Introduction (Chris Lawrence):
"We're here with Millsaps alum, Jade Hewitt. She recently got back from Tokyo taking for photos and videos of the USA Softball Women's National Team. And I'm Chris Lawrence, the Millsaps Director of Sports Information."
 
On the Olympic Experience (Jade Hewitt):
"Tokyo was an absolute whirlwind. We were over there for about 29 days in total. We went over two weeks prior to Iwakuni, Japan. There's a Marine Corps base over there and stayed on the base and got a bunch of practice games in and training. That was a really cool experience. We were there for two weeks in the blazing heat, it's ruthless over there in Japan. Then we did the big travel over to Tokyo and that is where we were for the Olympic portion of the trip."
 
"At times you just kind of sat down, collected our staff members and were like, 'Are we actually here?' You see the rings everywhere; you see all the athletes from all the different countries. You just kind of can't really believe that you're there, which happened to us like 10 times a day. It was just an amazing experience. It was sentimental and emotional for me because I've been lucky enough to have been on this journey with these athletes for quite a number of years now. I saw the work they were putting in six years ago on a struggling pro team, then to see them now taking the field at the Olympics – I'm almost like a proud mom. That was probably the most special part was to actually see them become Olympians and see their dream happen in front on me, which was pretty amazing."

Chris: "So you got to see the team grow up over these years?
 
Jade: "Yeah a little bit, a little bit."
 


On what stood out at the Olympics (Jade):
"I really enjoy getting into the photography well with all the other shooters. It is a little intimidating, not gonna lie to you. I come from a very small world of softball and I know that world. But then you step out into the Olympic world and all of a sudden you have all these photographers from Getty, the Associated Press, the New York Times and Sports Illustrated. So I'm just kind of sitting there like, 'What's going on?' That's allows a cool experience, you get to talk with other people and meet other people and check out each other's gear. All photographers do that when they get in the well. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. We're all checking out each other's gear. So that's a pretty cool experience just to meet other people and see people from other countries and that kind of thing. I'd say being down in the well is pretty cool."
 
On how she got to work at the Olympics:
"I started shooting a long time ago with just old cameras and camcorders and dorky things like that. Crazily enough my first experience that I remember shooting with a DSLR camera was actually on the Millsaps softball field. A teammate that was two years older than me that I really looked up to, Jennifer McKinley, she had a DSLR. For some reason it was down at the field and I remember standing on the left field foul line and held it for the first time. I clicked the shutter and I will never forget that moment because I was like, 'Oh, game on! This is it!' I think shortly after that I went out and got a DSLR. Standing on the Millsaps softball field, I swear I'm not making that up, was kind of a big moment."

"I got an internship with a pro softball team in Dallas in the summer of 2015 when I was in grad school. That really laid the foundation for where I'm at now. I then worked in the pro league for six or seven years, and then got started with Team USA in 2017 and just kind of kept at them – and then ended up at the Olympics. It feels like it's been a long journey, but in the grand scheme of life it's probably not been that long."
 
Chris: "No, not at all. But that's pretty remarkable how quick it did happen."
 
On what drove her to pursue sports photography as a career (Jade):
"There's something about our game, and I love sports of all kinds. I've photographed some of the best volleyball players in the world and other random sports. But there's just something about our game, something about our athletes. Really being able to give the athletes a memory, let them have something 20, 30, 40 years down the road. I grew up loving all of our family photo albums and videos, so I love being able to hand the girls a memory. I try to give them as many of those as possible."
 
"Sports gives you the ultimate ups and downs. We won Silver which is a huge accomplishment, but everybody wanted Gold. Even though we went through this experience, it was sad at the end because we didn't win Gold, but that's just part of sports. That's what make sports great is that it will go your way sometimes and sometimes it doesn't go your way. You just kind of keep going along. There's nothing really quite like sports, as you know."
 
Chris: "That's kind of funny too going home (disappointed) in second place is the USA standard. I totally understand. Nothing to be sad about. You're not going to be bringing home a medal, but you're going to bring home other hardware.'



On what she brought back with her from Tokyo (Jade):
"I'm a big memorabilia, kind of gear geek. I think I get that from my dad. We'll have a ring and I have dirt from that night, which is kind of funny because it was a turf field but home plate was dirt. We snagged some that night, so I'll have some. I actually just last night pulled out all my Olympic gear. It takes up an entire bedroom floor, we got so much stuff. The city of Iwakuni and just the country of Japan really were super welcoming and gave us all welcome bags with fans, chopsticks, Japanese dolls, candy and stuff like that. I came home with a lot of memorabilia. I did get to hold the medal and that kind of stuff. It's really heavy and way heavier than you'd think. Especially compared to previous medals, which the girls have from prior Olympics. It was pretty special to be able to hold it and see them wearing it and that kind of stuff. So no medal, but lots of other things for sure."
 
On what it meant having softball back in the Olympics at Tokyo:
"I really appreciate that you know that (it was discontinued from the Olympics) because a lot of the photographers would turn next to me and say, 'See you in Paris.' And I was like, 'No you won't.' That's exactly it. I can remember watching the Olympics when I was a kid and I remember when softball left. It was crushing to our community. And our community put 100 percent effort to get it back, especially because softball is obviously so big in Japan. They're an incredible team and incredible country at softball. It's a bummer it won't be back in Paris 2024, but we have a lot of hope and faith in it for Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032. Australia is a great softball country as well. It was definitely sad for the softball community, but it did make this 2020 experience (memorable) and the softball community bought in completely, especially with us being the first sport that played in this year's Olympics, we felt so much love from the fans, the media and just the whole country. We really felt like everyone was behind us. As sad as it was to not be present the last two Olympics, everybody came out strong for 2020 and that was definitely pretty special."
 
