“Never limit yourself, never be satisfied, and smile - it’s free.”

That inspirational quote by women’s soccer icon Mia Hamm sounds simple, but to see an individual actually follow those words of wisdom is becoming increasingly rare.

Enter Summit Hill native, and now Philadelphia resident, Nicole Michalik and her colleague - Philadelphia’s own Natalie Egenolf.

Michalik and Egenolf might not even know it, but their new project, The Lipstick League - a popular podcast that combines their backgrounds in sports talk, top 40, and country radio - mirrors Hamm’s inspiring sentiment.

Michalik, a 1998 Marian Catholic graduate, has been in the radio business - mostly in the Philadelphia market - her entire professional career and grew up in a household that prepared her for the passionate “Philly sports scene.”

“Shout out to my father Chet Michalik for sparking my interest in sports as a young kid,” said Michalik. “He was always coaching or playing basketball or watching sports, and I would always tag along with him, and I’ve been obsessed with sports ever since.

“And everyone knows that I bleed blue and gold, so I just took that passion with me throughout the years.”

Egenolf’s name might sound familiar to many sports aficionados as she was a former on-air personality and co-host on 97.5 The Fanatic’s Mike Missanelli show. Egenolf recently left her post at 97.5 to join the team at Parx Casino, where she will spearhead the casino and sportsbook’s digital media division as an on-air host, producer and brand ambassador.

The now co-hosts of the Lipstick League met at the Beasley Media Group studios just outside of Philadelphia where Michalik was working at 92.5 XTU (Philadelphia’s County Station) and Egenolf at the Missanelli Show.

“When Nicole started at the station, she was only there a few days and came right over and introduced herself and we quickly became friends,” said Egenolf. “I realized we had a lot in common, and I knew she listened to the show and was very passionate about sports.

“So, I reached out to her and asked her if she wanted to do a project with me that was sports-based, but also incorporated other things in life, like pop-culture and stuff like that, and here we are now.”

The Lipstick League isn’t your average sports talk podcast, which has been a big reason for its growing popularity. The podcast is an innovative approach that delves deeper into sports, and is geared to give women a stronger voice throughout the sports landscape. The Lipstick League has also had some impressive guests such as: Joy Taylor (The Herd with Colin Cowherd), Chris Long (former NFL defensive lineman and Eagles Super Bowl Champion) and most recently Missanelli.

“We wanted to create a podcast or a platform that was inclusive,” said Michalik. “When you listen to it, we want you to feel like you’re part of a team. And sports talk radio in general isn’t very conducive to women, so we wanted to also create a place that was more welcoming to women not only here in our area, but across the country.

“But we also like to dive deeper into things. Why do some teams consistently always win? Why do some teams always lose? What makes a player so good or so bad? And then we also talk about pop culture and stuff like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce hanging out all summer long and how that could have been Carson Wentz and Zach Ertz, but the Eagles messed that all up.”

The Lipstick League is certainly formatted for women, but men have been tuning in as well. The demographics for the show are currently 55% women and 45% men. In fact, it was feedback from a male listener to Egenolf that reaffirmed to the two hosts the essence of what their podcast is truly about.

“We’ve received an overwhelming amount of support and positive feedback, which we’re so thankful for,” said Egenolf. “The feedback we get from women is that they feel like they’re just hanging out with us, and that we’re helping to alleviate the stigma that sports is just for men; but one of the best stories I’ve heard from a listener came from a father, who has a daughter and he actually told me that by listening to our podcast, that we helped him better understand his daughter.

“That’s exactly the type of things we’re looking to accomplish with this podcast. We want to talk sports, but we also want to tell stories. I think this is a format that can be beneficial to people in many ways.”

The Lipstick League can be listened to on all major podcast platforms.