Once An Athlete: Recent Episodes
Emily Watson
Empowering retired and current athletes for a brighter future. Once an athlete, always an athlete. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/onceanathlete/support
Emily talks about how Lerin Lockwood, Morgan Wallen, Brittany Mahomes, Kylie Kelce and Dwayne Johnson have had successful careers after being an athlete.
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Resources:
https://ragincajuns.com/news/2024/3/3/softball-louisiana-closes-weekend-in-norman-ending-ous-record-win-streak
https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39659782/caitlin-clark-record-draws-top-season-tv-rating-99
https://www.snopes.com/news/2024/03/05/caitlin-clark-scoring-record/
Current College Sports Legal Challenges
https://thehockeynews.com/womens/pwhl/see-my-name-pwhl-jerseys-will-drop-the-name-to-the-bottom-this-week
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Jamie and Emily discuss opening weekend of college softball and working with our young athletes as their games begin. Chiefs won the super bowl and unfortunately the parade ended with a sad event. Coaches should have to get certified to work with young athletes. Link to article:
https://h5.newsbreakapp.com/mp/0r7kb7lv?
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Meet Jamie Gilbert, a softball girl who had her baby right before her senior year of college. She continued to play while having a baby at home and handling the loss of her daughter's father. After playing college ball, she faced many health issues. This episode talks about her adversity she faced and why she's passionate about coaching now.
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Emily talks about the details of how she came out of retirement to play softball again.
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Cortni Emanuel played softball for the Georgia Bulldogs. She is a devout Christian, a realtor, a coach and a student at Houston Christian University. She is studying to become a counselor for student athletes and will complete her degree in the Summer of 2024. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family, being outdoors, and learning all things health.
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Emily and Rylee talk about the 2023 Women's Pro Fastpitch Draft.
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Emily and Rylee go on a rant about people that annoy them at the gym. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rosemedalfoundation/support
Amber Flores played softball at the University of Oklahoma. She is the head coach for two teams: Seminole State College Trojans and the WPF Oklahoma City Spark. Amber is a passionate about real estate and owns a couple of AirBnb properties. In her free time she enjoys traveling the world.
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The Sooners just beat UCLA who has an amazing pitcher. How did they score so many runs on them? They have a swing that creates backspin. Emily and Haley discuss this tactic and how to pitchers with this hitting strategy.
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Emily and Haley discuss the rule changes in the upcoming MLB season. Source: https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/mlb-rule-changes-2023-explained-shift-banned-pitch-clock?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab&mibextid=Zxz2cZ--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/appSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rosemedalfoundation/support
In this episode with Kate Intile we talk about how she manifested her dream job working for Hoka. She transferred from Colorado University to Oregon State half way through her college running career. Kate went through some serious setbacks so we talked about what she learned from those. Kate ran track and cross country at Oregon State. She just finished up in the fall of 2022 with the cross country season as a Beaver. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in business analytics and her MBA in marketing. Her boyfriend, Adam, also was a college athlete but at a different school. They are finally together in Portland, Oregon. In her free time she enjoys hanging out with her nieces and nephews, going skiing, being in the beautiful Oregon outdoors, and cheering for the Trail Blazers.
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College softball: UCLA is ranked number one in the country, taking over Oklahoma's spot. Emily and Rylee talk about the rankings.
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Stuff that happens to us while traveling for our sport. Rylee injured her eye in the shower. Emily got stuck in a sleeper bus at McDonald's.
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Emily and Rylee talk about their experiences with drinking a gallon of water every day and no alcohol during 75 Hard.
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Kendall Burton played softball at the University of Georgia. She graduated with her degree in communications. She is working full time in the fitness industry and loves to be a dog sitter for her friends. She loves reading memoirs and eating breakfast foods. She is the ultimate motivator and lives by the motto “live your version of normal”. In this podcast we talk about how Kendall suffered a stroke and then recovered to compete at a high level. We got vulnerable talking about our transition out of playing college softball.
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75 Hard Series, Part 2
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John Bargfeldt. The man we talk about a lot. He was the head Coach at Tulsa and pitching coach while Emily was there. Now he's the pitching coach at Oklahoma State. He's married to Barb with 3 kids and 6 grandkids. Coach J played and coached baseball, fastpitch softball and football.
