Sivonnia DeBarros: Founder, SL DeBarros Law and "Protector of Athletes"

02:12

Dave Almy

That's a pretty tender age to think that the legal profession is what I want to pursue. How on earth did that happen? I mean, that's not usual.

02:23

Sivonnia deBarros

David divinity, I truly believe, you know, I am a believer of God, and as children, I strongly believe that the desires we have at that age is extremely pure. It is part of the divine. And so when I said I wanted to be a lawyer, now that I look back on it, I know it had to be something bigger than who I was, who, at four know what a lawyer is. You know.

02:57

Dave Almy

Were you writing contracts for kindergarten classmates and things like that?

03:00

Sivonnia deBarros

Thank you.

03:00

Dave Almy

Thank you.

03:01

Sivonnia deBarros

I did not know what being an attorney was like, what it meant. But hindsight, when I think about me saying that I want to be an attorney and then thinking about who I am and my characteristics, it just makes sense. And so I think that God gives us our assignments very early. Some of us choose to listen to it and follow that path. And some of us don't. Some of us, we go out into the world with our experiences and with other people's thoughts and beliefs, and we allow that to cloud what we, our initial thoughts and feelings were that we would do with our lives. For me, it just. It was at the forefront of everything that I did.

03:43

Dave Almy

It was that single minded for you. You really felt this path, this draw towards it because it was just within you?

03:50

Sivonnia deBarros

Yes. Yes, that's absolutely how I felt. And every year, things would happen that just didn't sit right with my spirit. And. And that's. That's why I call myself the protector now, you know, because even back then, there were things that were happening where I wanted to jump in, I wanted to support, I wanted to protect.

04:09

Dave Almy

So this wasn't things that were drawing you away from your path. These were things that you were seeing that you felt that's not right. Absolutely needs to be addressed. It really felt. You felt it very integrally to who you are. A spirit of justice, for lack of a better term.

04:26

Sivonnia deBarros

Yep.

04:27

Dave Almy

And that. That carried through. So that was all the way through your education, everything. High school, college. And you do. You go on, you. You graduate law school and, you know, part. Some of the things that I read is, like, you felt you experienced some. Some hurdles to find a spot at what I'm doing. For those who are just listening, you know, the. The air quotes around traditional law firm.

04:53

Sivonnia deBarros

Yep.

04:53

Dave Almy

ou to launch your own firm in: 2014

05:13

Sivonnia deBarros

Oh, my gosh. Let me start with that.

05:15

Dave Almy

Yeah.

05:16

Sivonnia deBarros

I think the biggest lesson I've learned about me since that time is that I don't need anyone's permission to do what God has already given me the authority to do.

05:27

Dave Almy

Yeah.

05:28

Sivonnia deBarros

It's already baked in, you know, and so back then, it was, I want this job. Obviously, I had always wanted and desired to have my own law firm, but you know how some people say, make sure that you're extremely specific in your prayers because God will give you exactly what you asked for. Dead. I didn't ask for the, you know, for the multi partner firm and all this other stuff with the bills and. Listen.

05:52

Dave Almy

But anyway, clearly God was not had that for you.

05:56

Sivonnia deBarros

at I graduated law school was: 2013

06:48

Dave Almy

Okay.

06:49

Sivonnia deBarros

of: 2014

07:07

Dave Almy

This idea of starting your own firm as a recent college graduate takes a lot of self confidence.

07:18

Sivonnia deBarros

Yeah.

07:19

Dave Almy

Or is it just. Or is it just crazy? Is it a lot of crazy or a lot of self confidence?

07:23

Sivonnia deBarros

A little bit. I mean. Well, you know what? Some of the best people that we look up today have done things that other people have thought was crazy, too risky. And for me, I know that my desire to serve is higher than me waiting too long to lose the passion around law, you know, and obviously, even building the skills that I. That I need today. Right. If I would have waited like some of my colleagues did or my peers did, that grouped into that document review stuff, you're doing that for two, three years. You're still unhirable. No one wants to hire you. Right. Because you have no. No skills. So for me, it was. I cannot wait for someone to tell me that I'm good enough.

