“You gotta be the best on your worst day.”

Words to live by from the mother of Ronda Rousey, the mixed-martial-artist-turned-professional wrestler known as “the baddest woman on the planet.” Rousey’s mother happens to be first American to win a gold medal at the World Judo Championships, and she also happens to be the mother of podcast guest Maria Burns Ortiz, co-author of Rousey’s just-published memoir Our Fight.

The book is a follow-up to the sisters’ previous collaboration—the New York Times best-selling My Fight/Your Fight.   

Maria has taken her mother’s hard-won advice to heart, in an entirely different arena from her famous sister. A former columnist at ESPN.com, with an expertise in digital integration in sports media, she was honored as the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Emerging Journalist of the Year in 2007 and has served as an adjunct professor of journalism at Emerson College. 

Alongside her work as a journalist, Maria is also a leader and innovator in the game development industry. She is the CEO and co-founder of 7 Generation Games, an award-winning developer of educational adventure games for children, and was recently named executive director of Global Game Jam, the world’s largest game creation event. 

Join us as Maria shares what it was like to give voice to a shared childhood and a family history that gave rise to one of the most celebrated female athletes of our time. 

Learn more about Maria Burns Ortiz:

• Website
• X/Twitter
• Instagram
• Ronda Rousey on Instagram
• Ronda Rousey on Twitter

Please support the sponsors who support our show:

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Daniel Paisner Daniel Paisner - author, collaborator, podcaster

Daniel Paisner is an author, collaborator and podcaster. He is the author or co-author of over 80 books, including four novels and numerous works of non-fiction, and he is the ghostwriter behind 17 NYT best-sellers, written in collaboration with such celebrated personalities as Whoopi Goldberg, Serena Williams and Denzel Washington. He is the host of the podcast “AS TOLD TO: The Ghostwriting Podcast,” a production of the Writers Bone Podcast Network, which features conversations with his fellow ghostwriters, as well as songwriters, speechwriters, screenwriters and other artists who work in service of someone else’s voice or vision.