The Next Act: Recent Episodes
Keiton Hall
Our identity is one of our most distinguishing aspects as individuals. When we commit significant time to something, it naturally becomes a part of our identity, similar to a “First Act” of life. But what happens when that ends? How does one replace that piece of identity, that often guided huge parts of their life? The conversation of The Next Act revolves around the experiences of those who have lived through this period between Acts, how they navigated the uncertainty, and what success now looks like in their Next Act. Join us as we find out how to make sure the best is still yet to come.
In life, there are what I like to call “Bottom Line” People. These are the ones who, in spite of adversity, unexpected obstacles, and against all odds, get the job done at the end of the day. You’ll be hard pressed to find someone who embodies the bottom line more than Jake Palomaki. Jake grew up eating, sleeping, and breathing baseball, which led him to an accomplished career. He may not have been the biggest, the tallest, or the most sought after prospect, but he always had the biggest chip on his shoulder that drove the work ethic to take his career from All-State High School, to setting Boston College program records, to getting drafted and playing over 300 minor league games up to AAA. But what happens when you find yourself on the doorstep of a lifelong dream, only to have the door never truly open? As hard as it is at the time, life goes on until God opens the next door. Jake shares his favorite experiences in his First Act as a professional baseball player, the emotions and lessons of an unexpected end, and how he carries the skills gained into his Next Act as a hitting coach for the Philadelphia Phillies organization. This was a truly special episode that I was honored to have with a cousin that has been a brother to me. I’ve been inspired by this man my whole life, and this conversation is no different. Matthew and I talk with him about- How much baseball had built into his identity- Life in the minor leagues- Realizing the need for identity outside of baseball while still playing- How Faith, family, and lessons learned from his First Act helped him navigate the uncertainty of not knowing what came next- His Next Act as a coach- Experiencing life outside of playingIf you’ve ever felt like you lost a piece of your identity after your First Act ended, like you’re drifting through days without an end goal, or that you haven’t found that new passion or purpose that will leave you fulfilled, join us as we learn and grow together on The Next Act.WATCH the full episode on YouTube - https://youtu.be/Wbnee-6aWtIFollow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok - @thenextactpodEpisode markers:(00:00:00) Start(00:00:26) Introduction & Unofficial Sponsor(00:03:03) First Act - Why Baseball?(00:05:20) FA - Believing the dream can happen(00:07:56) FA - Proving right vs. proving wrong(00:09:25) FA - Identity tied to Baseball(00:13:41) FA - Favorite part about being a player(00:16:41) FA - Defining characteristics as a player(00:20:20) FA - Life of a Minor Leaguer(00:26:36) FA - Favorite team played on(00:29:24) Transition Period - Experiencing Retirement(00:35:37) TP - Worst Day Ever?(00:37:33) TP - Who Helped You Process?(00:39:51) TP - Was there a plan?(00:41:24) Next Act - Biggest Adjustment(00:43:06) NA - Replacing piece of Identity(00:44:55) NA - Redefining structure(00:47:31) NA - What characteristic carried over?(00:51:44) NA - What balance looks like now(00:56:34) NA - How did you find your Next Act?(01:00:41) NA - Using your First Act in your Next Act(01:04:41) NA - Redefining success(01:11:06) NA - Teaching from experience(01:13:44) NA - New Guiding Direction(01:17:09) NA - Identity carryover(01:20:23) NA - Favorite part of life after playing(01:21:46) NA - What are you looking forward to in Next Act?(01:23:34) What you wish you knew(01:25:04) Acknowledgement(01:27:38) Defining a Life Well Lived(01:29:00) How do you want to be remembered?
What does a D1 golf career and teaching a 6th grade classroom have in common? Kelsey Eichenauer would be that missing link. Kelsey was a student-athlete at Valparaiso University, and a key member and leader of the Women's Golf Team. She's our first guest who is still partially navigating the transition phase between First Act and Next Act, even while she's begun her Next Act as an educator.
We talk about what it's like to be a golfer at the Division I level and the characteristics she gained from that experience that she has leaned on to help her transition into life after her First Act.
Kelsey shares her perspective on being a teacher to middle school students, why she chose to go into this field over a medical career, and the impact she has already seen, and hopes to continue to make on future students.
A unique part of this conversation is the insight Kelsey gives on the phase of life she's currently in. The struggles of trying to adjust to life without golf, redefining success, and finding a new guiding direction for her Next Act.
Watch the full episode and episode clips - https://youtube.com/@thenextactpod
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What are some of the things that make Division 3 different from other levels of college athletics? In the second Next Act Draft, Co-Hosts Matthew and Keiton are back taking turns choosing their 5 biggest struggles of being a D3 student-athlete. Some may be obvious, others may be controversial. We don't make the rules here.
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If you HAD to choose, what are the best things about being a Division 3 Student-Athlete? Welcome to the First Next Act Draft. Co-Hosts Keiton and Matthew take turns making their picks of 5 of the best things from their experience. What ranks the highest, and what doesn't make the cut? You might be surprised.