08:08

Sivonnia deBarros

I have to believe that I already have the authority and the intellect to do what I can by myself.

08:14

Dave Almy

Yeah. You chose to invest in yourself, correct? Yeah. And that gave you the freedom to be able to shape yourself into the type of lawyer and practice the type of law without being put into a box. That would have happened if you were at a larger firm.

08:32

Sivonnia deBarros

Absolutely and absolutely.

08:35

Dave Almy

It allowed you then to more quickly, because you're avoiding things like document review, which just hearing the phrase makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. Document review kind of thing. But in the past, you've talked about the fire that you feel we talked about previously, the idea of justice and seeing wrongs and wanting to fix them. But you also felt this desire to represent athletes.

08:59

Sivonnia deBarros

Absolutely.

09:01

Dave Almy

Where did that come from? Was it from your own athletic experience and seeing things that were going on at that time? How did that motivation start to shape your direction?

09:09

Sivonnia deBarros

I'm an athlete, grew up around athletes, have a cousin that was a professional athlete. And it never dawned on me that was something that lawyers did, you know? So when I went to law school, I didn't think I was going to be a sports entertainment train. That was so far from my mind. So when I first opened my firm, I was taking family law cases, which I don't like, do not want to ever do again.

09:38

Dave Almy

Was it just too. What was it about it that you didn't like? It was just too granular. Did it take you away from what you wanted to do?

09:45

Sivonnia deBarros

You know, one, there are rules around family law, but attorneys don't follow the rules and judges don't follow the rules, and it's too messy.

09:55

Dave Almy

Yeah, yeah. So you can get pretty dark.

09:58

Sivonnia deBarros

Yep. Like, I don't want to do that. Did it to make sure I can have some money coming to my firm.

10:03

Dave Almy

Right. So as you start your own firm, you sort of have to start with what comes somewhere. Yep.

10:09

Sivonnia deBarros

Yep. Start somewhere. And so when I did that, there was something that came up that I. That I learned about because I was in it around modification of child support. And I was watching a documentary, 30 for 30 gone broke, how a lot of athletes, male athletes, were losing their financial stability, primarily, you know, minus the entourage issues, but primarily around having multiple children, having costly divorces, and they were not going to modify their child support, because in Illinois. I'm in Illinois, on Illinois, if you don't file to modify your. Your income and you don't get the same multimillion dollar deal, or you're not picked up, your child support is still based off of that multi million dollar deal. Exactly. So I said, oh, my God. Yeah.

11:08

Dave Almy

So this was an eye opener.

11:10

Sivonnia deBarros

Yep. So that's. That's kind of how that came into view. But then the emotion from it just.

11:18

Dave Almy

You felt it. You just felt it like it was part of this construct that you had in yourself. You really felt the hook in you about watching these people and you identified with them as an athlete yourself. You sort of saw where this was coming from. And so the law practice then begins to turn. I mean, you do a lot of different things. You know, you have a lot of different skill sets.

11:38

Sivonnia deBarros

And then. Yeah, then I did, because I didn't know any better. I didn't know any better.

11:46

Dave Almy

Okay. Okay.

11:49

Sivonnia deBarros

I said, okay, never left me.: 2017

12:41

Dave Almy

So on the outside looking in, you know, you look at the spectrum that you just underscored, female business owners to professional athletes on the outside looking in, those can seem disparate, but you saw a cord that kind of connected all of them. And if you can you distill that, what those common threads are that you see between them that sort of gave you this focus? Like, this is how I want to approach this.

13:08

Sivonnia deBarros

Yep. The biggest thing is those categories typically lack the resources and the support to help them build successful brands and businesses. Women typically support other people, but there's not a lot of people who support women. Right. First generation business owners, they have great ideas, but especially if they are coming from marginalized communities, they have no idea where to start whatsoever. Then when you're looking athletes, if we're looking athletes that are going or have potential to go to the professional level, and maybe some of these athletes are taking what they've earned from the pro sport to create a business, then they are missing out on that protection piece.

