Intentional Performers

Jake Sherman on Competing for Stories

Jake Sherman is a senior writer for POLITICO and co-author of POLITICO’s Playbook, the most indispensable morning newsletter for the biggest influencers in politics. Jake is the top congressional reporter on Capitol Hill and has built a career on landing hard-to-get scoops. Since 2009, Jake has chronicled all of the major legislative battles on Capitol Hill, and has also traveled the country to cover the battle for control of Congress. 

In this conversation, Jake discusses his mindset, his journey, and how he thinks about the complexities of his job. Jake is a hard worker, a go-getter, and someone who has become an expert at the craft of reporting. 

Jake is extremely active on Twitter so make sure to give him a follow there as well: @JakeSherman and in the future check out his book A Hill to Die On, which will be out in 2019. 

Please share this episode on social media and remember to subscribe and write a review for the podcast on itunes! 

Thanks for listening. 

Rebecca Scritchfield on Body Kindness

Today, we talk with Rebecca Scritchfield. Rebecca is a well-being coach, registered dietitian nutritionist, and certified health and fitness specialist. Through her weight-neutral Body Kindness practice, she helps people create a better life with workable, interesting self-care goals. She has influenced millions through her writing, podcast, and appearances in over 100 media outlets including NBC Nightly News, CNN, the Today show, the Washington Post, O Magazine, Health, Shape, and many others. 

Rebecca also wrote the book, Body Kindness, which takes a holistic approach to nutrition. The book really reflects Rebecca's philosophy that health transformation occurs from the inside out. 

In this conversation, we discuss the mentality of an athlete, what it means to live a healthy life, and we explore Rebecca's journey and career. Rebecca's journey blends small town values with big city dreams. She is extremely hard working, very well educated, and someone who cares deeply about helping people be their best self. She also talks about the importance of being useful and valued to people and how that has influenced her career. You will enjoy Rebecca's energy, vulnerability, and creativity as she shares her knowledge on nutrition. 

Rebecca is also active on social media. You can follow her on Twitter: @ScritchfieldRD, on Instagram: @Rebeccascritchfield, and her website.

Thanks to Rebecca for coming on and thanks to all of you for listening!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adell Harris on the Adversity Advantage

On this episode I chat with Adell Harris. Adell is a strong woman who has not just survived adversity, but thrived from her adversity. Adell has been a victim of sexual abuse, was raised in a chaotic household, and has lost a number of important people in her life. But, that's just part of her story.

Adell played division 1 basketball at Wake Forest University and had a 14 year coaching career that led her to become the head coach of UNC Wilmington at the age of 31. She recently resigned from her post as head coach to pursue her dream of being a public speaker where she leverages story to help people make adversity their advantage.

There are a number of labels that Adell could use to describer herself, but as you will find in this conversation, using just one word would not do justice to who she is. She is authentic, passionate, inspiring, and fearless. I truly enjoyed this conversation with Adell and I know you will too.

To learn more about Adell check out her website: http://rtladell.com and follow her on Twitter:@RTL_AdellHarris.

If you enjoy this podcast, please make sure to subscribe on Itunes and share on social media. Thanks to Adell and thanks for listening!

 

Justin Su'a on Being Ambitious

Today we chat with Justin Su'a. Justin is a mental performance coach with the Cleveland Browns and Boston Red Sox. Justin also was a division 1 baseball player at Brigham Young University. 

This conversation gets into the power of ambition, self-belief, and how mindset impacts performance. Justin has an incredible way with words and is a tremendous story-teller. He leverages stories to help others create clarity around how to achieve their dream. At his core, Justin is a teacher. 

Justin is the type of person who you feel like you know from the moment you meet him. He's warm, caring, and extremely thoughtful. That will come across in this conversation. He is one of the most respected people in the world of Sport Psychology and he is extremely generous with giving back to the field.

In this conversation, we dive into faith, culture, business, and human performance and I know you will enjoy hearing Justin's story. 