On how being a Millsaps 2012 graduate and member of the softball team led her here:
"Oh man, so my sister actually went to Millsaps as well. She went there from 2004 to 2008. I was actually up on campus for the four years before I went there. I can remember some of the professors, they all knew me before I stepped on campus to actually attend, which was actually pretty funny. I was there from 2008 to 2012. My Major was Studio Arts with a Concentration in Digital Arts, and a Minor in Art History. I was up on the third floor in the art building all the time. So beginning with academics and aside from the classes I was tragic at, which were math and science courses, the school was amazing. I still have such a great relationship with so many of my professors because they really were that impactful on me. There's a handful that I literally still communicate with, who I've texted when I was in grad school with questions and they'd reach back out to me like it was no big deal."

"That one-on-one attention that I got at Millsaps I knew I wasn't getting somewhere else and that's what I really needed to thrive. I loved school, I loved my professors. I have to give a shoutout to a few of them. Dr. Amy Forbes, who was amazing in my senior year, I was done with all my classes and I just took her course to hang out with her everyday because she's amazing. Nina Parikh, who was an adjunct for Film Production and went on to become my mentor. She was amazing. Sandra Murchison, Dr. Elise Smith, Molly Morin, Abigail Susik. I had the most incredible people teaching me and I'm so lucky to have had all of them. Then I was just kind of an art nerd up there all the time. I also worked in the library which really ups my cool factor."
 
"Then obviously playing softball, which is like a whole other world when you're at school. Obviously, everyone on campus knows because (a large percentage) of us on campus are athletes and know that life. I played for Coach Roland Rodriguez for four years and I just talked to him the other day while I was in Japan. He's someone who is so impactful in my life. Playing ball was something that as long as I live I will be so happy I played for my four years and that I stuck it out, committed and had people around me that believed in me. I learned so much about myself, others, how to lead, the bad things I was doing when I was leading. There was a lot that I learned."

"Coach Rod was awesome once I got in my junior and senior years. Occasionally there would be a time where there was this networking thing in the film community and my mentor wants me to go. He'd be like, 'Okay, you can leave practice early.' And that's huge! That doesn't happen all that much. He really put me in the positions to let me thrive as a student and as an athlete, of course. It set the foundation for where I'm at now. My experience at Millsaps was unbelievable. And also I was a Tri Delt' so shoutout to all the Tri Delts out there. I loved mother Millsaps and now it's fun to see a former teammate who is now the head coach in Caroline DeLoach. It was a very special experience my four years there."
 
Chris: "And I know everyone here while you were over in Japan we were definitely watching every game and following along post with bated breath along that journey, and all those awesome candid and stoic shots you were taking. We were really proud of what you did."
 
On what's next (Jade):
"So I just started full-time with Athletes Unlimited. I've been with them for the past year or so, and they're really amazing because I told them from the 'get that I didn't know I was going to the Olympics yet. I told them, 'Look, I have this dream and I really want to keep it alive,' and they said that was okay, you can be an independent contractor. It happened and so now I'm joining full-time. It's an awesome company. They have three sports that are all women's pro leagues, softball, volleyball and lacrosse. They're just a super modern, fun, active and socially savvy company. I'm joining them as Director of Photography. I'm about to leave to go to softball, so it'll be my third season in total with them. I'm going to be on the Athletes Unlimited train. It's just an avenue for women to continue to play pro and give a lot of opportunities to a lot of women to not only be pro, but to also be in an amazing league that does it right which is really cool. That's where I'll hopefully be for a long-time."
 


On how to follow her work:
"I'm @JadeHewittMedia across social media. My website is jadehewittmedia.com, which is probably the easiest way to follow me. I have a great photo of Caroline DeLoach that I should put up there for any of the Majors that run across there, give her some love."
 
Closing thoughts:
"I want to give a shoutout to Caroline. It's just really cool to see her thrive (as Millsaps softball's head coach). I remember her as a little freshman coming in, and I say little freshman, but she was better than everyone. I say that like she's a little sister. She wasn't, she was better than all of us. Her and I played on the left side together and she was there to save the day more times than I could count. I lost count. Sometimes in that five, six hole and got a little bit older I wasn't as quick, but she'd come over with that backhand like it was nothing. It's cool to see her now and see where she's at. And then all the former teammates and alumni. Again, I communicate with so many of them, Megan Yglesias, Kasey Thibodeaux, Brittney McAllister, that I talk with weekly. Usually, it's just them giving me a hard time from memories from college, but every now and then it's a little sentimental. Just the amazing people that I met there and the relationships. Lastly, Millsaps for setting the foundation where I'm at now and the things I get to call successes. A blanket thank you to Millsaps."
 
Chris: "Like I said again, we're very happy and proud of all your accomplishments and you make the Majors proud."
 
Jade: "Thank you."
 
Chris: "The great things you do out in the sports world is really exciting to watch."
 
Jade: "Well thank you. I really appreciate that. This was really cool to be able to talk to you. Caroline sent me some Millsaps swag a couple months ago that I like brought to Tokyo that I have with me all the time. So thank you guys, I really appreciate it."
 
Chris: "Thanks again and best of luck in the future."
 
Jade: Thank you, guys! Go Majors!"

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