Lea B Olsen was raised in poverty in a blended family in South Minneapolis. She was introduced to sports relatively late in her youth. Lea began her basketball career in her junior year of high school and after only two years, went on to play Division I basketball at the University of Minnesota.  After college, she transformed her success on the court into a sports journalism career. She broadcasted basketball on ESPN’S national WNBA coverage, as a game analyst for the Minnesota Lynx, and as a television sideline reporter for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Lea’s experiences playing and covering sports, and seeing the pressure youth athletes face to Win at all costs, lead her in 2015 to found Rethink the Win. Rethink the Win is an organization dedicated to preserving the fun in youth sports while teaching kids how to apply lessons learned in sports to the real world.

This is how she got here