Also, Justin has a great podcast called Increase Your Impact. He is also a great follow on Twitter and Instagram @Justinsua.

Ron Paul on Loving Leadership

Ron Paul is someone I have always admired and looked up to. Ron is a classy man, a terrific father, and an extremely successful businessman. Ron is a humble man but his accomplishments include being named “Community Banker of the Year” for the Eastern Region, by the Independent Community Bankers of America, Named by Washington Business Journal as a member of the Washington, DC area “Power 100”, and being inducted into the “Washington Business Hall of Fame”.

Yet, while his accolades in business are many, he brims with pride when talking about his family and the philanthropic work he has done to fight kidney disease and different forms of cancer.

Ron is a high character human who has faced all kinds of set-backs in his life, yet he maintains a strong sense of self and understanding of his values.

If you want to learn more about his work in fighting kidney disease you can check out the Ron & Joy Paul Kidney Center here.

Thanks to Ron for the time and being so open.

 

Martin Bahar on Diversity of Thought

This week's podcast was with a longtime friend, Martin Bahar. We went to elementary school and grew up playing sports together. Martin has always been someone who valued hard work and improvement. As a kid, every year he got better and better at basketball. Today, he is a charismatic guy who can connect with just about anyone.

Martin is an assistant coach with the men's basketball team at the University of Southern California. Martin has been coaching for over a decade and his coaching journey has taken him all over the country. Because I am in the basketball community, I am constantly meeting people who know and love Martin. He's a special guy.

In this conversation, we talk about building relationships, dealing with distractions, and team culture. Martin is also a great follow on Twitter: @MShoneBahar. Lastly, Martin is very involved with the Leukemia Lymphoma society where he raises money in honor of his late sister (Maddie). Thanks so much to Martin for coming on!

Dave Smith on Learning Leadership

Today we go beyond the surface with Dave Smith. Dave was the Canisius College men's ice hockey coach for 12 seasons. At Canisius, he built the Men's Ice Hockey program to a number 25 ranking among Division I NCAA Men's Ice Hockey teams. Dave guided Canisius to a 21-11-7 record this season and was named the Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year after winning the program's first regular-season title. He led the Golden Griffins to three straight trips to Atlantic Hockey Championship weekend for the first time in school history, including consecutive appearances in the title game and the team's first crown in 2013. The program has also received national attention with its graduates having unprecedented success at the professional level.

Dave recently took the job at RPI and this episode will give you great insight into what he values, looks for, and hopes to build at RPI. Dave also had a long professional hockey career which took him all over North America. Dave and I talk about mindset, leadership, growing and developing.

You can learn more about Dave and the RPI hockey team by following him on Twitter: @RPI_hcky_Coach.

 

 

Joanna Lohman on My Authentic Self

Today we go beyond the surface with Joanna Lohman. Joanna is a professional soccer player with the Washington Spirit. Lohman was captain of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 2002–2003 and was the first four-time First Team All-Big Ten selection in the school's history. She earned a 3.98 GPA while obtaining her business degree at Penn State, resulting in her also being a four-time Academic All-American. In 2004, she was named Pennsylvania's NCAA Woman of the Year.

Joanna also helped launch an organization called GO! Athletes that aims encourage schools to create safer spaces for lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and questioning athletes.

Joanna is Vice President of Tenant Consulting, LLC, a commercial real estate firm in the Washington DC area. She helped create the first "carbon neutral calculator" for office buildings, resulting in an invitation to meet former Vice President Al Gore.

As you will hear, Joanna is extremely thoughtful and passionate about her professiona career. She believes in serving others by inspiring them to be the best version of themselves.  I also recommend giving Joanna a follow on twitter: @JoannaLohman.

Thanks so much to Joanna for coming on the show!

 

 

 

 

Darris Nichols on Blue Collared Work

Today I go beyond the surface with Darris Nichols. Darris is an assistant coach with University of Florida Men's basketball. Darris has also coached at many other schools. Before coaching, he was a standout guard at West Virginia Universit where he was a four-year letterwinner under legendary coaches, Bob Huggins and John Beilien. 

