran up to her goalkeeper and screamed, "GIVE. ME. THE. EFFING. BALL." Akers then proceeded to single-handedly win the game. This wasn't arrogance; it was a woman unapologetically owning her power and demanding the chance to lead. When one woman demands the ball, it gives others permission to do the same.

Finally, none of this is possible alone. Wambach shares a personal story of struggling to start a running routine after retirement. It felt miserable and impossible, until her wife, Glennon Doyle, pointed out the missing piece: "You used to run with your Pack. Now you’re a lone wolf." Wambach realized that her entire career was built on the support of her teammates. Life is not meant to be lived alone. Every woman needs a Pack—a trusted circle to provide support, accountability, and strength.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from Wolfpack is the revolutionary idea that power is not a finite pie. The old rules were designed to maintain the illusion of scarcity, forcing women to compete for a single seat at a table they didn't build. Wambach's new rules are a blueprint for building a new, bigger table together. The core message is a shift from an individualistic, competitive mindset to one of collective action and shared success. Her victory is your victory.

The book leaves us with a profound challenge that extends beyond personal empowerment. It's a call to collective responsibility. The world doesn't change when one woman breaks through the glass ceiling; it changes when she reaches back and pulls her Pack up with her. The most pressing question Wambach leaves us with is not just "Who am I?" but "Who is in my Pack, and how are we, together, going to change the game?"