Work Besties Who Podcast
Building a bold community of work besties 💼👯♀️ to bond 🤝💞, banter 😂🎉, and bloom 🌸✨
🎙️ Listen to the Work Besties Who Podcast: where workplace friendships get real! From tea spills to relatable laughs, we’re unpacking everything about work life's ups, downs, and unforgettable moments.
✨ Join us for candid chats, relatable stories, and a sprinkle of chaos—because what’s work without a little drama and a lot of fun?
💼😄 Hit play, and let’s dive into the messy magic of workplace connections together!
Work Besties:-)
Work Besties Who Podcast
How Work Friendships Can Spark Total Reinvention with Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore
What happens when your career takes an unexpected pivot—from high-powered agent to published author—and your work friendships evolve into personal lifelines?
In this episode, Jess and Claude dive deep with Clélia Castro-Malaspina, a former literary agent turned award-winning children’s author, who’s rewriting the rules of connection, creativity, and career.
💬 We talk:
- How critique groups can save your sanity—and your story
- What coffee shops and connection have in common
- Why keeping work friendships alive can launch your next chapter
- And how to build meaningful support networks in remote or creative careers
Clélia also opens up about her powerful new book, Girls with Goals: How Women’s Soccer Took Over the World—a fierce, inspiring history of the women who kicked down barriers, built a global movement, and lit the way for future generations of female athletes. 🌍⚽
Whether you're chasing a dream, changing careers, or cheering from the sidelines—this episode is for you.
🎧 Plus: Learn how her first book, Your Freedom, Your Power, teaches kids the First Amendment like never before—one protest sign at a time. 🗽📚
📅 Girls with Goals hits shelves May 6th in the U.S. and May 8th in the UK—published by Holler, an imprint of Quarto.
📚 Your Freedom, Your Power is out now from Running Press Kids.
🔗 Connect with Clélia:
Website: https://mossypinescreative.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mossypinesclelia/
✨ Come for the book talk, stay for the inspiration—and maybe the goosebumps.
🎙️ Listen now on all platforms or watch the full conversation on YouTube.
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Work Besties! Theme Song Written by Ralph Lentini @therallyband
What happens when your work bestie becomes your life partner, and how do you find new work besties when you step away from that corporate life and move into entrepreneurship? Well, today's guest, clelia Castro Malaspino, has navigated these transitions, and more so. She was a former literary agent and she's turned to an entrepreneur, and Clelia now runs her own editorial and consulting company called Mossy Pines Creative and is the author of an upcoming book that we're super excited to preview and talk about. Stay tuned, because Clelia is going to drop some really powerful insights on finding connections in every stage of life.
Claude:Hi, I'm Claude and I'm Jess. We are corporate employees by day, entrepreneurs by night and work besties for life.
Jess:Join us as we explore how work besties lift each other up, laugh through the chaos and thrive together in every industry.
Claude:Welcome, Clelia. So happy to have you here. Please introduce yourself to the audience.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yes, I'm Clelia Castro Malaspina. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you. I am a former literary agent. I work in the children's book industry, but now I am a freelance editor, a consultant and an author. Do you ever sleep? Well, you know, I'm a mother of a three-year-old, so the answer to that is no, no.
Jess:That's how you do it all. Now I get it. Yes.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:You know, adrenaline takes you pretty far in life.
Jess:It really does, especially during those ages.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:For sure.
Jess:So, clelia, you've got a lot for us to chat about. One of the things that I think is kind of unique, that you don't hear often, is how one of your original or early on work besties has now become your life part.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:That is true.
Jess:Would you mind sharing about that?
