In episode 1 of the Advocating for Athletes series, Abbie Hillis is hosted by Meghan Romere, who was also a co-founder of the 12th Woman. In this episode, Abbie Hillis specifically shares her experience at Capital Gymnastics in Austin, TX as both an athlete and as a coach. She describes her experiences as the subject of emotional abuse by different coaches throughout her gymnastics career, and describes stories of abuse she witnessed as an adult and coach.
The series then dives into a coach’s pe...
In episode 1 of the Advocating for Athletes series, Abbie Hillis is hosted by Meghan Romere, who was also a co-founder of the 12th Woman. In this episode, Abbie Hillis specifically shares her experience at Capital Gymnastics in Austin, TX as both an athlete and as a coach. She describes her experiences as the subject of emotional abuse by different coaches throughout her gymnastics career, and describes stories of abuse she witnessed as an adult and coach.
The series then dives into a coach’s perspective on the culture with gymnastics and high-level sports and how, as a coach, it is hard to be an advocate when so many still treat athletes the wrong way.
Abbie then transitions to share her story of her assault and how reporting it to Texas A&M University and College Station Police Department did nothing. She shares the issues that still exist within the administration at Texas A&M and how even though there has been change, there can still be more.
Ultimately, Abbie is an example of an everyday athlete and college student and wants to share her story to show other's that you don't need to be famous for your story to be heard. Sharing and demanding change in numbers creates change and that is Abbie's hope.
Learn more about Abbie:
Abbie is an experienced event planner and marketing professional committed to helping others live the life they are capable of living by creating work and business that is driven by passion and investing in others. She is the owner of an event and marketing firm, Gro Group, and its sister company, ACH Events, a wedding planning business. Abbie firmly believes that an event is a place for people to come together in a community, and whether it is business or personal, Abbie manages the vendor team through compassion and leadership, in order to facilitate remarkable events. Abbie has over 10 years of event planning experience and holds a BS in Sport Management from Texas A&M University with a focus on International and Cultural Management and a minor in Communication. Abbie is the creator of the Loving This Life Podcast, and co-founder of the 12th Woman, an advocacy group for sexual assault survivors at universities in the United States.
Abbie lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, Kieran and son, KJ.
To learn more about TAP visit www.texasadvocacyproject.org.
To learn share your story visit: www.lovingthislife.org/shareyourstory
To donate to TAP visit: https://www.texasadvocacyproject.org/LovingThisLife
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