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One of the show’s most impressive guests to date, former Wittenberg baseball star Jack Hollinshead joins The Next Act to share his journey of playing a key piece in a historic program turnaround, buying into a culture of accountability, testing the jump from D3 to D1, gratitude gained through reflection, and what steps are required on his road to becoming an athletic director. Can’t miss highlights:
- The role Jack’s First Act of baseball played in his identity, and how it was much more significant than he first believed
- The details of that make baseball memories his favorite
- How he filled the void left by baseball after retirement
- What he’s done to find a new guiding direction
- How waking up at 4am helps him stay on track toward his current and future Next Acts
Watch the full episode and episode clips - https://youtube.com/@thenextactpod
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Michigan State Spartan Basketball program was a dark horse pick to win the 2020 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship heading into March Madness, which was never played because of the start of the Covid pandemic. What happens after your career gets cut short by things completely out of your control?
Conner George progressed from walk-on, to scholarship player, to fan favorite on a stretch of historic MSU teams. His resume includes Big Ten Championships, March Madness runs all the way to the Final 4, and several other awards recognizing his grit and work ethic on top of a great prep career. But how has that helped him after the biggest "What If" of his basketball career?
Some things we touch on in our conversation:
- With Cathy George being the MSU Volleyball coach, how he balanced respect for his Mom's name with creating his own legacy
- Favorite memories that fans wouldn't expect
- Behind the scenes of beating Zion Williamson and Duke on the run to the Final 4
- Honoring his First Act of basketball as part of his story instead of completely leaving it in the past after retirement
- How 15 minutes with Mat Ishbia launched his Next Act
- How he carries lessons from Tom Izzo, his Mom, and basketball into his professional life and career
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What's the difference between making a play and avoiding a mistake? Why does it matter even if there is one?
If you were in the Garden of Eden and were told you can't have fruit from one tree, your mind likely would go to the forbidden fruit. If you only focus on not eating the fruit, you become stagnant and may ignore the other fruit you can go an eat. Eventually if you stay focused on the forbidden fruit, you'll make the mistake you were so intently trying to avoid.
Tony Robbins has said "Where focus goes, energy flows". While the shift in approach may seem is minor, the difference in outcome can be major.
Things we discuss from our experience:
- What it physically felt like playing to avoid mistakes vs. when we went to make a play
- How preparation gives us the option to make a play
- How we had to relearn what preparation looked like in our Next Acts
- What we do to beat imposter syndrome
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"Working while you wait" is a concept that we experienced in different shapes and forms as student-athletes. How have we found ways to work while we wait in our current Next Acts of our lives?This episode acts as an introduction for two significant pieces of the podcast moving forward. First, Matthew Roop officially joins The Next Act as Co-Host, and we kick off another new series: Using Your First Act in Your Next Act. There are so many valuable skills, lessons, and characteristics we gained from our First Act, but how do we find ways to implement those in our Next Acts of life?
Things we discuss from our experience:
- How we worked while we waited as student-athletes
- How we gain from our past injuries
- What working while we wait looks like now in our Next Acts
- Job hopping = Transfer portal for adults?
- What we do when it's tough to keep working while we wait
Watch the full episode and episode clips - https://www.youtube.com/@thenextactpod
The first installment of a new series titled "Biggest Adjustments", where I talk about the most significant changes that I had to adjust to when I transitioned out of my First Act and into my Next Act.
There is a certain physical expectation you develop for what your body is able to do as an athlete. I spent years pushing my body to its limits and beyond, both in performance of my sport and in the strength and conditioning side of being an athlete. I naturally was able to do more than the average person and I got accustomed to meeting certain standards because of the amount of effort that was being put into my body.
But what happens to those expectations when you retire? How do you navigate not being able to perform like you used to when your success and confidence came from that performance? Listen to hear some things that I've found to be effective in my experience dealing with this adjustment.
They say "Experience is the best teacher", and when you listen to Tom Lewis, there's a lot of experience to learn from in all areas of life. Growing up playing sports and then going into coaching didn't make his story unique, but the way he's leveraged his experiences has.
I'm honored to have a guest with such wisdom, credibility and success to open Season 2, let alone to have been impacted by him personally at key points in my life. Tom has over a decade of experiencing coaching, helping lead the Williamston Boys Basketball program to a 10 year stretch of 10 straight conference, 5 district, and 4 regional championships, 2 Final Four appearances, and the first Michigan State Championship in 80 years.
We talk about how he was able to find that elusive competitive juice after his playing career that many former athletes crave, what having an edge means and looks like, and how he was able to navigate uncertainty in the midst of transitions in different stages of life.
Tom shares the importance of knowing what balance in life looks like for you, continuing to parent and coach those who need you, and other stories from a decorated career.
If you've ever felt like you lost a piece of your identity after your First Act ended, like you're drifting through days without an end goal, or that you haven't found that new passion or purpose that will leave you fulfilled, join us as we learn and grow together on The Next Act.
