Vanessa + Raina/Valkyries, Say Less
When Vanessa Hutchinson-Szekely and Raina Mast aren’t going bananas about the Golden State Valkyries, they’re teaching kids in San Francisco.
In this episode, meet and get to know Vanessa and Raina, cohosts of the Valkyries, Say Less podcast.
We begin with Vanessa. Her parents met in San Francisco in 1970. Her mom came here the year before from her home country, France. In her mom’s first month in The City, she met the man who became Vanessa’s dad. She had just finished photography school back home, and planned to return to France. But fate wanted a word with her.
Vanessa’s dad grew up on the East Coast. Before he settled on creating stain-glass works, getting to know his own artistic bent, he came to San Francisco to explore that side of himself. He met Vanessa’s mom. They were young artists, they were in love, and the rest is history.
About a decade later, in 1979, they had a kid—Vanessa, their only child. She talks about being on the cusp between Gen X and Millennial, but considers herself mostly Californian/French. With her parents, Vanessa spent (and still often spends) summers in the French Alps.
Both being artists, Vanessa’s mom realized that between herself and her husband, one of them needed a job that offered health insurance. And so she went to a temp agency. That allowed her dad to pursue his stained-glass art. He later designed the stained glass in the Mrs. Doubtfire house. A lot of his glass art still exists around North Beach.
Vanessa grew up amid all that art here in SF. But at the time, she might not have appreciated it like she does today. Eventually, she moved to New York City for college. She was drawn in by the romantic version of NYC depicted in movies and shows.
After her time at Columbia University, Vanessa moved to LA to teach. She always knew she would come home, but wasn’t sure when. After 11 years away (four in New York and seven in Los Angeles), she came back. She was 30 and had met the man she would later marry. It was time.
Riffing off her seven years of teaching middle school in LA, which she started when she was 22, Vanessa came back and found work with the SFUSD, where she’s been since 2008.
We go on a sidebar about raising kids in San Francisco, something I didn’t do but Vanessa did and wants more people to do.
She and her Valkyries, Say Less cohost, Raina, met through a mutual friend. Vanessa’s version of their meeting 10 years ago is that they were both invited to a party at that mutual friend’s house. Vanessa saw Raina and thought, Damn, that is one cool-looking person. We’ll hear Raina’s version of that story later in Part 1.
We end Vanessa’s segment by hearing about her SF schools, a must for born-and-raised folks. She’s quick to note that she only went to one school for K through 12—the French-American International School.
Then we turn to Raina. They grew up in Pennsylvania Amish country, where they played basketball and ran track. They’re from Easton, the town where Crayola crayons are made. Raina says the company would often survey town folks to help name new colors. Easton is 1.5 hours away from both New York City and Philadelphia. Both cities called to them, they say.
They lived in New York City, Puerto Rico, and Upstate New York. Then they joined friends on a cross-country road trip, looking for a place to call home. After 13 years of Catholic school, they never really felt like the fit in back home. I ask if, like me, Raina is a recovering Catholic. They say they are fully recovered, in fact. Remarkable, especially for a queer woman. Brava!
Being one of five kids in their family, with three brothers, was another challenge. Raina’s oldest brother was the artist among them. Eventually, they took another trip across the US. New Orleans tried to grab Raina, and possibly almost did. The other choice was San Francisco, but they didn’t move here right away.
When it came time to move here, their family was shocked not at all. The first visit happened in 2001. There’s a really funny story they share about driving through SF and ending up in Sacramento before they realized it. With no GPS and only paper maps, they circled back and this time, exited off the bridge to San Francisco.
A few years later, now pregnant, they started thinking, Where do I wanna raise this kid? That’s when SF really drew them in. Their younger brother lived here already, with an apartment in the Marina. There are stories about getting bested by The City’s hills and wearing sandals and wondering why they were so cold—classic newcomer to San Francisco stuff. Despite all that, they loved it. In 2014, they made the leap.
Since arriving to live here, they’ve lived in the Mission, the Haight, and nowadays, they call the Richmond home. Before their move here, they applied for art school and teaching fellowships at the same time. The teaching gigs they got offered health insurance and more stability, so they chose that path. Today, they are able to walk parallel paths of art and education. They’ve taught art, but these days, it’s Spanish classes.
Going back to their meeting story, Raina and Vanessa are both creative folks who also teach. As creative people with not a lot of money, a DIY mindset set in for them individually and together. It’s what propelled and inspired them to start their podcast—Valkyries, Say Less. Vanessa speaks to being on the same “teacher rhythm,” meaning time off at the same time, stuff like that.
Raina adds that, both being Gen Xers, they grew up without women’s sports being what it is today. We end Part 1 with Raina’s version of meeting Vanessa, who would later be their podcasting partner. Right away, Raina thought Vanessa was very stylish, mostly owing to her French heritage, as they later learned.
In May 2025, channeling Raina’s music-recording background, Vanessa’s podcasting knowledge (she has a meditation show), and both of their love of women’s sports, and with the kickoff of the first WNBA team in The Bay, Valkyries, Say Less was born.
In Part 2, we pick up where we left off in Part 1, with the origin story of Raina and Vanessa’s show, Valkyries, Say Less. It goes something like this …
The two went to the first-ever Valkyries game, technically a preseason game, at Chase Center, in 2025. Once she discovered discounted tickets, Vanessa got about 20 friends and fellow teachers to join in. Then folks from the Valkyries cme to Vanessa’s school, Roosevelt Middle School in the Richmond, for a career fair day. She was decked out in Valkyries merch that she’d already made and had been selling. Vanessa told the team reps how she’d gotten 20 people to buy tickets for the preseason opener. The reps replied, asking whether she’d ever considered season tickets. Once the info was on the table, Vanessa realized that it might be a possibility, even on a public schoolteacher’s salary. She convinced the group going to the preseason opener to go in on season tickets with her.