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:So my husband, mike, and I, we met. So before I was a literary agent, I was actually a lawyer. I've had many chapters in life but I was a lawyer for a few years. That I didn't last very long. But my husband I actually met first as interns at the law firm we eventually both worked at. So we were law students and we both happened to go to law school in DC. The firm was in New York and then we worked together in New York the first two years of our legal careers the only two years of my legal career and then we, you know, we hit it off right away. Actually we were friends, definitely friends first. We were both dating other people, sort of not interested in each other in that way, but we really just hit it off right away.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:I first met him in Union Station, which is in DC, waiting for the train to go to Philadelphia for the like kickoff summer intern work event. It was like in March of our second year of law school and I was kind of looking around for someone who looked about my age and a suit like maybe looked law for me, and so I went up to this guy who's like hey, are you here for the thing. And he was like, yeah, and so we, we stood next to each other, we sat next to each other on the train and we just started yapping. We had really similar sense of humor and I was like, okay, this guy you know he's funny, this is good. I was kind of nervous. It was my first real job and I was like this is going to be okay.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:And then that summer came around and we were kind of like buddies the whole time. We always sat next to each other on the bus, sat next to each other on the bus. I'd go to his office to chat, we'd kind of like put our heads together on projects and stuff like that. There was a lot of events. We were hung out at events. A lot Just thought each other were funny. We both were reading. The last Harry Potter came out that summer and there are all these serious lawyers in New York and then I remember we were the only two who were sort of just like in our offices pretending to work but just like furiously reading the last Harry Potter and then talking about it. So that was a good sign. And then when we ended up working together for real about a year later after we'd taken the bar exam and all that. I kind of realized. Well, maybe, like we're such good friends for a reason, mike was definitely sort of like my bud, my main bud, and then it blossomed.
Jess:Yeah, so do you think that working together had strengthened that bond?
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:For sure. I mean especially so. We were a summer associates and first year, second year associates in New York City in a corporate law firm in 2008 and 2009, when it was like a crazy time to be in that situation and it's a kind of notoriously difficult environment and so you're kind of like in the trenches together. It's like we would be at the office till like 10 pm, sometimes midnight, and just having a bud there. Who understood what was what?
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:was going on and to someone who could always make you laugh, even if, like people were being mean to you, stress was high and you had a million things to do.
Claude:It was it was great having that go-to person and did you become an item during that, uh, that time, or?
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:afterwards oh no, we certainly did. It was like this big secret. For a while, though it was kind of annoying. Everyone was like yeah, we knew you guys would get together, which was like such an annoying comment, because that for a long time I was like no, he's just my friend, he's just my friend, he's just my friend. But then everyone else was right, I guess, and I was yeah, they saw the connection as well.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yes, yeah, I mean, I guess there was definitely like obvious sparks, but I thought it was like no, we just have the same sense of humor, but it was more than that. I was wrong.
Jess:So you two then became together and then you left and created a whole nother pivot yeah.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:So I totally pivoted. Well, actually there is some overlap. I'd say I left my legal career. I'd say I left my career as a lawyer but as a literary agent, and I did that for about nine years. There is this whole contract negotiation element of it. I did that for about nine years. There is this whole contract negotiation element of it. But basically, for those who don't know what a literary agent does, is they represent creators, writers and illustrators too in my industry for children's books and you basically work with them to develop their work and then you pitch it to publishers hoping to sell their work, and when you sell them you negotiate their contracts and then you also kind of manage their career from then on in. So it's definitely like a multi-faceted job. It was a cool job.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:It was a big, big, big pivot because I worked from this like big international law firm.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:You know where we'd have virtual meetings with the Hong Kong office and there'd be like work, happy hours and Christmas parties and and weekly group meetings, monthly firm meetings to like a company. At first it was just me and one other woman and then it grew to three and then it grew to four when I was there and it was based in Seattle but like mostly remote, and so that was like a totally big pivot and I would say, for the most part I like that pivot. But one of the biggest challenges was that I am, like inherently a very social person. I you know, when I was at the firm I had a lot of friends like hung out. I was happy to sit at the lunch table to chat. Going to people's office to visit, went to the happy hours, went to the events always game for that sort of stuff and to day I still remain good friends with some people I worked with 15 years ago there. So going to this situation where Hybrid or a remote situation.
Jess:Yeah, it was how did you navigate getting that kind of social connection still?
