Practice First: Recent Episodes

Lessonly

Every winning team starts with practice. Athletes and musicians. Doctors and artists. Chefs and comedians. But practice is absent from the business world. We’re learning the secrets of world-class “practicers” and applying them to life in the office—so that our teams can grow, win, and do better work. Practice First is produced by Lessonly, the leading team training software.

“It’s not enough to not be racist. We have to all be actively antiracist.”

2020 put a spotlight on racism in a big way. Racial inequity and injustice persist in the U.S, but change starts with each of us deepening our commitment to not just being “not racist,” but becoming actively antiracist. That’s why Ben and Conner interviewed Dr. Janice Gassam for a vital bonus episode of Practice First.

Dr. Gassam runs a diversity and inclusion consultancy called “Black, White, Green” where she helps business leaders recognize the impact of systemic racism on their businesses so they can actively work to combat them. Confronting and dismantling racism is messy, but essential. And it all starts with practice. In this episode, you’ll learn about...

Antiracism: what it means and what it doesn’t
Why this could be the decade we replace all sorts of systemic racism with systemic justice
The value of hosting listening sessions in corporations
How to harness the momentum of global antiracist efforts in 2020
What we all can do to leverage the privilege we have to create more belonging in our workplaces

Dr. Gassam is brilliant. Long story short, we loved learning from her, and we can’t recommend this episode enough. To learn more about Dr. Gassam and her work, visit www.drjanicegassam.com.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

A collection of our favorite moments and stories from 13 episodes of Practice First.

281 minutes of content. 13 powerhouse guests. 1 complete season of Practice First. Wow. We’ve loved every second of building this podcast.

In this final episode of Season 1 of Practice First, we handpicked our favorite stories, snippets, and advice from the conversations we’ve had with our guests and compiled them all into one powerhouse episode. Prepare your ears and minds for insights from trapeze artists, sommeliers, ballet dancers, Olympians, pilots, and more. We’ll cover…

Why commitment and repetition are both essential in becoming excellent at anything
How resilience builds character, whether we’re learning to hear again or skiing moguls
What it means to become increasingly self-aware and perceptive with practice
Why feedback should never stop—no matter how good we get at something
How communication, respect, and humility are catalysts for success at work of all kinds

Join us for an episode that’s literally the best-of-the-best of this entire season.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

Pilot + Flight Trainer | “The more humility we all approach situations with humility, the more we all feel respected.”

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. Nope, it’s actually Alex Okland! Everyone, join us in welcoming Alex, a seasoned pilot, to Practice First. Alex has been flying since he was 18 years old, and his love for planes, people, and practice is evident throughout this conversation with Ben. He’s worked as a private pilot, commercial airline pilot, and now instructor pilot for nearly 20 years, and he knows the thousands of hours of practice it takes to master the art of flying.

Here’s a high-level look at what we learned from Alex:

Flight crews often never cross paths more than once, so having universal training is essential
Pilots in training spend countless hours in simulators practicing every possible scenario
The key to a successful flight is discipline and focus—both of which come with practice
Aviation leadership looks like being an expert on processes and procedures
Generational differences in pilots make humility and respect more important than ever

When Alex isn’t up in the sky, you can find him down on the ground spending time with his wife, Stacy, or their three kiddos in Atlanta, GA.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

Professional Ballet Dancer | “No matter how much you practice ballet, you’ll never be perfect. But that’s the beauty in it.”

Listen, we can almost guarantee you won’t regret hitting “plié” on this episode. Ben recently had the chance to pick the brain of professional ballerina, Jessy Dick! Jessy is part of The Washington Ballet company and has literally been doing pirouettes since she could walk. Long story short, she knows a thing or two about ballet, and the practice insights Jessy shares with Ben in this episode are right on pointe.

Jessy dances us through why…

Practice fuels freedom not just in ballet, but in any job
When we teach or coach someone else, we’re experience next-level practice ourselves
Even the best-of the-best ballerinas are constantly honing their skills
Performing artists—like dancers—don’t always have their mojo, but practice lets them shine regardless

To learn more about Jessy, you can follow her on Instagram @jessydeee_ or follow her ballet company, The Washington Ballet, at @thewashingtonballet.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

By the time you get to the end of this sentence, you’ll be feeling veeeery sleepy… because we had the privilege of talking to mindset expert, celebrity hypnotist, and motivational speaker, Ricky Kalmon!