Nichols, a native of Radford, Va., shined as a player in the Big East. He scored 993 career points and dished 399 assists while shooting at a .375 clip from 3-point range. He averaged 10.7 points per game as well as 3.2 assists per game as a senior on the way to WVU’s Sweet 16 run. He was also a member of the 2007 NIT Championship, 2006 Sweet 16 and 2005 Elite Eight teams and finished his collegiate career as a top five most winningest player in Mountaineer history.

As you will hear, Darris has been greatly impacted by people in his life who worked hard and he takes that work-ethic with him as a coach. He also values relationships and the ability to connect with the players he serves. Darris is adaptable, warm, humble, and extremely intentional with his decision making.

Darris is a great follow on twitter: @CoachNice14.  Thanks to Darris for coming on the show.

Ethan Zohn from Surviving to Thriving

Today we go beyond the surface with Ethan Zohn. Ethan has many chapters in his story. He played professional soccer, won $1,000,000 on the hit TV show Survivor, and is a cancer survivor, or thriver as we discuss in this episode.

Ethan’s journey starts in the Northeast but has taken him all over the world. One of the places that has had a big influence on his life is Afirca, as he spent time there as a professional soccer player and a competitor on Survivor. That time inspired him to co-found Grassroots Soccer, who’s mission is to "mobilize the global soccer community to combat the AIDS epidemic in Africa.”

Ethan will discuss how his experiences have greatly impacted how he sees the world and given him tremendous purpose in his life. Thanks to Ethan for being so vulnerable, especially with a stranger, and sharing your journey.  If you want to follow Ethan on Twitter feel free to do so @EthanZohn and check out all the great work Grassroots Soccer is doing https://www.grassrootsoccer.org/.

Maggie Lucas on Never Quitting

Today we go beyond the surface with Maggie Lucas. Maggie is a professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Maggie also attended Penn State University where she was 2X Big Ten Player of the year and an All-American.

While Maggie has certainly had an accomplished career, in this episode she will also talk about some of the challenges she has faced along the way. Maggie has torn her ACL twice since becoming a pro and has had to develop a tremendous mindset to deal with that adversity. Maggie will also talk about how her mindset has changed through the years.

Thanks so much to Maggie for coming on and if you want to learn more about her feel free to follow her on Twitter @MaggieLucas33.

Laron Profit on Lifelong Learning

Laron Profit played professional basketball for over 10 years. He played for the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Lakers and also played for teams all over the world. Laron was fortunate to have his career journey cross paths with two of the most mentally strong athletes of all-time: Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. After finishing his career he went on to coach with the Orlando Magic for a number of years before making the decision to get out of coaching to take a job with the Jordan Brand clothing company. At Jordan Brand Laron works hand in hand with some of the greatest athletes in both basketball and football.

Laron is an extremely thoughtful guy. During this episode he will talk about his journey, what he learned along the way, and how he continues to develop his mindset every day. We talk about the importance of self-talk, interpretation, and preparation. I know you will enjoy Laron’s perspective

If you want to follow Laron on Twitter you can do so @Profit4eva. But, full disclosure, Laron said he checks it sparingly!

Jesse Itzler on Going For It

Jesse Itzler wears many hats. He’s a former rapper, entrepreneur, and author. As a rapper he reached #74 on the billboard top 100, he wrote the NY Knicks theme song “Go NY Go”, and has written and produced songs for a number of companies. As an entrepreneur he co-founded Marquis jets which was later acquired by NetJets, he partnered with Coconut Water company, Zico which he helped sell to Coca Cola. Jesse is also a co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks.

As an author he wrote a New York Times bestselling book called Living with a Seal: 31 Days Training With the Toughest Man on the Planet. I read the book and found it to be funny, inspirational, and just terrific story-telling. I highly recommend it. Jesse is a high energy guy who is a person of action. He is obsessed with fitness and completed an Ultra Marathon competition where he completed 100 miles run in 24 hours.

