Melissa Rycroft & Tye Strickland - Discussion

The Ultimate Girl’s Girl

You may recognize her from her very public breakup on The Bachelor, or you might have seen her dance on stage for millions of viewers on Dancing with the Stars and Dancing with the Stars All Stars, but today Melissa Rycroft is busy juggling being a wife and mom with her burgeoning career.  The former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader recently starred in her own television project Melissa and Tye, is a new author of her autobiography “My Reality”, and making a home in Dallas with longtime sweetheart Tye Stickland and daughter Ava.  

Since becoming a mom, Melissa has become a role model not just for her own daughter but for women everywhere.  From dating do’s and don’ts, to learning the in's and out's of juggling her family life and career, Melissa is finding her way one step at a time.  We got the chance to sit down with her while she was in Northwest Arkansas for the Pantene Beautiful Lengths event held in conjunction with the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G to chat abobut the importance of confidence, female empowerment and women sticking together...


How has cancer impacted your life?
I was first exposed to cancer in college.   There was a girl on my college dance team that had ovarian cancer and was going through chemo right before we auditioned.  Shortly after that I had another friend who found out he had testicular cancer.  Recently, we found out that one of our family members is now going to be battling cancer.  It’s something I’ve been affected by not necessarily in a direct way.  The older you get, the more people you know that are going to get it, so it’s very scary.


Just one week after the infamous The Bachelor finale, you were on stage dancing for America on Dancing with the Stars.  How do you think this event will impact not only the donors but the recipients of the wigs as well?

I don’t know if it’s necessary about confidence, but speaking out about stuff like this, it’s more about empowerment.  I donated my hair about 5 years ago, right after I was a cheerleader and before I went on The Bachelor.  Two of my girlfriends and I decided to donate our hair and we didn’t think it was a big deal at all.  But it’s amazing after you’ve done it, how it feels different.  It didn’t go to anyone that I know.  But I still walked away knowing that something so simple had not just impacted, but changed somebody’s life and gave them a different outlook on this treatment that they’re about to go through.   I don’t think you need confidence to say that.


You’ve been a mom to your daughter Ava for 2 years now.  Has the time flown by?

Yes, she turned two in February.  I’ll be really honest: the first six months did not fly by.  I was sitting there during month four thinking, “this does not fly by.  I don’t know what they were talking about.”  But then all the sudden, I’m just trying to hold on, telling her she needs to slow down because she is a little person now.  She’s not a baby anymore.   It’s heartbreaking and heartwarmng at the same time.  


How has having Ava changed your career?

I’ve had to turn down some job opportunities.  Most recently we had one that would move us back out to L.A.  Tye and I sat on it for a while and eventually decided it wasn’t the right time.  It was a dream job, but I’m not in the position to take it.  I think you find out where your priorities are when you have kids.  You make sacrifices where they need to be made and bump the things up to the top of the list you feel need to be at the top.


What will your advice to Ava be about dating?

I want my daughter to do things very differently than I did.  I was not strong, I wasn’t independent.  I wasn’t confident.  Rather than enjoy my twenties and focus on having my own job, my own apartment I paid for, my own car I paid for, being a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, I looked at it from the other point of view.  Had I realized everything I had going for me, I think things would have been completely different.  So, my best message to Ava is just be independent.  Have fun.  You’re going to be married the rest of your life.  Hopefully having done it wrong, I can teach her how to do it right.


As you and Tye start thinking about adding a little one to the family, you’ve partnered with Clearblue.  Tell us about this experience.  

I started working with Clearblue a couple months ago.  I’m a firm believer in female empowerment.  We’ve got to stick together, especially when stuff is not really comfortable to talk about.  Clearblue has a new Advanced Digital Ovulation Test.  There’s always a stigma that ovulation tests are for those people having fertility issues and I wanted to get out there and say it’s not.  I use them and I’m not necessarily trying to get pregnant.  I just want to know what my body is doing.


Why is it so important that women learn about ovulation tests?

You want to make sure everything is okay.  Through the partnership, I got to work with a doctor who helped me learn a lot about the female body that I had no clue about.  When you get the facts of ovulation down,  there are literally only two or three days you can get pregnant.  It’s hard to comprehend sometimes.  

http://issuu.com/3wmagazine/docs/tl_vol2iss3/14

Melissa Rycroft Strickland
Red Carpet fun ‪#‎espys‬

Melissa Rycroft Strickland
Off to Lucky Strike to support the Matt Leinart Foundation - Think I can bowl in these?!?

Melissa Rycroft Strickland
Back stage at Kris Jenner Show - Hmmm....what could I be doing in my workout gear?!

Melissa Rycroft ‏@MelissaRycroft 3h
How did @KrisJenner and @KathieLGifford end up with Pom Poms and Chef's Hats?! Tune in to @KrisJennerShow TODAY! pic.twitter.com/zE3xcTgmoS

cimcoe wrote:

Melissa Rycroft ‏@MelissaRycroft 3h
How did @KrisJenner and @KathieLGifford end up with Pom Poms and Chef's Hats?! Tune in to @KrisJennerShow TODAY! pic.twitter.com/zE3xcTgmoS

Melissa Rycroft
Mommy got a boo-boo....Nothing a sweet kiss and Cinderella band-aid can't fix!

Melissa Rycroft
Friday night in our house means it's Princess-Dress-Up time!
http://instagram.com/p/cPyxa3ADPr/

Melissa Rycroft ‏@MelissaRycroft 26 Jul
Movie night at the casa! http://instagram.com/p/cQL5sfADKN/

Melissa Rycroft
Splash'n fun!!!

Melissa Rycroft
Leaving church on this beautiful day! Happy Sunday, guys!

Melissa Rycroft
4 hours ago
Just finished shooting a fun Q&A about The Bachelorette for GMA tomorrow - tune in!

Melissa Rycroft Strickland shared a link .
Some A-MAZ-ING pictures from our Mommy & Me photoshoot today!!! LOVE!!
http://imagesofgracephoto.com/blog/mommy-ava/
Images of Grace Photography