Ricky is known for everything from making NFL players think napkins are $100 bills, to helping corporate executives reset and reframe their work styles to develop better habits. But, Ricky didn’t become the incredible hypnotist and consultant that he is without thousands of hours of practice. And in this episode, he shared some of that wisdom with us.

Take a listen if you want to see why...

The repetitions of practice make it easier to pivot when things don’t go as planned
True winners in life prioritize both mental and physical forms of practice
The most successful people make mistakes, but still maintain self-belief
Unconscious excellence at work starts takes time and conscious excellence

To learn more about Ricky, rickykalmon.com is the place to go. You can explore his podcast, his latest book called Leverage your Mindset, his app, and more. Happy listening!

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

Let’s play ball! And by “ball,” we of course mean the tenth episode of Practice First. This week, we had the privilege of learning from keynote speaker, business consultant, and beloved announcer for the Kansas City Royals, Joel Goldberg. If you’ve ever wondered what there is to learn from telling stories and announcing thousands of hours worth of baseball games, wonder no longer.

In this episode, Joel and Ben cover...

How Whit Merrifield nearly quit, but practiced and became the Royals’ best player
Why a “tough, gritty, hard-working” person will always be Joel’s first round pick
How trust, relationships, and constructive criticism are essential for any team to win
Why repetitions and failure have allowed Joel to thrive in announcing

It’s a home run of an episode because, as you can imagine, Joel is captivating, sharp, and insightful, especially when it comes to practice. To learn more about Joel, visit joelgoldbergmedia.com or check out his podcast, Rounding the Bases, to learn from top executives and sports leaders about winning championships, trust, and success in business.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

Grab some dancing shoes and maybe even a toothbrush (you’ll have to listen for more context on that one, folks), because this week’s guest on Practice First is John Splithoff. John is a singer-songwriter based out of NYC who’s releasing some pretty groovy songs lately. One thing’s for sure—John wouldn’t be where he is today without countless hours of making meaningful music and studying songs people love to sing. We’re lucky to welcome him to Practice First!

Buckle up for eleven minutes of learning how John practices...

Staying in vocal shape and rehearsing dynamically
Knowing when to share music with others and when to create music for himself
Refining his musical skills with repetition
Establishing a consistent routine to produce better quality music

Our conversation with John was a fun one, and we’re obviously biased, but we think his music is great. You can learn more about John at johnsplithoff.comand listen to his work here on Spotify or Apple Music.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

Please welcome Matt Hay to Practice First! Matt is the Director of Audiology Sales at Redux. When he was a sophomore in college, he was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2)—a disorder that affects about 1 in 40,000 people that resulted in full hearing loss. Over the following years, Matt practiced his way back to hearing, and his inspiring story has even been optioned as a movie (with Channing Tatum, no less)!

Join us as we learn from Matt about:

How intention and commitment is essential to making progress.
Why he listened to the same ten songs every day—for years. (shout out to the Beatles and O.A.R.)
Why we all need empathy and how it differs from sympathy.
Why planning became a secret weapon to understanding clients and succeeding at work.

Thanks to Matt for joining us and sharing his story. Connect with him on LinkedIn or learn more about his work with Redux here.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

Get out your biggest tent, because this week we’re going to the circus. Since she was a child, Kate Redmon has been leaping through the air for a living—that’s right, she’s a professional trapeze artist! She’s traveled the globe performing—and this week we’ll hear:

How repetition and visualization are essential to building the confidence to perform
Why falling isn’t as bad as everyone thinks it is
Why building trust and having perspective helps avoid friction
How she benefits from the instant feedback of technology and uses it to rapidly improve.

Being up on a trapeze is high-pressure, and takes high-performance. Looking through the lens of the circus, Kate drops lots of lessons about the value of practice that we can take to the bank in our own work and life. Enjoy!