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Emily and Rylee discuss their experiences of the 75 Hard program after completing it. This is episode 1 of the series on this topic. This episode covers the general overview about the program. We talked about how we heard about it, when we did it, what we liked about it, and what we got out of it. Stay tuned for more episodes about 75 Hard!
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Chelsea Alexander played softball at Oklahoma State and is now playing for the Oklahoma Spark in the WPF. Chelsea has her bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications and she just graduated with her master’s in business administration. She is engaged to Clay Fitzgerald and they will be married in June. In her free time she enjoys volunteering, such as the fundraiser called the Chilly Cowboy.
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Emily and Rylee talk about why it's important to respect the officials in your competitions.
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Andy Beronilla, AKA Mr. B, AKA Coach B, is a physics teacher with a passion for basketball. He played at Shasta College and then continued to compete as the president of the club basketball team at Chico State which was in the west region club basketball league.. Andy is a natural leader as he is a current grad student, which he will be the first in his family to achieve a master’s degree. In his free time he does modeling and he makes TikTok’s about physics. In this episode we talk about how understanding physics helps athletes, visualization, and how Andy is a leader on and off the court.
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Emily and Rylee talk about the update of Damar Hamlin's health status after he collapsed in his game last weekend. We talk about how disappointed we are in people that feel the need to shame Tee Higgins.
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Emily and Rylee interview Coach Jo Koons, a softball coach at UTA. We talk about her slogan "joy in the journey", people that have influenced her, and her transition from player to coach.
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Emily and Rylee talk about their experiences with working out after college athletics. Either you're the kind of person that never wants to workout again, or you hit the gym super hard.
Resource:
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/transitioning-from-athlete-to-active-adult/
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Audrey Lookner ran track and cross country at Oregon State. She recently graduated in June of this year, 2022, with her degrees in Public Health and Bio Health Sciences. She is from Colorado where she ran for a great program in high school. At home she has a German Shorthaired Pointer puppy named Charlie. In her free time she enjoys hiking, being outside, traveling and she’s found a newfound passion for lifting. In this podcast we will be talking about placing your worth on your sport, performance anxiety as a team captain, struggles with body image, and finding a passion post-sports in work.
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Emily and Rylee discuss how Twitter is a place for recruitment and how that may affect the transfer portal. They also discuss how things may have been different if the portal existed while they were college athletes. Another topic of discussion is how the NIL rules affect the transfer portal.
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Justin Furtado is a basketball coach in Los Angeles. He has a brand called Bridging Impact that we will be talking about today. He graduated from the University of Oregon with his bachelor’s degree in Planning, Public Policy and Management.
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Emily Watson and Rylee Bayless discuss Andrew Luck breaking his silence on the reason for his retirement. Link to the article: https://apple.news/AsD7ND8DIQ7qxGPURjBP8yA --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/appSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rosemedalfoundation/support
Cory Camp swam in college at the University of Delaware. He owns a brand called Forever Athlete which we will be talking about. He wrote a book, does public speaking, has a podcast, and makes content on social media. In this podcast we’ll be talking about all of those things along with the struggles he’s faced with finding a career path and a healthy lifestyle. Buy his book here: https://www.amazon.com/Forever-Athlete-Identity-Collection-Performers/dp/B09TMZ3S4V/ref=sr_1_1?crid=392IEQZDRP96Q&keywords=forever+athlete&qid=1670870461&sprefix=forever+athl%2Caps%2C463&sr=8-1
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Emily and Haley talk about their experiences with identifying with their sport. They discussed how they are working on moving on from it. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/appSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rosemedalfoundation/support
Lexi Blackwell is a former soccer player from Midwest City, Oklahoma. She has her Bachelor’s degree in Health and Human Performance from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She has her Master’s degree in Sport Psychology from Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado. As a mental performance coach, she has a brand called Athlete Second that’s focused on the mental health of athletes. In her free time she enjoys hanging out with her year and a half old son, creating TikTok’s and educational content, shopping and cooking. In this podcast we will be talking about her career-ending injury, identity problems related to sports, finding a job as an athlete, and her brand Athlete Second.