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:I pretty much figured out that that was going to be a challenge for me right away.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:And so to me it was like how can I figure out ways to get that socialization and a job that's like not by design super social? And so I came up with kind of like a plan that ended up working out and then later on, when I started my own business it's a business of one I was able to employ that too and and it's continue, continue that. So basically in a couple ways, right. So first I did work with a few women, and we're all generally in the same area, and so, even though we worked remotely, we would meet up periodically to have like a group lunch, whatever One of the women who lived near me. We would meet up periodically at like a coffee shop, just to like have someone to sit next to and chat with and do work next to. For a while I also made sure to just like every month I had to like go meet someone in person, so like people in your industry. So to me there were publishing is a small industry in Seattle, which is where I live, but we all know each other, right and so, and most of us work by ourselves at home, remotely, so it's an easy, yes, to get someone to come have coffee with you, come have lunch with you because they're also sort of happy to see someone. Sort of like, every month I have to make a coffee or lunch date with someone and I consider it networking, right, even if it's just a social call, but it's someone in your industry. You definitely always talk about industry stuff, so it's a networking thing. I also join groups that are associated with my industry. So in the children's book world there's this awesome organization called the Society of Children's Books, writers and Illustrators, which is creators who live in the area get together. It's a national organization but it has local branches and this branch, you know, is wonderful, the Western Washington branch. They have events and meetups and stuff, and the people are all like-minded, have the same interests, the same appreciations in life. So it's great to meet people that way.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:The other thing I do so I can't like work at the same desk like every day, right, I need to like change it up.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:So I have my coffee shops that I like, that I base on vibes, right, if they're good vibes, you get to be one of my regular shop coffee shops. And sometimes you see the same people over and over again and so a few years into me working remotely, I'd seen the same people so I was like you know what, I'm just gonna talk to these people and just like say hi, it'll be awkward, but like, and in the end you kind of have like your coffee shop buddies, yeah, you know, and sometimes you'll like lock eyes across the shop when something funny happens, or you know what I mean or chat like a complicated order comes in and you're like yeah, so maybe you know I'm a desperate woman and just to make it, you know what it's like it's probably like when you were in the corporate environment as your lawyer you still had to work with the accounting team, or you had to work the it team and you still have those connections, even though you don't really see your work, so it's not like work besties, but coffee besties.
Claude:So did you yeah?
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:sure? Well, I mean, we're just in there doing work.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:It's our alternative workplace, I guess, but it's funny. You do like see the same people over and over again. And what's funny? Now, in my new job we also moved to a suburb of Seattle so I had to find a whole new onslaught of good vibes coffee shops. But one of them randomly ended up being like this place where other kid books creators go to. I did not know, but like I was there a couple times I'd be like I'd be like rob kevin ellie, like it has become. This place for whatever reason attracts that type of people so that one's great to go to because you might just run into someone who you actually work with yeah, so that was cool.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yeah, and then the last thing I want to say, which I'm most proud of, is that you kind of like make your own group. In my author life, I really wanted to have the benefit of other writers looking at my work, critiquing my work. Critique groups are common with writers and it's just you kind of like I'll put your heads together, read your stuff, give each other feedback Cheerleading is great so I didn't have that, and so I put out a call for one through this organization, scbwi, and was able to get a group of five writers together that we meet in person every Wednesday morning, the same coffee shop for two hours. I fully consider this a part of my job, but in the best possible way, and it has become such a absolute wonderful part of my life and my week, and these people were just like each other's cheerleaders. Our work has gotten better because of the time we spent together and we're just also happy to have this group, and it was something that I came out of my need to have more work friends.
Claude:That's incredible, that is a great you know insight and for people that are the same, you know working for their, for their own, to go, so to do this group to build their own group.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yeah, I mean, I think, like you'll find that people like spending time with people. I think it's like literally science of happiness, like having interactions, personal interactions with other people like gives you joy. Even if it's like a medium interaction, it's better than being alone. So I think people would be really receptive and maybe are too shy or don't know how or whatever. So if you go out there and try and create something like people will come.
Jess:You know, and it's a really eclectic group thing like people will come, you know, and it's a really eclectic group. Yeah, over time you probably build that trust.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:So now you share more, maybe not even just the work related, but the personal stuff too, that's for sure, yes, and it's like we have a baby boomer, gen x, three millennials, like coming from the east side, the west side. It's like it's a good group, that's a good hat A lot of diversity.
Claude:That is great because we always say also with World Besties. A lot of times you have this inter-generation friendship. So we need to have a generation of millennials.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yeah, and I feel like work is a special place where you can actually have those intergenerational relationships, even though I had to sort of like make it on my own, like it is related to my work and part of my job.
Jess:Well, it's related to your work. It's helping for all of you, I'm sure.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:For sure.