13:55

Sivonnia deBarros

And so we can tie all of them back around because even first generation business owners or first generation millionaires may have said, oh my God, I created this idea and it just popped off this year, you know, but if I need to bring in this person to collaborate or this person as a vendor, they don't even understand the legality around that. So we're still looking at the protection.

14:16

Dave Almy

Piece and so all, it just so many facets to it.

14:21

Sivonnia deBarros

Yeah, yeah.

14:22

Dave Almy

But lately you've been spending a lot of time on college sports and name, image, likeness. Yeah, I'm interested because this is such a dynamic part of not just college sports, of the entire sports industry. It seems like it's changing on a. Wait a minute, I'm looking at my watch. Yep. Changing on a ten minute basis.

14:38

Sivonnia deBarros

Right.

14:38

Dave Almy

Things are happening. New cases are being decided, the NCAA waves the white flag on something else. I'm wondering how, in your practice, nil first got on your radar and did you have initial thoughts about what the impact was going to be?

14:54

Sivonnia deBarros

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I'm one of very few lawyers who was on the scene before nil was legally a thing in the collegiate space. And the reason why it came on my radar is because I wanted athletes and their parents, or whomever supports them as advocates, to understand. Yeah, this option is available at the college level. So now how do you protect those rights? Right. Not only do how you protect them, but how do you leverage them? How can you leverage them in a way that can be monetized, but not just monetize for a quick buck, monetize for long term stability, which a lot of people that we've seen, they can create quick, brand quick deals, they get quick money, but there's no full thought process, pre thought into how can I leverage this long term, you know, really create a long term partnership.

15:50

Sivonnia deBarros

hat are you sporting about in: 2020

16:19

Dave Almy

Just finish this one. Keep it on the paper.

16:23

Sivonnia deBarros

Write another. Exactly. So, literally, once I finish writing, what are you squirting about? I already had started writing.

16:29

Dave Almy

Oh, so you just jumped athletes making.

16:30

Sivonnia deBarros

Moves, how to protect your name, image, and likeness? Because I needed them to understand. You have this right at the collegiate space, but it's not me. Yeah, and here's why it's not. Here's what's going to come up.

16:44

Dave Almy

Did you have a sense then, of where athletes, particularly college athletes, when we're thinking about nal, would find themselves getting into trouble? Based on your past experience, did you look at it and say, oh, geez, this is. This is going to be problematic for these, and this is where people really should be aware out of the gate of. Or did it come more organically for you?

17:06

Sivonnia deBarros

Two things that I felt could be a problem.

17:09

Dave Almy

Okay.

17:10

Sivonnia deBarros

One, predators.

17:12

Dave Almy

Yeah.

17:13

Sivonnia deBarros

Right.

17:14

Dave Almy

Are you saying there's some not good players that are focused on college sports?

17:19

Sivonnia deBarros

Every time there's something on the scene, man, you get these people that's like just sharks in the water, man. Oh, my God. It's absolutely terrible. But then the biggest concern other than that one was student athletes going broke much earlier in their careers than their professional counterparts? Like, that was the biggest concern that I had is because I want this opportunity to be something, to be a lunch pad for them that can really set them up. We've had athletes taking deals way before nil was a thing in the college space. Some of them lost eligibility. Just saw that Reggie Bush got his Heisman trophy back because he lost his, you know, Agent Kane was paying money for him. Paying money for the. For the mama to live or something. I don't know. It was something crazy. So, you know, people.

18:14

Sivonnia deBarros

People have been taking these bills for a long time, but I just knew. I said, okay, if, and especially if they are popular athletes, the gates of what they could have will completely be open to them. But to what cost? You know what I mean?

18:32

Dave Almy

Yeah.

18:32

Sivonnia deBarros

Yeah.

18:33

Dave Almy

A major part of what athletes bring to the table for the brands that they work with in Nil is the social media audiences. Right. You know, they classified as athlete creators. And I'm wondering if there's unique legal considerations that these athletes need to have when they're bringing products to. To their audiences and doing endorsement deals or sponsored content. What do they need to be especially careful of?