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

Jason Williams knows wine. As the General Manager for the celebrated Croix Estate and Venge Vineyards, he’s spent more than 20 years in the world of wine. Join us as Jason shares:

A crash course in the practice of winemaking
How bringing a new bottle to market is all about continuous experimentation
Why daily practices are essential to long-term success (“dirty cellar, dirty wine!”)
How sommeliers hone their palettes through association to identify wine

Turns out, if you want great wine...practice! Learn more about Jason’s work at https://www.vengevineyards.com and https://www.croixestate.com.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

We’re excited to have basketball legend Tamika Catchings join us to chat about practice. Tamika is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, won 4 Olympic goal medals, and spent 15 years breaking WNBA records left and right as part of the Indiana Fever. Currently, she serves as GM and VP of Basketball Operations for the Fever. She is also a speaker, author, philanthropist, and owner of a delightful tea shop called Tea’s Me Cafe.

Join along as Tamika teaches us about:

How adversity and big goals in her early years fueled practice and growth
Why focusing on little rituals and the fundamentals are so essential for success
What lessons she’s bringing from her career as a player to her off-the-court role as a GM.
How she’s leaning into empathy, communication, and leadership

Keep learning from Tamika on Twitter or Instagram, or follow the Fever at @indianafever.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

Please welcome Morgan Schild to the podcast! Morgan is a professional freestyle mogul skier and Olympian. She overcame numerous obstacles and injuries in her path to the 2018 Olympics, and is currently training for another chance at a gold medal. Her grit to continuously grow and improve inspired us—and we hope it does for you too!

Join us as Morgan shares how practice has taught her:

How setbacks are valuable opportunities to reset and relearn skills the right way.
The importance of mental practices like patience and focus to overcome challenges
The value of being a generalist instead of just a specialist.
Why quality of practice, not just quantity, matters so much

You can follow Morgan’s journey on Instagram.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

We’re glad to welcome Neal Brown to the Practice First podcast. Neal is a celebrated chef--twice nominated for the prestigious James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Midwest Region. He’s been named to the Indianapolis Business Journal’s prestigious “Forty under 40” award and serves on a number of advisory boards involving food, health, and climate change. He currently operates three of the best restaurants in Indy: Pizzology, The Libertine, and Ukiyo.

Neal shared some practice gold, including:

Why constant practice, from tasting to cutting, is essential to running a great kitchen
How an old-school technique called Tournée-ing taught him the importance of practice
The importance of reinforcing, or verifying, practice
How to balance speed/brevity with positive encouragement.

Find more about Neal at http://nealbrownhospitality.com/.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

It’s another episode of Practice First, and this time we’re joined by Sally Perkins. Sally is a storyteller, professor, trainer, consultant, and performer. She teaches public speaking at Butler University, works with a number of corporate clients, and travels telling stories. Sally’s piece Digging In Their Heels: An Eye-opening, Energized Story of Women’s Battle for the Vote, is taking her all over the country, including New York City where she performed off-Broadway.

In this episode, Sally shares:

How imagery and muscle-memory fuel practice
How intentional preparation allows for spontaneity and creativity.
How to give and get feedback--from who, when, and how.
How being specific in coaching, encouragement, and feedback leads to confidence.

You can learn more about all Sally’s endeavors at www.sallyperkins.net

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

Welcome to Episode 1 of Practice First! We’re excited to welcome Rajeev Ram to the podcast. Rajeev is a professional tennis player, which led to him to become a 2016 Olympic Silver Medalist, 2019 Australian Open Mixed Champion, and 2020 Australian Open Doubles Champion.

He dropped practice knowledge about:

Shifting from singles to doubles and how he learned to practice with a partner
Honing the mental aspects of practice
Learning the importance of verbal communication and encouragement to winning
How focusing on strengths has led him and his partners to victory

Learn more about Rajeev and his charitable work to make tennis more accessible to kids at https://entourajforkids.org or follow him on social media.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly. Our training software helps over 1000 business teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. Learn more and listen to more episodes at lessonly.com/podcast.

We’d love to hear from you! Connect with us on social media (Conner Burt or Ben Battaglia) or shoot us an email at practice@lessonly.com.

Welcome to Practice First! We're talking to some extraordinary people—from Olympians and circus performers to sommeliers and chefs — as they teach us about practice, and how we might apply it to our daily lives at work and at home.

Practice First is produced by Lessonly—where we help teams across the globe learn, practice, and do better work. This show is hosted by Conner Burt and Ben Battaglia.

If you’d like to learn more and get our newsletter about practice, visit us at lessonly.com/podcast.