Jess:But it's also probably a really good, almost like the equivalent of meditation, where you take that step back and appreciate what you're doing, because you have these other people to discuss it with.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yeah, no, a hundred percent. It's just like and we're all like trusted people in each other's lives. Now, writing is inherently such a personal activity right.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:And so every week we're sharing really personal stuff and, you know, helping each other make it better. There's so much frustration that comes with being an aspiring writer or aspiring author, and so you know, getting out those frustrations, coming up with strategies, tactics, sharing information, stuff like that. It's just been really wonderful. And you know, I've been in the industry for a long time, but some of the others haven't, and so but I think I feel like I've taken something from all of them. Like I feel like I probably think I can give a lot, but I feel like I've gotten from every single one of them and it's been just a really positive experience.
Jess:It's amazing, you're all giving as much as you're taking.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yeah, for sure, and we're all taking. We're all taking yeah.
Jess:But that's the whole point of a relationship like that, and work besties in general is meant to do that. It's the person that's going to challenge you but also applaud you, so it's a good For sure, for sure, and like the nature of a critique group literally has the word critique inside of it, so there's some challenging.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:You know of it being like this isn't good and here's why.
Claude:But, like said, nicely Right right, but that's what is important. Yeah, that's what is important when you trust again, I'm going back to the same jess, you know, but the trust right, when you trust someone and you trust their point of view I would think at least I know in.
Jess:even in my industry, when I ask for critiques on some stuff, I take the feedback more readily from people that they know how to do it too, because I feel like the experience adds another layer to it as well. But, yes, you also need to build that trust too, which is, it sounds like you guys did.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yeah, no for sure, and it's now. The group's been in existence for almost two years, so everyone's safe.
Jess:That's awesome, because you threw that out.
Claude:there Are you thinking even to bring more people, or it's just that this is you, we started as a five and then we brought in a six.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:We have six members.
Claude:Six now.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:She was a wonderful ad. I remember everyone was a little nervous at first, yeah, yeah, because we had a great thing going right, but then it was good and also not everyone can come every week, so it's good to have. You're pretty much guaranteed to have like three seats filled, which makes for a good critique session. That's good, I would say. We are still open to other people, but we also meet in the middle of the week, during the day, so you kind of can't have a regular job if you're available at the time we're meeting you have to fit a certain persona to be able to do that.
Jess:Yeah, for certain job requirements. Wow, you've given us a lot of interesting tactics and unique opportunities then, when you are an entrepreneur or work by yourself, of how to make those.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yeah, yeah, I think it would be unhealthy if I, like, was just sitting alone by myself every day. I'm a mom so I'm happy to be sitting at home a lot and like run and do the laundry, do this thing, that thing for my girls. But I think having that social part is super important for my mental health and has helped me so much in my career. Just having these people enriching like the art that I do, the business that I do, like it's been wonderful.
Jess:So I think that's a perfect segue. So you move from being a literary agent to now writing yourself. Yes, how did you move from that one agent to now writing yourself.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:How did you move from that one to this? Yes, so that's an interesting one. It's like I feel like I took baby steps towards getting here. So first, as a kid, I was one of these many people who dreamed of being a writer, especially children's books. It's just like it's always been a draw to me. I kept reading picture books, even as like an adult. My old law firm was in across from Grand Central Station and there was this little bookstore named Poseman Books in Grand Central and when I was feeling like super stressed, I would just walk over to there and go to the kids book section and just like, look at the picture books, I just find them like plumbing. And so when I pivoted, I was like I'm for sure going into children's books, and so I started representing clients. And then I went, I ghost wrote a book.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:And then I had my friend, who's an agent, also had a client who wanted to write a book, but she herself wasn't a writer. She had this nice platform and this great idea, and my agent knew that I had specialized in middle grade nonfiction and that I had a ghost written this book. And she's like. She's like you have the goods, you can do this? Why don't you just talk to this woman, let's prepare the proposal? I think you can do this. And I was like are you sure? And my agent to this day, Lily Garamani from Full Circle Literary Angel Woman? She was like you can do, you can do this, you circle literary angel woman. She was like you can do, you can do this, you can do this. So I was like okay. So then I talked to the woman. This woman, Allison Matuli, amazing woman, really hit it off. And then we end up preparing this proposal for a book, a kid's book, about the first amendment. Um sold the book and then Lily's like so you're gonna write it. I was like okay. So then I started doing that and then the project went off great. The book came out two years ago. It's called called your Freedom, your Power A Kid's Guide to the First Amendment. It got starred reviews, which is kind of a big deal in our industry and was a really positive, wonderful experience, Really proud of that. So then I had co-authored a book. I went from representing ghostwriting co-authoring and so now, standing on my own two feet, I decided to write a book on my own.