18:59

Sivonnia deBarros

Now, are we talking about with separated companies or with the school?

19:04

Dave Almy

Separated companies. So they're deals that they would do with potential partners.

19:08

Sivonnia deBarros

Listen, one of the biggest things that I will point to is students agreeing to post certain things to bring in revenue for products that they may have sponsored. And it's still there. Like, once your agreement ends, it's still on your platform. Like, the company's still making money from it.

19:25

Dave Almy

Yeah. So it's the legacy of the thing, right?

19:30

Sivonnia deBarros

The company's still making money for it. My concern is, what did you negotiate inside of that deal in terms of deleting that post that is driving traffic there, or do you have long term residuals off of anyone who may land on that, click that link to pay you? You know? You know what I'm saying? Like, you get a split.

19:50

Dave Almy

Yeah. You're creating a deal in perpetuity to a certain degree if you're not going back and doing it.

19:54

Sivonnia deBarros

Exactly, exactly. So if I have to create this content for the company and it draws in revenue, but my deal with you is, let's say it's a two year deal and I've created all this content. Now, when the deal is over, this content still is on my. On my platform, which I wouldn't want to take it all off, you know, because then you lose two years of content. So can we talk about a royalty payment for any deals that come through on this special link, right. Or anyone that's landed on my page that then purchased this item.

20:30

Dave Almy

I had never considered that from the standpoint of you could be driving business for a company far beyond the term of any contract that you have because it's existing on your socials.

20:43

Sivonnia deBarros

Absolutely.

20:43

Dave Almy

You need something. What other parts of the law are you paying attention to as. Because like we talked about earlier, Nil is so dynamic right now. It feels like there's so many things happening. Are there specific parts that you're looking at right now?

20:58

Sivonnia deBarros

Yep. IP issues, contract issues. For me, it's something that comes up all the time in my business. I represent speakers, I represent millionaire entrepreneurs who have brand deals that are exorbitant, you know, and we're talking about name, image and likeness all the time, right? Us doing this. This is name, image and likeness. We have our photos and our videos and our voice will be on a platform, you know, for however long. And so those are the consistent things that athletes or entrepreneurs need to think about when they're thinking about name, image and likenesses. It is not this fictitious sports. It is something that we do every single day. It is some. It is a commodity. It's something that we trade with is something that we pay for, you know, and so those terms come up all the time, especially for intellectual property.

21:52

Sivonnia deBarros

The things that you are creating, whether it is your name or not, if it came from your brain and you've taken that step to protect it, then that's your nil, that is, that's your stuff. And you have the right to guide and protect and to make decisions on who can be compensated from it, who can earn revenue from it, who can use it or not use it.

22:13

Dave Almy

This podcast host is taking some quick notes regarding intellectual property. Just 1 second. I mean, these are critical issues. And it's like, this is so new and it's happening so fast. And I've talked to a couple of athletes who are very focused on nil and having a lot of success with it, but they also talk about the pressure to want to get these deals. And when teammates gets deals, I wouldn't think I deserve a deal. Why aren't I getting a deal? So there's a lot of motivation, I think, for athletes to maybe run to opportunities and deals that aren't always well thought out. So I'm interested in if you're talking to an athlete for the first time and they want to know what steps should they take to protect themselves?

23:11

Dave Almy

Do you have some advice on what some of their first moves should be from a legal standpoint?

23:16

Sivonnia deBarros

Absolutely. They need to take inventory of all the things that they have done and that they've created because some people in the locker room may know you by something totally different then your birth name. And that's a legit brand. Like, if you're using it as a. As a brand, like, that's something that you can protect. Right. So if you want to monetize it or if you want to leverage it in some way, then let's start with protecting that. But we need to know what we have so that we can then proceed to protecting it. So definitely taking. Take an audit of that to finding the resource, like the people. When I say finding resources, finding the people that you need. Some of those people might be on campus. Okay. So going to your career services office, they may have people who can support you.