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Rylee Bayless plays softball in the Athletes Unlimited Professional Softball League. She started out at the junior college NEO in Miami, Oklahoma and then transferred to Oklahoma State to finish out her college career. She is currently a coach for the UMKC Roo’s softball team. In her free time she enjoys CrossFit, playing with her 4 large dogs, being outside, and learning about astrology, crystals & rocks. She enjoys being around animals and hanging out with her family. In this podcast we will be talking about transferring schools, her ACL injury, placing worth on your sport, and finding a job.--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/appSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rosemedalfoundation/support
Tory Blyth Campbell played softball for most of her life. She struggled with an injury with a surgery and with that she also struggled with placing her worth on her sport. She is currently an entrepreneur as an event planner and she also does strength training. She loves to inspire young athletes in strength training, speed & agility, and lessons. She is also newly a KC Royals Urban Youth Academy Youth Development Coach. In this podcast we’ll be talking about identifying with your sport, recovering from a major surgery, and being a survivor.
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Mackenzie Moore Baumann played softball at Miami University in Ohio. She graduated in May of 2021 with her degree in Kinesiology. She is currently engaged (update - married!) to Noah and living in Arizona. In her free time she recently discovered that she loves doing spartan races. She does kickboxing and muay Thai to stay active as well. Mackenzie is always around babies as she is the oldest of 19 grandkids in the family and they’re all children. This led to her becoming a nanny, but she’s also frequently babysitting for her family and caring for children. We’ll be talking about homesickness, recovering from a pretty big and unique injury, coaches not believing in her, and the transition out of college athletics.
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ALICIA PETERS plays softball at the professional level in Australia. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. She has 2 associates degrees, a bachelor’s degree, and a master’s degree. She is currently working on a second master’s degree which she will be graduating this spring. In her free time, she has a dog that she loves to take with her paddle boarding. She loves coaching youth softball teams and coaching lessons. In this podcast with Alicia, we will be talking about performance anxiety, overcoming a back injury, transferring schools, and handling coaches not believing in you.
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Maddie Fuhrman ran track and cross country at Oregon State. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Public Health and minors in toxicology and medical humanities in 2021. She is currently studying at Johns Hopkins and enrolled in a couple of certificates in the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Maddie has a passion for equity and access to healthcare.
In this podcast, we will be talking about transferring schools, handling setbacks, and how to deal with feeling like you left your sport not feeling done yet.
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Colby Thibault is a registered dietitian and virtual coach for former athletes. She played soccer in college while attending culinary school, which was the first half of her nutrition program at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. She also has her certification for personal training and has been working with former athletes for almost 2 years. Colby is currently engaged to her fiancé Josh and they are going to get married next October. At home she has two dogs and a cat. Fun fact...if she could save every animal in the world, she would. In her free time she loves cooking, reading, snowboarding, hiking, and lifting weights. In this podcast with Colby, we will be discussing injuries, struggles as a student athlete, and her path to her career as a culinary dietitian and personal trainer.
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Devin Sorell played basketball at Clarkson University in Upstate New York. She majored in civil engineering with a minor in project management. In high school she also played Soccer, Softball and Track & Field. In her free time she loves to travel and go hiking. She is currently doing the 46 High Peaks Challenge with her girlfriend and has done 11 so far. This is a challenge based in the Adirondack mountains in New York dedicated to preserving the wilderness and you get to be in a club called the “46ers” when completed. In this episode with Devin, we will be talking about coaching changes, nagging injuries, and finding a job after sports.
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BROOKE BUTKOVSKY played basketball and volleyball at Clarkson University in Upstate New York. She got her bachelor’s degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and then she graduated in 2017 there as well with her MBA. She is now the Director of Operations for the volleyball team at Colorado University. She grew up with 3 brothers who all played hockey so that sport is a big part of her life. She enjoys watching games such as the Colorado Avalanche who just won a Stanley Cup. In her free time she loves to play golf, which is sentimental to her because her grandfather taught her how to play. She lives with her boyfriend Fred and they have a black lab named Georgia who is 8 years old. Brooke loves to go camping, stand up paddle, yoga, workout at F45, and be outdoors. She is a host on the podcast After The Athlete which talks about the transition out of sports.