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:And I I decided to write a book on my own, and the other passion I had since I was a kid was soccer, specifically women's soccer. I played as a kid. I was in high school when the 1999 World Cup happened the whole Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain and I was 16. I attended the opening match of the whole tournament with my friends and it was like a watershed moment for me. It was like I don't know.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Growing up in like the 80s and 90s, I was a sports girl, right. I have all these brothers and I love, like Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky and all these like larger than life athletes who are all men. And then I went to this stadium that was filled with girls Everyone on the field was a woman ponytail were all men. And then I went to this stadium that was filled with girls Everyone on the field was a woman ponytail, sports bra and it was just such an incredible experience. I felt my own power as a girl for one of the first times in my life and it was so awesome, it was so celebratory and it just stuck with me and that just got me hooked on women's soccer forever the US Women's National Team forever and have been a fan ever since.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:So when it came time to write my own book again. My amazing agent, Lily's, like got to write this book, you got to find a great topic and I was like what should I write about? What should I write about? And then it just hit me like there has not been like a book for teens about the whole history of women's soccer, the whole history of women's soccer, so not just these women in 1999 and after the amazing equal pay fight that went down and Title IX and all that.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:But 100 years before that, 150 years before that, the sport had these incredible beginnings in the UK where women, the first women, these Victorian ladies, would take off their corsets, put on these scandalizing pants and they were literally chased off the field by men. But they went out there, just wanted to play and they just defied all social norms at the time. And then there was this whole incredible history that happened from then, these first games in the 80s through to now, and so this book it's called Girls with Goals how Women's Soccer Took Over the World is the first games in the 80s through to now, and so this book it's called Girls with Goals how Women's Soccer Took Over the World is the first book in the children's and teen market. That basically goes through the very, very beginnings of the sport till now and it just celebrates all the amazing women and the amazing wins that they had throughout this whole thing. Like people don't know that women's soccer was banned for 50 years in England. It was just.
Claude:What Like in which years, like when was it banned?
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:So the late 1920s until about the 1970s.
Claude:Wow yeah 1971.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:And what happened was um, there was so okay, how you guys have seen the movie, a league of their own, how the women's team. Okay, so take that, but make it world war. One put it in england, and it was with soccer. So all the men went to war, they left the factories, so the women the women went to the factories and at the time.
Jess:I want to see this movie like my, if this movie needs to be made.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:My book's available for option. But so the men left to go to war. The women worked in the factories for the first time and at the time all these towns who love football, right, their local teams were actually teams made from people who worked at the factory. So the women were allowed to form these teams because it was a charitable venture they were raising money for, like the boys on the forefront of the war, and so that's why it was allowed. And out of these teams, this incredible team called Dick Kerr, and it was named after the factory it was the Dick Kerr Munition Factory and they were just this unstoppable, incredible team with these great personalities and they would gather crowds of like 50,000 people. There's like what this was in the late twenties and it kind of like pissed off the football association, the formal, like men's football association, and then they issued a ban that no women were able to play in any stadium associated with the FA, which is all of them.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:And so that basically banned them from playing. That happened for 50 years and so basically they got so incredibly popular Like they would make international news. They were beloved. It was called the first golden age of women's soccer, and then nothing, poof nothing, and everyone forgot about it.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:You barely hear about it and it was just like this incredible, incredible team that was so beloved. And then, basically, women's soccer was resurrected in the 1970s with title nine in the us. It basically awoke the sleeping giant of america, and then we became freaking awesome at soccer. And then all these other things happened. But it the book kind of goes through all of it and it's it's just. Women were told no every step of the way and every single time they overcame it.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:They won every single time. So it's such a victorious, uplifting story. It can feel tough right now to be a girl or a woman and like to have something that's just so uplifting where women are, like always, the victors. It's wonderful. It's a wonderful story.
Jess:So I am a huge fan of soccer.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:I played it my whole childhood Amazing.
Jess:I also have a memory. I was at that same game with Mia.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Hayes.
Jess:And I actually got to meet her randomly once when I lived in Chicago. To this day, it's probably one of my absolute favorite meetings. And the poor woman I went running up no one was bothering her, I was the only one that was like Dude. I hug you.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:You're so cool Like come on I think that is a person where I would not be able to be cool in front of Like I would not be able to be cool in front of you. She's just like she's very shy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I've read and seen, but. I think, I'm a huge dork around her.