24:08

Sivonnia deBarros

If you have a. If you're at a college that also has like a law school attached to, you know, that school, then you may be able to go to the law center for free legal advice. I mean, that's resources that you need to use right now while you're in. While you're in college. But the biggest thing I would say for athletes who are feeling the pressure of getting a deal and actually want a deal, don't necessarily, I know we talked about money, but don't necessarily think about because you can create, you can still have a deal. That money isn't changing hands, but it could be a brand that could really put you in the room with some powerful people and decision makers.

24:53

Dave Almy

Right.

24:54

Sivonnia deBarros

That's huge.

24:55

Dave Almy

And leverage that non monetary value.

24:57

Sivonnia deBarros

Thank you. If you ask me, that's worth more than what they can pay you today.

25:01

Dave Almy

Yeah. They may pay you $500 to rep a drink, but if you can get in the decision makers room with the marketing team.

25:07

Sivonnia deBarros

Yep. I mean, shoot. If you could have dinner with the CEO of Coca Cola.

25:13

Dave Almy

You got to have a lawyer who's going to be able to point you in the direction to advocate for yourself in a certain way. This is. It's a fascinating point because these athletes, particularly with those who are adept at social media, it seems like every athlete today, they have unlocked a barrier that lots of companies are trying to figure out. They have a natural draw and affinity to social media that a lot of companies would kill for. So there is making sure you account for your own value.

25:44

Sivonnia deBarros

Yeah, absolutely.

25:45

Dave Almy

Those kinds of conversations which for a new person isn't always easy. It's hard to do as an adult.

25:50

Sivonnia deBarros

It really is. One thing I'll say, too, David, is. And what I'm seeing a lot in this newer generation of college students, they have no idea how to have a conversation. You know, it's. You're having to try to pull stuff out of them. And so if you have the opportunity to be in front of someone, like, even your professors. I had great relationships with my professors. I. Shoot. My deans wrote me letters of recommendation. You know what I mean?

26:20

Dave Almy

Like, mine did not. That must be a lovely glow to feel. Yeah, but. Okay, but having a good relationship with your professors and drawing them out. Drawing. Drawing young athletes out to be engaging and thought, yeah, and that's. That's a hard thing to do. It's a skill.

26:44

Sivonnia deBarros

It is. It is a skill. It's something that they need to practice. But be prepared with questions. So if you know you're going to go somewhere where someone important is going to be there, then you should think about what. What is two things that I really want to know from this person? What are my long term goals? What questions do I need to ask, right. To either help me get connected to someone that can help me fulfill this goal? What should I be doing now? And if I'm being 100% real, like, some of these professors are biggest deals people. They just don't. I don't know. I guess they don't really connect because it's like, okay, it's just my teacher, but some of these professors have done some great things. You have no idea who you're in front of.

27:30

Dave Almy

Well, you also don't know who was sitting in their class ten years ago.

27:34

Sivonnia deBarros

That's true.

27:34

Dave Almy

Who they're connected to, who might be the CEO of Coca Cola. Right. So there's absolutely. There's a chain that's gone through that. I'm interested, Savannah, as you think about the changes to nil, again, like we've talked about, very dynamic. Is there a role for the NCAA here? Should they be regulating and enforcing nil? Or is it. You know what? Hands off. You guys screw up everything. Just let it go.

28:03

Sivonnia deBarros

It's hard to say because there's arguments for both sides, honestly. I mean, if it wasn't for the Austin case, the NCAA would likely still have the same guard rails on athletes. Yeah.

28:20

Dave Almy

We wouldn't have any of these conversations.

28:23

Sivonnia deBarros

Right. We wouldn't be having these conversations. We will still be seeing students who are risking their eligibility and what they say their long term goals are for. The hope that someone could help them. I mean, a lot of these full scholarship students are still broke. They're still hungry, you know? So one side, I see the benefit of having one entity regulating because then it just becomes too convoluted into. It's just too much like 50 states.

28:54

Dave Almy

With 50 different processes.

28:56

Sivonnia deBarros

Right. It's just too much. And Virginia just said that all their colleges and universities can now make deals directly from the school to the student athlete. So you don't think these other states. About the follow suit.