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BRIAN BILLINGS is the Head Coach of Pacific University Baseball Team. He has been married for 20 years this August and has an 11 year old son. His son is interested in athletics, especially baseball and snowboarding. Brian has been at Pacific for 8 years. They were back to back NorthWest Conference champions. Last year he was the West Region Coach of the Year on d3baseball.com and the NorthWest Conference Coach of the Year. Before Pacific, he was the Head Coach for Puget Sound for 12 years, being a head coach in the NorthWest Conference for 20 years now. Before that, he played in the conference. Living in Beaverton, he spends all of his free time with family. In this episode, we will be talking about his approach to coaching baseball at Pacific University using a growth mindset and giving his athletes the tools to be successful on and off the field.
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Krystal Vazquez played softball and volleyball in high school. She is now about to graduate from Adler University in Chicago, Illinois with two master’s degrees: Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Sport and Human Performance. Krystal is bilingual in English and Spanish. She graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago with her bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Spanish. In her free time she enjoys playing with her 6 month old Goldendoodle Lola. She loves to play recreational sports, watch sports, and going to the movies. She especially loves football Sundays and going to Cubs games. In this podcast with Krystal, we will be discussing how she uses her bilingual skills to give back to her hispanic community in her work as a sport mental performance coach.
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DANIKA CARUSO did cheerleading throughout college at Colorado State University. She graduated with her degree in Business Marketing with a minor in Sport Management in 2020. She is currently working in digital marketing.
Danika is a host on the podcast After The Athlete. She lives in Fort Collins, Colorado where she loves to go hiking and be outdoors. She also enjoys running and is currently training for a full marathon. In her free time, when she’s not enjoying the outdoors or working out at F45, she loves to bake and cook.
Danika is engaged to her fiancé Reed and she has a golden retriever girl named Charli. In this podcast with Danika, we will be discussing how cheerleading in college was different than high school, and her podcast After the Athlete.
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Madison Repak is from Chicago and she played volleyball. She competed until she went to college. She has her Bachelor of Science in psychology. She is now about to graduate from Adler University in Chicago, Illinois with two master’s degrees: Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Sport and Human Performance. She works with athletes as a sport performance consultant and she also works in a clinical psychiatric facility as an intern. In her free time she enjoys watching horror movies and buying houseplants. In this episode we will discuss how Madison chose to become a sport performance consultant.
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Lexi Reed ran track at Oregon State University. She has two bachelor degrees: Exercise Sport Science with a minor in Nutrition (2020) and Psychology (2021). She hosts a podcast called After The Athlete which is about the transition out of competitive sports. She is the Director of Branch Development for Dam Worth It, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the goal of raising mental health awareness among athletes. She is currently a certified personal trainer and a coach at F45, a high-intensity team training gym. Lexi has a passion for holistic health and fitness and finding new ways to stay active after retiring from competitive sports. In her free time she loves to go hiking, paddleboarding, play tennis and pickleball, and all things outdoors. She and her sister have a schnoodle named Jeremy which is a schnauzer and poodle mix. In this podcast with Lexi, we talk about her involvement with mental health as an athlete and how she found her passion for F45 and personal training.
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Madison Heide played softball at Notre Dame and graduated in 2020. Her degree is in Business Analytics and she currently works as a technology consultant. In her free time she loves to focus on health and wellness such as working out, reading, etc. She also loves to play with her dog. In this episode we talked about facing scary things head on, choosing family over your sport, and performance anxiety.
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Lindsey Wrobleski played softball at Missouri State as a pitcher and first base. She played there for 2 years then retired from the sport. Her junior year she transferred to Mizzou and finished out her degree. Lindsey has a degree in Textiles and Apparel Management (which is just like Fashion Merchandising). She currently works for herself in the health and wellness supplements industry and does pitching lessons. She has been married to her husband for 14 years and they have 3 kids. Her husband is a pilot so they are a very busy family with Lindsey taking care of things while her husband is working. Their kids are 12, 10, and 7. And they are heavily involved with sports and Lindsey helps coach their teams. At home they have a dog and a rabbit, a newly installed pool that they hang out at, and they love to travel.
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Cooper Wohlgemuth played baseball and is from Portland, Oregon. He went to a few colleges so he will be telling us about that. He is currently working at Costco, recently promoted to department manager. In his free time he loves to do outdoor activities. He has a brand new truck specifically outfitted for camping, which he goes backcountry camping every weekend. Every day he does something outside, such as kayaking, fishing, hiking, and in the winters snowboarding.
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Kevin Lovings is a husband, a father, a teacher, and a catching coach. Kevin coached for 32 years, 11 of those years at the college level. He’s currently an assistant for the baseball team at Sunset High School in Beaverton, Oregon and teaching physical education. He is retiring after this school year.