Game day came, and Vanessa compares it to her wedding day. Excitement was all around her. After the game, Vanessa connected with Raina to talk about the experience. Raina shared that, during the game itself, inside what would later become known as Ballhalla, they were scrambling to find information about the players, most of whom were completely new to them. Vanessa knew of the French players (there were three on the team then), of course, but that’s about it. Vanessa remembers Raina having the idea for a podcast, based on their simple desire to learn more about the players and share that info.
Raina’s story is a little different. They grew up on men’s basketball and were skeptical that the WNBA could bring it. Unlike their friend Vanessa, they weren’t a “founding guard” (early season ticketholder). And so that preseason game was a massive wake-up call for Raina. They were in shock. The experience was profound, and she needed to better understand and process it. That’s where Vanessa came in.
On Mother’s Day 2025 (May 11 that year), Raina went to Vanessa’s house and the two recorded an intro in the basement. They started with that idea of researching Valkyries players. They wanted to use their roles as educators to teach themselves and other fans who might be hungry for that information. It was casual. They quickly realized that they have different voices and approaches, but excellent chemistry. They published that immediately. It was an introduction episode.
Then came time for a second episode, and that meant work. They decided that each episode would be dedicated entirely to a single player. All good teachers know the value of games as learning tools, and so they integrated playfulness into their new show. At this point in our recording, Raina casually mentions that their dad, Eddie Mast, played in the (M)NBA back in the day. What? Raina expounds on that to explain that for them, learning player stats was a ritual growing up. It meant going to games vs. not going in those days. All to say that player stats and info come second-nature for Raina.
Vanessa and Raina soon found out from their new side hustle that, every episode, they fell in love with a new player, having researched that player thoroughly.
We shift the conversation to talking about the inaugural Valkyries season in 2025, which we all agree was bananas. Vanessa recalls being at Ballhalla when Golden State clinched the playoffs. She went home and booked a hotel in San Jose (because of a scheduling conflict, the first and only playoff game last year took place down there). She talks about the high highs and the immense joy surrounding our WNBA team. She’d just come out of three months plagued by severe back pain right around the time of that preseason game last year. She relishes the community that came together immediately, and is excited that kids and young people get to experience it, too.
I ask Vanessa and Raina whether, like I do, they ever challenge folks in their lives to watch or go to a Valkyries, folks who might otherwise not be into basketball specifically or sports in general. They both say they have. I’ll echo what we all say: If you’re able, go to a game at Ballhalla. I challenge you not to have a smile on your face. It’s so much more than what’s happening on the court, though lately, that part doesn’t take anything away. It’s seeing all generations, all ethnicities, all gender expressions, and everyone is fucking happy. It’s really something.
An added bonus for Vanessa and Raina is, of course, getting to know each other better and becoming better and better friends.
For the Valkyries second season this year, Vanessa and Raina decided to add video to their show. They started media partnerships with friend of this show Broke-Ass Stuart and Merci SF, a local online media org. They got press passes, meaning they can sit in the media section (alongside our contributing producer and my wife, Erin Lim) and attend pregame and post-game press conferences. They’ve hosted watch parties at Rikki’s (and had another one last night at Richmond Republic) and have done community trash cleanups around Chase Center.
Raina speaks to the beauty of collaboration, and how they couldn’t do this alone. And they talk about watching their friend Vanessa blossom beyond being a mom and a teacher. They give a shoutout to Rikki’s and Sara Yergovich, who bartended the day we recorded. Rikki’s had only recently celebrated their first anniversary when last season started, which is amazing. I’m proud to call Sara and Danielle friends of Storied: SF.
I mention BOUNCE, the rise of women’s sports, from KALW (shameless plug as Erin hosts that show). Vanessa and Raina drop Eric Apricot’s name. He’s the author of Valkyrie Nation, my own go-to publication around anything WNBA. Valkyries, Say Less and Valkyrie Nation are now collaborating on a book they’re calling Love Letters to Ballhalla. And Vanessa mentions Maya Goldberg-Safir, author of WNBA Rough Notes on Substack, and all-around cool person.
I go on a sidebar here about talking to random people all over The Bay about the Valkyries, how infectious it all is, and how easy it is to get swept up by everything Valkyries. It also transcends generations and race. I love it.
When we recorded, in late-August, the Valkyries were in second place, behind the Minnesota Lynx. They ended the season there, barely, after a franchise-historic comeback win in LA against the Sparks. As of this writing, Minnesota has been eliminated in Round 1 by the New York Liberty, making the Valkyries the de facto No. 1 seed in the playoffs. I ask Vanessa and Raina to talk about this incredible season, only the second in team history.
I ask, straight-up: Is it Gabby Williams? Yes, but that’s not the entirety of it. Raina talks about how Gabby has thrived here, and done so in a leadership role. They also mention the bond among all the players, something that’s grown stronger over the course of this season. And they point to how the coaching staff is respecting player health differently and better this year. Maybe I’m giving our city and metro area too much credit, but I bring up a quote, recent at the time, from head coach Natalie Nakase. She talked about the love among Valkyries players. For me, that’s a very SF/Bay Area thing. I’ll take it.
There are many ways to find Vanessa and Raina and Valkyries, Say Less. Their website is valkyriessayless.com, and it’s a great place to learn about events they’re either putting on or are a part of. Follow Valkyries, Say Less on Instagram @valkyriessayless and Threads @valkyriessayless.
Having met their goals for Season 2 (press passes, interviewing players), Vanessa states her Season 3 goal of offering her meditation workshops to the team, in French and in English. Rad.
We recorded this podcast Rikki’s Women’s Sports Bar in August 2026.
Photography by Jeff Hunt