29:07

Dave Almy

Yeah. Those dominoes are going to start falling.

29:09

Sivonnia deBarros

It's going to start falling. And then we have some bills at the federal level that wants to bring everything together and have one official rule. But then when we start looking at the federal rules, it's just, I really feel like there's a lot of risk to the athlete that could take place in watering down what their rights could be.

29:30

Dave Almy

It's this horse out of the barna. I mean, from the standpoint of it's all fair and good to say, is there a role? And it's kind of. I'm wondering if, and you can be honest with me, people on it. Was that a stupid question? Right. Is this horse out of, so far out of the barn that the NCA, like, there's no way that they could ever try to get their arms back around this?

29:47

Sivonnia deBarros

Yeah, I don't think. I don't think. Yeah, they're not.

29:50

Dave Almy

Yeah, it was a stupid question.

29:52

Sivonnia deBarros

Yeah. They can't rope nil back in, not in terms of what it is now. Like, it's already, it's out there now. The biggest thing is how do we synchronize it? Right. How do we get it to a place where students aren't jeopardizing, again, possibly eligibility, because you left, you transferred from this state to that state. But your rules were this way and they're different this way. So you're acting the same way as you were in state. A and now, you know, we got a whole issue. It's. Yes, it's a lot.

30:26

Dave Almy

I think you draw the point out really well from the standpoint of. But it's great for athletes because they have all this opportunity and it's the wild west. And for those athletes who are both excellent at their craft but sort of see the marketplace evolving and are anxious to try different things, that's great. But it does open up the doors for. It's great for. It's great for your firm that it creates a lot of legal implications.

30:54

Sivonnia deBarros

Yeah. And I'll say this, too, if federal rules came to rope in nil, I can understand why, as a legal professional, speak as a legal professional, because we have student athletes who are also foreign student athletes who cannot take advantage of nil in the states because of visa processes and stuff. Right. And so that will take a whole situation to have to go in and modify the immigration rules. I think someone. I'm not an immigration attorney, so this part I absolutely do not know. Just being 100%.

31:35

Dave Almy

Don't anybody chime in immigration.

31:38

Sivonnia deBarros

Yes, but I think I remember someone saying that there might have been a modification or something to the immigration rules, but to really make it holistic for all student athletes, I mean, that could be. That could be an opportunity for the federal government to provide full equity for every student. Like, if there's a student athlete from another country, we don't know if they're any better off than a student athlete from America that is marginalized. Like, we don't. You know, we don't know.

32:08

Dave Almy

So three dimensional chess, at this point is what we're talking about here. Let me ask you, do you think there's still a place for amateurism in college sports? Do you feel like. I mean, I. You know, I've talked to a couple people about this, and, you know, there's obviously the traditionalists who are like, oh, you know, paying college athletes ruins the fabric of college sports. It'll never be what it was and so forth and so on.

32:30

Sivonnia deBarros

I don't think so. I mean, they were already being paid. It was just under the table, so.

32:34

Dave Almy

So we're just bringing it out into light. Everything basically. Same.

32:37

Sivonnia deBarros

Yeah. I mean, honestly, I don't. I've never really seen college athletes as amateurs anyway.

32:43

Dave Almy

Okay.

32:44

Sivonnia deBarros

Right. Their names. Billboards. The. They're playing at the same facilities that professional athletes are playing at.

32:53

Dave Almy

They were professional in everything and name only.

32:55

Sivonnia deBarros

Right. Their names and their skill set is selling tickets. Schools are making billions of dollars and have the ability to do billion dollar renovations because of these teams. How is that amateur? You know? And not only that, but especially when we're looking at contact sports, these. A lot of these athletes are sacrificing their bodies in hopes of having a better future. A lot of athletes, for years, have sacrificed their degrees, right. Their education in some way, because their coaches have also. Y'all coaches don't come for me. Okay. Okay. I've heard this from other people. Don't come for me.

33:36

Dave Almy

Anyway, stay out of the comments, coach.

33:38

Sivonnia deBarros

You're right.

33:39

Dave Almy

Stand out.