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Jason Rogers is an owner of Destine Performance, is a former collegiate and professional athlete. After ending his football career in 2007, he began his coaching career at William Chrisman High School. Since then, he has coached at Park Hill South and most recently Lee’s Summit North as an Offensive Coordinator. Among the many accolades Jason has amassed, he is most proud of his ability to help young athletes reach their potential through speed & agility and strength training. Jason has trained all levels of athletes ranging from little league to professionals. Jared Garren is the owner of Caring Mobility Transportation which is a non-emergency transit company with wheelchair vans. He played baseball and football growing up. He moved into more academics in high school as he thought he was going to law school. He attended Missouri Southern and then he ended up leaving college to pursue music full time. He has a daughter named Myla who is 13 years old and plays softball. They both created the Destine Performance facility in Missouri in 2020. It’s a female oriented facility open for all athletes.
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Phillip Laux wrestled at the University of Iowa and graduated with his degree in business management with a sustainability certificate. He was born and raised in the Midwest. Being involved with multiple sports and family business. Work in consulting business specifically with procurement.
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Francesca Williamson played Water Polo at the Division 2 level at Gannon University (located in Erie, PA). She was a double major in Psychology & Sports Management and Marketing. She is currently in grad school at Adler University (located in Chicago) about to finish 2 master’s degrees in Clinical Mental Health Counseling & Sport and Human Performance.
In her free time she likes to longboard, play beach volleyball, and spend time in the outdoors.
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Tia Philippart went to Arizona State University (ASU) for a semester to play volleyball. In her first pre-season she ended up hurting her shoulder. She has her degree in Marketing from the University of San Diego. She is currently working in Enterprise Technology Sales. In her free time she enjoys hiking, camping, playing beach volleyball, cooking, crafts and DIY’s like rebuilding furniture. At home she has a dog named Emmy.
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Shelby Estocado played softball at the University of Tulsa. She was in my class, the only one to spend all 4 years with me. She graduated in 2018 with her bachelor’s in Business Administration focus in entrepreneurship AKA Family Owned Business. She also played for the USA baseball women’s national team.
She is now a T-6 Paraplegic athlete for the High Fives Foundation in Truckee, California and living in Reno, Nevada. She does CrossFit daily and competitions, mono-ski, mountain bike, surfing, sled hockey, and more. On top of all that, she works in the medical tech industry for Stryker.
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Zak Taylor played baseball at Oregon State. He graduated in 2019 with his degree in Psychology. After graduation, he continued to play professionally. He is from Sherwood, Oregon. He is a big golfer, and he loves to go fishing in the summer. He is a Mental Performance Trainer for ROKKE Performance Therapy and does content creation the Baseball Bat Bros. In this interview we talked a lot about the power of your mind in sport.
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Once An Athlete Public Relations Manager Haley Meinen interviewed our Founder Emily Watson.
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Erin Miller Thiessen played softball for the University of Oklahoma. She graduated in 2016 with her degree in Visual Communications. She is a 2 time national champion, All American, and Big 12 player of the year.
Erin is currently an ESPN Analyst, Sooner Sports Manager of Business Development, and Cycle Bar Tulsa instructor. She is happily married to Hunter Thiessen.
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Liz Watkins is from Midwest City, Oklahoma and went to Carl Albert High School. She graduated from the University of Iowa in the Big 10 with a Bachelor’s in Health and Human Physiology: Health Studies in 2020. Later, she graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Master’s in Healthcare Administration in 2021. She is currently working at Stillwater Medical Center Hospital in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Liz is happily married to her high school sweetheart Caleb Watkins and she is a new dog mom to Willow Jean Watkins. She likes being outdoors, hiking, playing catch with her husband, and playing fetch with her dog Willow.
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Sabrina Southerland is a professional runner sponsored by Nike. She is from Floral Park, Queens, New York. She ran track for 4 years and got her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University as a Hoya. Her degree was in Sociology and Psychology with minors in Women’s Studies and African American Studies. After that, she ran track for the Ducks at the University of Oregon while working on her master’s degree. She graduated in 2019 with her Master of Nonprofit Management.