Jess:Yeah, I was a very big dork. She was very kind because I've heard after the fact, when I told people the story they were like she does not like that type of stuff and she said okay to the hug and I hugged her like barely, Wow, you hugged her, I did. Well, I asked. I wasn't like just ran in but, um, which would not have been unlike me. No, I did ask, cause she was sitting there waiting and it was pretty. It was a pretty empty bar. It wasn't like there was like lots of people around her.
Jess:She's very nice, but you could tell she didn't really want to chit chat, sure.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Sure.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:But that was like the highlight of my life, like just being able to be in the presence of somebody that was so monumental to women and empowering yeah this day when I see that, like you know, julie Fowdy will often be on commentate on sports, or Brandi Tostini's or Brianna Scrape, I see them and I feel powerful. You know what I mean, because they were so impactful to girls of my generation, young women of our generation, just like at at the time and it was, it was, it was just huge, like their impact was just so huge and I love that they're all kind of still out there doing their thing, like still inspiring and still supportive and still, yeah, so cool and I love that.
Jess:The book I didn't even realize it's about the book, so I'm so excited to get my hands on a copy and read it to my daughter too. But the cool thing about it is the hit like the history. I didn't know any of that stuff, so yeah, I like you know maybe I don't even know where I would start to learn any of that. So it's so great that you're able to put that in front of people and kind of remind them yeah, and I have to say like so we're even educating.
Jess:I don't even remind.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yeah well, a lot of the research done was from these incredible academics.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:The number one main gal is, uh, this woman, jean williams, who's in the uk, but so women's history is so often unwritten, unrecorded and so, yes, these historians had to like dig through old newspapers, church registers just for, like, a mention of anything, and so hard to dig up that kind of history.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:So the first woman who really did it was this woman, jean Williams, who's still around, still amazing, and then inspired all these other academics to start looking into their own region. So I mean there's still a lot to uncover. Look, I basically went put in the book like the things that are out there, but there's still work being done and I feel like there's going to be some more amazing stories that we learn, especially out of, like South America, africa, asia, like there's going to be some really cool stuff I should mention. I should mention the book is like super global in theme. It's the world's game, right. So we really tried to have that book reflected in the book. So we cover all the continents, are in here and we bring in as much of the love as possible in this book.
Claude:And are you looking to have it translated? Because, if you think about it, soccer is the number one sport.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:I mean, I think the publisher is really smart and really wanting to sell it in lots of territories. It's actually coming out in the UK with a slightly different title how Women's Football Took Over the World on two days later, may 8th. So it's definitely coming out in the US and UK, but I think there are plans to expand where it's coming out and that would make me so so, so proud.
Jess:So what kind of message do you want young girls, or even the parents of these young girls, to take away from this?
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:If you have a passion, if you have something that you love, like, just go and do it, find a way to do it. There will be people tell you no, but there will be people say yes, and there will also be other girls and women who feel the same way you do and find them. Make a work, bestie, you know what I mean In what you just like, just if you love something like, no one can tell you not to do that, um, and just find a way. There's always a way and these women always found a way. Even when it was looking real bleak during that band, they found a way and now like, look what women's soccer is today.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:It's an absolute behemoth and continuing to just bring so much joy and inspiration to millions and millions and millions of people. Not just girls and women, men, you know, boys, that's great.
Claude:And especially together. Right, it's that togetherness again, that strength that those women were together to be able to show up. Sometimes we say women go against women, but no, women go together and really try to make the world better.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yeah, 100%, and you hear over and over again from the players we're just trying to make it better for the girls of the future From very early on in the sports. We're just trying to lay the path. We're fighting for this now, not for us, but for them. There's a otherness to it. You know they're not just thinking about themselves. There's a togetherness.
Jess:It's beautiful. Yeah, how can mentorship and those strong friendships that we are talking about, the work besties, how can they help young girls reach these goals?
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Just don't forget about the girls, right? I just feel like there's so much of the world I mean, we know this so much of the world is created for men and boys in mind, and just don't forget about them. Sometimes they need a specific kind of mentorship. There's a bit in Mia Hamm when they won the first World Cup. So their coach, toni DiCicco. At the time she said coaches like men, treat us like women, and what that meant was give us positive reinforcement. Don't just yell at us. Be aware of our like emotional state. You know what I mean, like things like that. So just like catering how you treat people, how you mentor people, with that in mind, that just what you do for the general population, what you do for men and boys isn't necessarily what the girl and women isn't necessarily how they will thrive best. And just keep the girls in mind. Keep them in mind.