If you want to learn more about Jesse you can follow him on Twitter: @the100MileMan. Jesse also has a terrific Facebook group that challenges people to push their fitness limits called: we do hard stuff.

Thanks so much to Jesse for coming on.

Adrianne Haslet on Resilient Dancing

Adrianne Haslet's life changed on April 15th, 2013. As Adrianne watched the Boston Marathon participants finish their grueling 26.2 miles she heard an explosion and her life was forever changed. Adrianne lost her leg that day. The leg that she had relied on to become one of the best dancers in the world. Her life was forever changed.

In this conversation we unpack that faithful day, but much of our conversation is about the rest of Adrianne's life. Who she is. Who she was. And who she is constantly aspiring to be. Adrianne's willingness to make herself vulnerable leads to conversations about her battles with perfectionism, post traumatic stress, and the everyday challenges of living with a prosthetic leg.

This conversation is really about a strong, independent, constantly evolving, curious, and driven woman, who aspires to be successful at whatever she does. Adrianne values challenges and inspires through her actions. She is honest and brave, and flawed like all of us. Thanks to Adrianne for coming on the podcast and sharing her journey with a stranger.  Definitely give Adrianne a follow on Twitter: @AdrianneHaslet.

 

 

Hernando Planells on The Unique Journey

Today we go beyond the surface with Hernando Planells. Hernando is the associate head coach with Duke University's women's baskebtall team. Hernando's journey is anything but linear. Basketball has taken him all over the world and his entrepreneurial spirit can be heard throughout our conversation. Hernando is not just a coach. He also has a company that puts on workshops to develop leadership, communication, and culture, predominantly by using improv. You can also check out his podcast here. Lastly, he's a great follow on Twitter @hernandojr.

Planells has one of the most diverse backgrounds in basketball in both coaching and player development. He has coached at every level including a stint with the Maine Red Claws from 2010-11 of the NBA Development League. As an assistant coach, he was in charge of player development, scouting and did on-court coaching. He helped develop Boston Celtics No. 1 draft pick Avery Bradley and NBA D-League Rookie of the Year DeShawn Sims. Planells has also spoken at coaching clinics and conducts player development camps all over the United States and in countries such as Japan, Philippines, Australia, Switzerland and Taiwan. In 2011, he founded ELITE athlete training, which specialized in personal training and consulting services for athletes. Through his work with ELITE, he trained and assisted over 100 athletes reach their goal of gaining a college scholarship or playing professionally.

From 2005-10, Planells served as a scout for Marty Blake, who is the Director of Scouting for the NBA. In his role as a scout, Planells put together scouting reports evaluating NBA prospects which were circulated to every NBA general manager and player personnel director.

In 2008, Planells returned to the United States after serving as head coach of the Ryukyu Golden Kings, an expansion team that is a part of the BJ League (Basketball Japan). For the 2006-07 season, he served as the head basketball coach for The Hollywood Fame, a team that participated in the American Basketball Association (ABA).

In 2005, Planells was named the first head coach of the Wyoming Golden Eagles out of the All-American Professional Basketball League. At that time, the 28-year-old was the youngest professional basketball coach in the country.

From 2003-05, Planells served as the assistant coach in charge of offense for Citrus College, one of the top community colleges in the state of California. Other coaching stops include a stint as the head varsity coach at Los Angeles High School (1998-2000), Immaculate Heart High School (1996-97) in Tucson, Ariz., and as an assistant at Monrovia High School (1995-96).

Thanks to Hernando for coming on the podcast.

Jessica Kern on Being Irregular

Today we go beyond the surface with Coach Jessica Kern.  Coach Kern is the head women's basketball coach at Tennessee State University. Coach Kern has a terrific way with words, is super engaging, and has an incredible and irregular story. She will discuss her path to coaching, what it was like to growing up around basketball, and how sport psychology helped her excel as a college track athlete and in the future as a pro basketball player.