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Trevor Ackerman swam competitively until his last season of high school competition was over. He is from Tampa, Florida and swam in high school. He graduated from the University of Florida with his degree in Sustainability Studies and a minor in History. After that, he went to the University of Oregon to pursue graduate school. He got his master’s degree in 2021 in Community Regional Planning. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon and works for the Mount Adams Institute as the Outreach Coordinator. Fun fact: the only triathlon he’s been a part of he won because he was great in the swimming part. In his free time he loves to hike in the Pacific Northwest and he swims for exercise.
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Shannon Hughes: she went to NEO and graduated with Associates degree in natural sciences in 2016. She joined the Tulsa softball team for seasons 2017 & 2018. She graduated in 2019 with her degree in Environmental Policy. She got her master's degree in Industrial Hygiene at Central Missouri while being the Graduate Assistant coach for the Jennies softball team. Now in graduate school again, she is pursuing an MBA. She currently works full time for Evergy. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri and goes to her lake house in the Ozarks often. In her free time she loves to play with her niece and nephew. Fun fact- we got tattoos together 3 times. In this podcast we talked about her experience with being a multi-sport athlete, facing the setback of an ACL tear, being a junior college transfer to a D1, and how her life is different now without being a softball player anymore. I loved having her on the podcast and can't wait for you to hear her perspective.
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LAUREN CHAMBERLAIN: A boss lady, Iconic softball player, commissioner of the WPF, ambassador and host for the MLB, founder of LC Management, wine enthusiast, and momma of her dog Quavo. She played softball for the University of Oklahoma and graduated in 2015 with a degree in Women and Gender Studies. In this podcast we talked about injuries and setbacks, the difference in playing softball in college and professionally, and her favorite moment in playing softball. We are excited to have her on the podcast and hope you enjoy this episode!
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I read a research article that was done by the Journal of Sport Behavior ; Mobile Vol. 43, Iss. 1, (Mar 2020): 3-27. This study claims to be “the first study to explore the perceptions of current student-athletes regarding their wellness as they approach the impending transition from school and sport”. They interviewed 29 athletes from one NCAA Division One school in small groups. I wanted to share my thoughts and apply my experiences on their findings. Reference:
Bjornsen-Ramig, A., Bigaouette, A., Warehime, S., & Dinkel, D. (2020). A qualitative exploration of the impending transition experiences of division I college student-athletes: A wellness perspective. Journal of Sport Behavior, 43(1), 3-27. Retrieved from https://cbcl.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/qualitative-exploration-impending-transition/docview/2469266700/se-2?accountid=47365
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Michelle Sass played softball as a utility player at Oregon State and graduated in 2019 with her degree in Kinesiology Pr-Medical. She is currently a graduate student at the University of Alabama pursuing her Master degree in Kinesiology and Sport Administration. She is on track to graduate in a month. On top of that, she is working full time at the University of Idaho as an Academic Advisor for Student Athletes. In her free time she loves to hunt, go fishing, and be outdoors. She loves country music, country concerts, and spending time with her family and her cat. She grew up in Saint Helens, Oregon which is about 45 minutes north of Portland.
In this podcast, we talked about choosing career paths, figuring out life after competitive sports, and some great moments from the college days. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
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Sarah Milliren was a professional equestrian graduated from the University of Georgia. She is now the Vice President Operations at Upright Digital. She is from Tulsa, Oklahoma and now lives in Houston, Texas. She has her Bachelor degree in Sports Management. She has a dog named Bernie. She still rides horses sometimes. She enjoys working out and being outdoors.
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Ian grew up in Klamath Falls, Oregon and now lives in Eugene, Oregon. He has a dog named Chap and she is 13, newly deaf, and was a running buddy of his but now she's slowing down. Ian graduated with his degree in Political Science from Stanford in 2005 running track for the University. He made the Olympic team in 2008 and ran professionally until 2012. He is now working in event management with the Eugene Marathon and also does some coaching for high school athletes.
Ian and I talked about the struggles of identifying as your sport. He had great advice and perspective on the process of transitioning out of doing competitive sports. We talked about choosing a major in college, what training looks like after playing sports competitively, favorite moments during competing, and more.
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Julia Hollingsworth was an outfielder for Tulsa Softball. She has faced the adversity of 3 surgeries during her softball career. She is now a graduate student at Texas State University. She loves Crossfit, going fishing, and going on hikes.
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