US Rugby Icon Ilona Maher’s Advice Helps Sam Mewis Encourage USWNT Star’s Dreams

“#beastbeautybrains” is how Ilona Maher describes herself in her Instagram bio. Honestly, a perfect expression for someone who not only dominates the rugby pitch with her muscular physique but also shines on the glamorous stage of the dance reality show Dancing With the Stars. You may wonder for a moment how someone could juggle such contrasting aspects of their career, especially considering Maher has faced some negativity along the way. However, the truth is that this rugby dynamo turned viral sensation lives by a simple mantra, one that Sam Mewis follows and has even encouraged USWNT star Jaedyn Shaw to embrace as well!

Before we hear Maher’s mantra, let’s set the scene as to how we came here. Well, it all begins in the recent interview of Shaw taken by Mewis as a host of The Women’s Game podcast. During the lengthy chat, the former USWNT midfielder asked the North Carolina Courage star about how she would want to see players exercise more control over their own brands. Interestingly, Shaw responded, “I’ve been trying to vlog more,” emphasizing the importance of flaunting one’s personality.

“It’s not necessarily in my comfort zone I can tell you that but I think that it’s like really fun just to kind of show a little bit around… what you do whether it’s boring or not. I haven’t posted yet,” added the former San Diego Wave attacker. “And I feel like it’s a good time and in like,it’s a good era to do it. So I think like putting yourself out there more like showing people like kind of what you do,if you’re comfortable with that,” she added as she discussed how she has filmed the more mundane aspects of her day-to-day and how people might take a liking to it. While Mewis was impressed with Jaedyn’s inclination to show the world the lesser-known aspects of her personality, she seemed slightly disappointed over the 20-year-old’s reluctance to post her vlog. This only led the former Manchester City star to cite Maher’s example, who has blown up social media.

“Ilona is so amazing. I was watching a video that she posted and she was like ‘People come and ask me all the time how to gain more followers and get into what I’m what I’ve been doing.’ And she was like, ‘Literally, just post it. That’s my only advice. If you’re recording anything, post it; don’t think about it again just post it.’ So I’m encouraging you to just post your vlog,” Mewis added, sharing how not overthinking what to post but having the confidence to simply do it is the real key. That’s all that matters. 

This immediately reminded Shaw of how amazing the rugby icon was on Dancing with the Stars. What’s more? She also revealed that following in Maher’s footsteps is a part of her off-field ambitions. “She [Maher] was on Dancing with the Stars, and I was just watching and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ That’s one of my dream things. Like non-soccer dreams. Dancing with the Stars,” confessed the USWNT star.

And honestly? Why wouldn’t she want to be inspired by Maher? After all, time and again, the Olympian has proved that simplicity and self-confidence are the keys to most things in life. In fact, another instance once saw the two-time Olympian share several tactics of how she tries to uplift herself on “bad body image days.” Speaking her heart out in a TikTok video, and as compiled by SELF, the 28-year-old said, “Take a breath…Remind yourself you’re beautiful. It’s okay if you’re going through [this].”

No wonder with this mindset, she boasts of close to 5 million Instagram followers, while also giving her all in DTWS, even though she recently ended that dream of hers. Hence, this should only motivate Jaedyn to step up and start doing whatever she loves, irrespective of what others may think of her. Speaking of which, the USWNT starlet did share in detail what she aspires to do.

Jaedyn Shaw needs to retain an Ilona Maher mindset

Well, on the pitch, we have no doubts about Jaedyn Shaw requiring some sort of guidance as she is quite an expert on that front. But when it comes to off-pitch ventures, hesitation remains. Yet, the Courage star was bold enough to admit more about her interests, like one of them was working with some of her “dream brands” as an influencer.

“I would love to get into the beauty industry,” Jaedyn said, denying to put out a brand name as she fears it may block her blessing. Well, it certainly doesn’t end here as she said, “I would love to work with a car brand but I have to be 25 to do that so got some time…”

Currently, Shaw is working closely with brands like Red Bull and Adidas, and has shared on how the former allow her to operate in a “creative space.” While it’s great to hear that, let’s hope she takes Ilona Maher’s million-dollar advice and puts it into practice by posting those interesting vlogs for her fans.