Before taking the job at Tennessee State she was the head coach at Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU).

Prior to taking over the program at MVSU, Kern was an assistant coach at Furman University following a four-year stretch as head coach at NCAA Division II Lincoln (Pa.) University.

In 2014-15, she was named Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Coach of the Year after leading her squad to a 22-9 mark and a share of the CIAA Northern Division title. 

Taking over a Lincoln program in 2011 that had won just three games the previous season, Kern coached the Lady Lions to seven wins in her first season, 10 victories the following year, and to a 12-16 mark in 2013-14 before posting a 22-9 record in her final season.

The 22 wins was a school record and carried Lincoln to a CIAA Tournament championship game appearance. She also guided Lincoln to the program's first win over a Division I opponent, a 94-86 triumph over Morgan State.

Before accepting the head coaching position at Lincoln, she served as an assistant coach and media specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, immediately following a two-year period (2008-10) as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Thanks to Coach Kern for coming on the podcast! You can give her a follow on twitter: @Coach_Jkern.

Alan Stein, Jr. on Developing Performers

Today I go beyond the surface with Alan Stein, Jr.  Alan is a basketball performance coach, corporate speaker, and podcast host. He is currently the director of basketball for pure sweat.  We discuss how passion and purpose drive motivation, the pitfalls of grinding, how to be fearless without being complacent, and many more concepts.  As you will hear in the podcast, Alan and I have similar thoughts on how to maximize a human's ability to perform!

Alan has over 15 years of experience working with elite high school, college and NBA players including work for the Nike Skills Academies, McDonald’s All-American game, Jordan Brand Classic, NBA Players Association Top 100 Camp and the CP3 Elite Guard Camp.

As you will hear in our conversation, Alan has developed a passion for delivering high-energy keynote performances to develop genuine leadership, authentic team cohesion and true mental toughness.

You can check out Alan's podcast here, his website here, and give him a follow on twitter here.

Thanks to Alan for being so generous with his time!

 

Cameron Lynch on Taking Action

On today's podcast I chat with Cam Lynch.  Cam is a professional football player with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Cam starred at Syracuse University and also excelled in track and field in high school.  Cam will talk about his mindset for performance and how that has been cultivated throughout his life.  Thank you Cam for coming on the show and make sure to follow Cam on Twitter @CameronLynch50. 

Paul Goldstein on Finding Purpose

In today's podcast I chat with Paul Goldstein.  Paul is the Taube Family Director of Men's tennis at Stanford University.  Paul also had a successful playing career where he at one point was ranked the 58th best tennis player in the world.  Paul played professionally for 10 years and before that had a tremendously successful career while playing at Stanford.  Additionally, Paul also spend significant time in the corporate world after his playing days.  For all of those reasons, and many more, Paul made a fantastic guest on the podcast. 

Thanks to Paul for coming on the podcast.  If you want to see how his team is doing, you can give Stanford Men's tennis a follow on Twitter: @StanfordTennis. 

Heather Kampf On My Feet

Today I go Beyond the Surface with professional runner, Heather Kampf.  Heather talks about her mindset for performance and how she prepares for the day of a meet.  Heather also talks about her run in 2008 where she fell in the middle of the race, got up, and won the race.

Heather is an American middle-distance runner and four-time United States National Champion in the 1 mile road race

While at the University of Minnesota Kampf became the schools most decorated women's track and field athlete in history earning All-American honors eight-times, holding ten school records and becoming the only Golden Gopher to compete in every NCAA championship in cross country, indoor and outdoor track during her time at the university.

As a freshman in 2006 Kampf was the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Champion in the 800 meter race. In 2008 Kampf won the University of Minnesota's Golden Goldy female athlete of the year award.

You can follow Heather on Twitter @HeatherRaeKampf and check out her website: www.heatherkampf.blogspot.com