Surviving a severe car injury, spurning a medical career and playing softball in Japan helped Michele Smith Soar to Success.
When Michele Smith came to a crossroads in her life, she didn’t hesitate. She walked away from medical school and pursued her dreams of playing professional softball in Japan.
Convinced she had come to the end of her athletic endeavors Michele had devoted her energies to becoming a doctor. She completed the prerequisites for entry into medical school and was working in the surgical department of Sacred Heart General Hospital, when she was offered a professional contract to pitch on a professional women’s softball team in Japan.
She turned down the initial offer making a hard decision to continue her path to medical school, but when the Japanese team again offered her a contract the following year, she couldn’t refuse.
After all, she was young with no commitments that would prevent her from spending six or seven months in Japan playing softball.
Michele told us, “I was at that point in my life where if I could ever take a break from school this would be the time to do it. I’ll go to Japan for one year, play professionally, earn a little money and come back to medical school was my thinking at the time.”
One season, however, turned into a few more. Michele was such a success in Japan that she stayed on the Toyota Industries Team for 16 years.
During her time in Japan, she also earned a spot on Team USA’s Softball Team and competed in both the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
“I still can’t believe that I lived and played in Japan for 16 years. Plus, I played on two US Olympic teams and won gold medals in both.”
During her off season from softball, Michele returned to the United States staying with her aunt in the Tampa, Florida area. She loved that area and decided to settle there.
During the same time, she was working with Musco Sports Lighting who provide lighting for large arenas, plus baseball and softball fields. She traveled extensively in the Middle East for a couple years, and then really decided it was time to go home. Although at the age of 41, she was still one of the very best softball pitchers in the world,
“I just got tired and wanted to be home.”
After 16 years in sports, her dreams of becoming a doctor had long since dissipated, but given her long career, she was able to find a spot in television.
“It was a natural fit for me to go into broadcasting. In 1994 I announce a game for the first time for ESPN, calling games was mostly NCAA post season softball until 2008. When I retired from softball in 2009, ESPN began airing more regular-season women’s college games. I was full on into broadcasting once that happened. The broadcasts received great ratings and it became a natural fit for me.”
Michele’s next adventure took root in real estate investment. She and her sister decided to purchase a rental property, a lake house near Pinehurst, North Carolina and began listing it as a vacation rental on a website. Next, she and a friend bought Babe Ruth’s old Tampa home, which needed a complete remodel. That project also became an episode on HGTV’s Generation Renovation in 2000. They rented that property for nearly ten years and sold it for a tidy profit.
She explored the nearby communities and fell in love with a run-down hotel on Treasure Island. It was on the auction block and scheduled to be torn down to make way for more condominiums. Understanding the vacation rental market in the Tampa area, she made a quick decision to purchase and remodel the antiquated hotel.
“I started looking and decided that I would buy the oldest, yuckiest, dilapidated hotel on Treasure Island and restore it to grandeur. Most people thought, it should be knocked down, but, I wanted to bring it back to life.”
Michele feels one of the most important aspects of her life has been the ability to make quick decisions based on the best information available at the time. She also understands, however that those decisions may not always be right.
“If it goes in the wrong direction, you have to be just as quick to pivot and always be aware of your situation.”
Michele’s most recent project involves an old commercial building with an adjoining restaurant and bar in Madeira Beach that was outdated and in drastic need of a total remodeling effort. She and her partner combined the two buildings and maintained the open industrial look of the interior converting it to an event venue for weddings, formal occasions, as well as, corporate functions.
With an event booked for December, only two months away, there is still a lot of work to be done before the new space is ready for use.
Real Estate investment and construction can lead one to question one’s sanity. Michele told us, she has to step back occasionally and take a breath.
“There are times when I literally have to stand back and tell myself. Michele, you can’t have a ‘weak moment.’ You have to be strong; you have to stand up and face the challenges and find the right people to get this work done.”
Another important factor in Michele’s life has been the ability to persevere. Early in her pitching career a fan passed her a note with the word perseverance on it and told her,
“If you do this one thing, you can do anything you want in life.”
Three years later on July 21, 1986, Michele was involved in a car accident. Her left arm, her pitching arm, was severely injured and doctors told her she would never pitch again. Exactly ten years later, July 21, 1996, Michele pitched for Team USA in the first-ever women’s softball game held in the Olympics. She felt she had already won an Olympic Gold Medal simply by being able to pitch in the game.
Even through one of the most trying times of her life, she persevered and made her dream of competing as an Olympic athlete a reality.
Because Michele has had so many life experiences, she is a popular speaker. She has addressed various groups including, Fortune 500 companies, local governments, charity events and softball related gatherings. Overcoming the injury, playing professional softball in Japan and traveling the world provide her a unique perspective on how perseverance and seizing the right opportunities can shape a successful life.
“Hopefully my story can be an inspiration to someone. No matter what obstacles they face if they persevere, work hard and create a good team, they can succeed.”
From her years in Japan, Michele learned to always surround herself with good people and she works best in a team atmosphere.
“In Japan, you grow up learning that it’s not about you, it’s about everybody else around you. I became a much better human being when I became cognizant of how other people perceived me and how my actions affected other people. I knew I would be a human being longer than I would be an Olympic pitcher, so I thought I’d better be a good one.”
Competition in sports also taught Michele another valuable life lesson. She learned that there are no setbacks, only set ups.
“Failure is a necessary part of success. The mind controls your emotions, so the trick is to convince the mind that a failure is simply one step in the process to success.”
Michele Smith has traveled the world, earned Olympic Gold and used the lessons she learned on the softball field to create a successful real estate and hospitality business in Florida.
If you would like to learn more about Michele visit her website: http://www.michelesmith.com/. Her website: https://www.beachcottagesfl.com/ has information about the beach cottage rentals and the event center website can be found later this year under: http://thewesteventspace.com/. Also be sure to listen to our podcast interview with Michele on Spreaker.