33:41

Sivonnia deBarros

But, you know, there have been coaches to say, oh, take this class because it's easier. It'll be able to help with your training schedule, your game schedule. And so on the flip side, it's, if I'm sacrificing my educational, what could be a great degree for me or major for me, then I'm also sacrificing the opportunity of what my professional business life could look like if I don't go pro. So they are sacrificing a lot. And I don't think it's fair for people to say we shouldn't pay these athletes, because if I'm being 100% honest, the athletes who are bringing in most of those dollars for those institutions are black and brown athletes who traditionally are coming from communities. Not all of us, right, are down in the dump and broken, living in the hood.

34:33

Sivonnia deBarros

But there are a large number of student athletes who are so marginalized that their plan has been to go pro so they can help their families out of that. What better way to provide and introduce nil, if they want to take it, to be able to create a framework and a ground, the groundwork of creating the life that they want without having to sacrifice their bodies in that way.

35:03

Dave Almy

Just to go pro, without having to worry that one blown out knee or.

35:09

Sivonnia deBarros

Could cost them everything.

35:10

Dave Almy

Could cost them everything.

35:12

Sivonnia deBarros

Yeah.

35:14

Dave Almy

Savonia de Barros, she is the protector of athletes. I think you can hear the passion coming through the speaker. Don't you dare be sorry.

35:26

Sivonnia deBarros

Probably yelling the speakers out.

35:28

Dave Almy

You know, I have to turn the volume down in my headphones just a little bit. But before I let you go, yes, I'm going to put you into the lightning. These are questions that have been produced by the one one sports business conversation supercomputer. They are based on a variety of different things. Are you prepared for what's about to happen?

35:51

Sivonnia deBarros

No, but.

35:53

Dave Almy

Okay, here we go. Loosen up. Here we go. All right. As a college athlete, you competed in track and field. What were your favorite and least favorite events?

36:06

Sivonnia deBarros

Look. The 400.

36:08

Dave Almy

Oh, I've heard.

36:09

Sivonnia deBarros

I hated running, but my coach made me do it for training. The 400 and the 200 was my favorite. That was my event.

36:16

Dave Almy

It's that extra 200 that really just does make sense.

36:19

Sivonnia deBarros

I'm like, come on. But I am a true sprinter. My legs did not work after the second.

36:27

Dave Almy

And off. All right, what is your favorite legal tv show or movie?

36:34

Sivonnia deBarros

Oh, my God. Law and order was the one that I love, love.

36:37

Dave Almy

Were you, like, four years old watching law and order? Like, were you sitting in front of tv going like, oh, that's it.

36:43

Sivonnia deBarros

Oh, my God. That. I used to love that show, and then when I was a kid, I watched in the heat of the night. Oh, yeah, that was the old one. I love that one. There are a lot of amazing news shows that I've liked, like, how to get away with murder was good.

36:57

Dave Almy

Okay, all right, slow down. The last thing we need is, like, you talking about how you're trying to use your position to get around the law question, is there ever a time and place to yell, I object outside.

37:08

Sivonnia deBarros

Of the courtroom all the time, especially in my house with the kids.

37:15

Dave Almy

Oh, yeah. They're bringing it back to mom. Okay, I get it. What do you advice do you have for people thinking about attending law school?

37:24

Sivonnia deBarros

So just make sure that's truly what you want to do because it's going to take a lot of sacrifice from you. Time reading, like your intellectual sacrifice. Like, you're not going to have a lot of free time to go and hang out and stuff.

37:38

Dave Almy

Yeah.

37:39

Sivonnia deBarros

Just think about the type of law as well.

37:41

Dave Almy

Yeah. So that's why we do not have Dave Valmy, Esquire. Last one. The you've got a talk about. You have books. Yep. You have podcasts and more to your name. Is it officially time for the Savannah Tobaro's IMAX movie?

37:57

Sivonnia deBarros

I absolutely love that.

37:59

Dave Almy

Yeah. Yeah, that would be the way to go. Savannah Dibaros, thanks so much for spending the time today.

38:05

Sivonnia deBarros

Thank you so much, David. This was fun.