AUSTIN, Texas — Juliann Faucette is doing it all.
“People tell me all the time, you are a super mom, you’re a superwoman,” Faucette said. “But I try to remind people that I’m not doing this alone. There’s absolutely no way that I could do any of this alone.”
Teammates, a trainer and family all create a recipe for doing what Faucette once thought was impossible.
“I was very adamant about being a mom only,” Faucette said. “I wanted to finish my career, wrap that up and then focus on being a mom.”
But then the COVID-19 pandemic started, followed by a layoff, and then a call from her agent called her back to the court.
“He called with some news that a team in Italy wanted me to come and play for them,” Faucette explained. “And I said, ‘You know, I just had a baby, right?'”
A new job, new country and a newborn created new struggles.
“Turns out, it was really hard,” Faucette said. “I didn’t have the best experience.”
After six years playing throughout Europe and China, Faucette thought she had finally stepped away for good. That was until, four years and two kids later, she got another call, this time from the newest pro volleyball team located in Austin.
“We had some conversations about the possibility of coming back, and at this point, I was probably four months postpartum with my twins,” said Faucette.
Twins brought double the smiles at home, but double the stress in the gym. Faucette spent over a year training to get back into playing shape, but training her mind proved to be her most difficult task.
“The biggest fear was not being up to the standard of play that I have experienced before,” said Faucette. “I had just gone through a really traumatic experience with divorce and becoming a single mom, and having to kind of pick myself up by the bootstraps and figure out on my own, regardless of if I was gonna play or not.”
“So going through that actually made me even stronger and made me feel like I can do anything,” Faucette continued.
For Faucette, it’s about doing anything – not for any one, but for a special one, two and three.
“Seeing them in the stands was such a sweet feeling, and seeing their faces after the match when they were able to come onto the court and run up to me,” said Faucette. “Thinking about it now makes me emotional because they truly are proud, and that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing, to make them proud.”