Megan Rapinoe wants to encourage people to quit anything "that's not fulfilling you anymore."- The
USWNT star added that the "grind culture" that's pervasive in high-level athletics "is stupid."
Megan Rapinoe is a proponent of
The US Women's National Team forward — best known for her colorful hair, her outspoken nature, and a lethal finishing ability — says she's quit plenty of times throughout her illustrious soccer career. It doesn't appear to have limited her professional success in the slightest; she's won an Olympic gold medal and two World Cup titles, en route to becoming one of the most respected soccer players on the planet.
"I just feel like it's courageous to quit something that's not fulfilling you anymore," Rapinoe told Insider. "And you only have this one little life, so you might as well do something that serves you."
Though it's pervasive in high-level athletics, Rapinoe refuses to embrace the "grind culture" that prioritizes pursuit of a goal regardless of the sacrifices required. She says the concept of pushing through pain, discomfort, and otherwise unsavory conditions "is just ingrained in us as this American ideal and — shocker — we've been lied to."
"Grind culture is stupid," Rapinoe said. "And ultimately I feel like it's probably the big corporations that did that so they can grind us into the ground and take everything from us. I'm like, who does this serve?"
"We get down on ourselves too [that] if we quit, then we're a failure," she added. "That's really not the case at all. That's actually not what life is at all. It's just kind of this series of all of us trying to be the best that we can."
The OL Reign star teamed up with Schmidt's — a natural deodorant brand that owes its existence to founder Jaime Schmidt quitting her day job — to help encourage people to step away from the jobs, relationships, and obligations that they dread.
They want fans to write their quitting stories in the comments of Rapinoe's Instagram video. They'll select three winners who will have a chance to video chat with Rapinoe and Schmidt for advice on parting ways with the status quo and pursuing their true passions. The winners will also get $1,500 for a weekend getaway.
"I think people do need to be encouraged and be told that it is courageous to quit," Rapinoe said. "It can be a really empowering, life-changing thing to just say no, and to not continue to do something that makes you miserable."
"I'm excited for [mine and Jaime's] little virtual quitter support group that we're doing and hopefully get people on an amazing little retreat," she added.
Rapinoe's pondered some quitting of her own in recent months as she's been sidelined with "a particularly annoying and frustrating injury." And while she admits that retirement does "go through my mind, obviously being in
"I'm very much looking forward to life after [soccer], but still enjoying it at the time," Rapinoe said, adding: "No, I'm not quitting anything anytime soon."