Jess:Yes, like the training, the tactics, the skills, potentially the same, but the motivation, the encouragement, keep in mind the group, and it might not even be, to be fully transparent, the difference between male, between male female, but just the dynamics of the group working together yeah, for sure, of course. I love this.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:You have this book coming up with mention when it's launching and where people will yeah, so it's out May 6th in the US and it's available just kind of like wherever books are available. Pre-orders are open now and in the UK it is coming out two days later on May 8th.
Jess:What's next on your horizon?
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yes, so I talked about my love of picture books, working on some picture books. I would love to do some more in the women's sports space.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:I mean basketball right now, women's basketball right now is just on fire and it's like amazing to watch and I see a lot of parallels to the women's soccer rise and it's just so cool to like be able to witness this again. Right, and I'd love to do do sort of like something in in the basketball space for sure and they're going to have to do the equal pay too in basketball right yes, and luckily we have some ladies who paved the way on that yes still some work to come, but yes it's getting better, so that's awesome.
Jess:It sounds like you've got a lot coming up. We're excited for you and now that you've given behind your evolution and some ideas for those that are also in a similar situation, do you have any advice for people considering a career pivot, because you've done it a couple of times? Do you have any advice for people considering a career pivot, because you've done it a couple of times?
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yes, I have. I just think life has many chapters and just because you decided to do this one thing when you were 22, 25, like, doesn't mean you have to do that for the next 60 years. If you think of all the reasons why not to do something, you're not going to do something. Yes, obviously, especially if you have a family and stuff like that. Like you have to think about, weigh some of that stuff. But I also think just take that head first step into this new thing that you feel like could make you happy and go for it. Um, I just feel like so often people don't have regrets when they make that kind of decision and you only live once and again. Life has many chapters, so just time for a new one sometimes.
Jess:I think the way you said it is so smart. You usually don't have the regrets on the change. It's the regret for not doing it.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:Yeah, for sure.
Claude:Say people don't be scared of making the change Scrape together some courage.
Jess:Nothing but positivity will come from it. So last question how can our listeners follow you on? Find me on Instagram at at Mossy Pines, Clelia.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:And there I post about what it's like being a you know, a writer and freelancer in the Pacific Northwest. I talk about kids books, if you're into that, and some of my work too.
Jess:Show notes for those that didn't get get to quickly write that down so you'll be able to click directly. Clelia, your down so you'll be able to click directly, clélia, your journey is so cool, from how many minutes you've forged your path. And, yes, you have many chapters and it sounds like you still have more chapters to come. If I could just wrap it up, it's almost like saying everything you're doing is all about empowering women. I mean, yes, the specific book that we just talked about but, everything, yeah.
Clelia Castro-Malaspina Gore:I appreciate that.
Jess:Yeah, it's such a great reminder that forge your path and and find the people to support you, because they're out there For sure, that's my challenge All you work besties out there going into a bookstore and maybe flipping through the chat, the books with the kids' pictures and finding other people doing it or whatever your kind of niche is really create that book or that group of people that can be your sounding board. I think that is such a smart idea. You could do it in the corporate environment where you take 20, 30 minutes on a Zoom call, that you connect and chat about what's going on with you or do it live. Find your creative way to do that. So we challenge all of way to do that. So we challenge all of you to create that and share that story with us.
Jess:What are your creative ways that you've created these unique groups of people and how you go about doing it and keeping it active? Let's keep that conversation going. We'd love to hear from all of our work besties any empowering books they're currently reading themselves or even to their kids, and tag us at work besties who podcast. So if you've loved this episode, show us some love like, subscribe and follow so you never miss an episode, and leave us a review, because it helps us provide you even more work bestie fun. Share this episode with your fellow book lovers, and please look out for Clelia and follow her.
Jess:So until next time remember whether you're swapping snacks in the break room, rescuing each other from endless meetings or just sending that perfectly timed meme. Having a work bestie is like having your own personal hype squad.
Claude:So keep lifting each other, laughing through the chaos and, of course, thriving. Until next time, stay positive, stay productive and don't forget to keep supporting each other. Work besties.
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