Olympic track-and-field champion Gabby Thomas on Tuesday shared advice and inspiration at the Restaurant Leadership Conference in Phoenix.
“When you’re genuinely leading with passion it’s so worth it and so much fun,” Thomas said of pursuing and balancing a variety of passions, as so many restaurateurs do.
In addition to running track and field, Thomas studied neurobiology at Harvard and public health and epidemiology at the University of Texas, volunteers at a public health clinic, and recently co-founded a women’s track league.
Thomas is no stranger to the restaurant industry. Her mom, who was a single mom to Thomas and her twin brother, was a waitress before pursuing a career as a teacher. Thomas herself worked at a Hardee’s and then a McDonald’s restaurant throughout high school.
“What I remember most about that time is the interactions I had with everyone who came in and out of the restaurant,” she said. Thomas developed a rapport with her regular customers, who came to call her Smiley.
She also earlier this year partnered with fast-casual chain CAVA to promote three limited-time offers.
“It was a natural alignment,” Thomas said, adding that she has CAVA at least three times a week after practice. She’s committed to taking partnerships that align with her values and fit her lifestyle.
Thomas credits much of her success both on and off the track to her mom’s journey.
“I grew up in an environment where I felt like I could try new things,” said Thomas, who played a variety of sports as a child. “[My mom was an] example of what hard work and following your dreams looks like. … That’s my normal — having something I’m passionate about, having a goal and working toward it.”
She didn’t start running track until she was 13, and didn’t realize she was good until her junior year of college. She decided on neurobiology as a career path four years earlier, as a junior in high school, inspired by her brother, who has autism. Thomas praised the culture of the track team at Harvard, where she felt she could pursue both of her passions.
As Thomas began training for her first Olympics, she was waylaid by the first big challenge: The 2020 pandemic, which ultimately delayed the Games by a year. Thomas took the opportunity to channel her energy into volunteering at a healthcare clinic.
“That was a really grounding thing to have, to focus on my public health work,” she said.
Meanwhile, she continued to train both physically and mentally, emphasizing the importance of patience in a sport that largely operates on a four-year cycle.
“I still wasn’t sure if I belonged on an Olympic team,” Thomas said, but moved to Austin, Texas, to be around other Olympic-caliber athletes who could push her to that level. When Thomas finally got to compete at the Olympic Trials in 2021, she said, “all that time I put into this goal, this dream, really paid off.”
She went on to win two medals in Tokyo: silver in the 4 x 100-meter relay and bronze in the 200 meters.
“Track and field is a sport where there’s no real such thing as overnight success,” Thomas said, which rings true of the restaurant industry as well. “It appeared overnight to the world, but it was the process of many, many days, weeks, months, years.”
She knew immediately she’d try to compete in Paris in 2024.
“I could have a lasting legacy here, and I left Tokyo very determined to do that,” she said. “A lot of things can happen in three years, and a lot of athletes cannot maintain for that long. For me, it was a discipline I had to tap into. Everything became so much more intentional; every small thing became intentional.”
The biggest lesson she learned in that period? “Accepting and learning from failure.”
That “failure” included the next big challenge, an injured hamstring in 2022 before the U.S. championships.
“It was heartbreaking… but I took that as an opportunity to back up and slow down,” she said.
That strategy worked. At the Paris Olympics in 2024, Thomas won three gold medals: the 4 x 100-meter relay, the 4 x 400-meter relay, and the 200 meters.
“It felt like time had actually stopped,” she said of winning her individual gold. She was the first American woman to win that event in 12 years, following Allyson Felix in 2012.
“It was a decade-long emotional roller coaster, riding it out and trusting the process,” she said. “It was a magical moment.”
Following in Felix’s footsteps specifically was meaningful to Thomas, who called the former an inspiration and a mentor, not only on the track but off. Felix is a champion for maternal health; before her time, it was less common for athletes to use their voices for such causes.
“That is something that is important to me and that I take very seriously,” said Thomas, who still volunteers at the public health clinic in Austin as she trains for the Los Angeles games in 2028.
“I’m keeping my eyes on the longer-term, larger goal and being patient in this Olympic cycle,” she said.
Thomas also co-founded the all-women’s track league Athlos with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. She wants to bring excitement to track and field and compete in the United States, which is not very common outside of Olympic years.
“It’s empowering to give [track and field athletes] a voice in our own sport,” she said. She also advocates for female athletes to make a livable wage.
“We’re making a change, a lasting impact on the sport, and that’s what’s important to me,” Thomas said.
How does Thomas balance all of her passions? “I try to keep it as routine as I can and give myself grace when I can’t,” she said.
She spends her downtime watching Netflix — her current binge is Love on the Spectrum — and spending time with her pug.
The values Thomas finds most valuable in every aspect of her life are patience and consistency.
“Keep your head down, focus, do the same thing every single day,” she advised those going through challenges. “I bring the same tenacity to every rep.” She called her ability to dial in, focus and dissociate her superpower.
Thomas advised those in the room to “remember your purpose and find your why.”
“I want to leave behind a legacy in my sport,” she said, “a legacy that I gave it all, that I was a great athlete, worked really hard, and gave back.”