Grit. Grace. Beauty. Brains. World class physical and mental performance. Hannah Miller makes you think her last name is Montana the way she has embodied the best of both worlds in her life.
A First Act made up of national and international figure skating while maintaining valedictorian status is ambitious and impressive to merely set as a goal, let alone actually achieve it (spoiler, she did). However, the glory and the accolades rarely ever tell the full story.
We talk about the importance of, and what balance in life actually looks like, the exhilarating highs of performing on a world stage, and the unseen struggles of mental health in athletic performance that's become so prevalent today. Hannah shares how her impossible decision to step away from her life in figure skating not only helped her regain her mind and happiness, but also uncovered her desire to become a sport psychologist and help those who go through what she did.
If you've ever felt like you lost a piece of your identity after your First Act ended, like you're drifting through days without an end goal, or that you haven't found that new passion or purpose that will leave you fulfilled, join us as we learn and grow together on The Next Act.
Robbie Johnson is a prime example of who The Next Act is about. A former teammate of mine at Manchester University, I had never seen anyone eat, sleep, and breathe basketball like Robbie, and his ability on the court proved it.
He found great success in his First Act, finishing his college career as the 4th all-time leading scorer in Manchester program history. So how does one find ways to follow such an impressive success in their Next Act?
We talk about the growth he experienced personally and professionally both during college and in his career since graduating, using the resiliency he developed as a college athlete as he moves into a role as a health specialist in Indianapolis, and what success looks and feels like in his Next Act.
If you've ever felt like you lost a piece of your identity after your First Act ended, like you're drifting through days without an end goal, or that you haven't found that new passion or purpose that will leave you fulfilled, join us as we learn and grow together on The Next Act.
Joining the The Next Act as the first former soccer player, Matthew Roop is the embodiment of carrying the competitive edge of one's First Act into their Next Act.
A leader of the winningest class in Manchester Men's Soccer history, Roop was one of the most respected student athletes I had the privilege of sharing a campus with during our college careers.
We talk about the importance of balance in life, how being at different stages of life from your peers is OK, how he has used his time as a Graduate Assistant at the University of Illinois as a stepping stone on the path to his Next Act of impacting people through coaching at the college level, and what he does on a daily basis when he feels successful in his new phase of life.
If you've ever felt like you lost a piece of your identity after your First Act ended, like you're drifting through days without an end goal, or that you haven't found that new passion or purpose that will leave you fulfilled, join us as we learn and grow together on The Next Act.
Riley Lewis joins The Next Act as the first former basketball guest. Riley is the all-time leading scorer at Williamston High School, was one of the most talked about prep players in the Lansing, Michigan area, and played for the storied program at Hope College.
One of my favorite former teammates, we talk about our experience as teammates, life of a Division 3 athlete, highs and lows of finding his identity outside of basketball, the importance of who you surround yourself with, and what success looks like for him in his Next Act as a coach and financial professional.
Have you ever felt like you lost a piece of your identity after your First Act ended? Like you're drifting through days without an end goal, or that you haven't found that new passion or purpose that will leave you fulfilled? Then join us as we learn and grow together on The Next Act.
What happens when you fail in your First Act, and there is no next time to get it right? When I came to the end of my playing career, there was an unprecedented weight of finality that came with not achieving the some of my big goals and dreams. At that moment, I was faced with a question:
How does one handle the realization that they have spent years on years, and thousands on thousands of hours going after a lifelong dream and STILL not achieving it?
If you've ever felt like you lost a piece of your identity after your First Act ended, like you're drifting through days without an end goal, or that you haven't found that new passion or purpose that will leave you fulfilled, join us as we learn and grow together on The Next Act.
What does graduating and moving across the country to pursue your dream look like?
Growing up and having a dream to become an actor on the big screen or be in shows on tv is not uncommon. What is uncommon, is doing the required work for years in order to make it happen. Brett Schaberg has taken steps to do exactly that.
We talk about Brett's life growing up, what deepened his interest for acting more than other activities, overcoming adversity and uncertainty in between high school and his first acting jobs, and what success looks like for him now in a new state and stage of life.
If you've ever felt like you lost a piece of your identity after your First Act ended, like you're drifting through days without an end goal, or that you haven't found that new passion or purpose that will leave you fulfilled, join us as we learn and grow together on The Next Act.
How does one use their First Act as a football player to help them in their Next Act? Trainer Abdullah Muhammed is a perfect example.
A linebacker for Central Michigan University, Abdullah is a strength and fitness trainer in Lansing, Michigan. He not only works with sport specific training for athletes, but has helped countless people of all ages in their fitness journeys in life.
Abdullah shares how his experience as a football player helped him cultivate his mindset of belief, and his vision of owning his own gym to give athletes a space like he wanted but didn’t have growing up.
If you've ever felt like you lost a piece of your identity after your First Act ended, like you're drifting through days without an end goal, or that you haven't found that new passion or purpose that will leave you fulfilled, join us as we learn and grow together on The Next Act.
How do you make your Next Act better than a Hall of Fame First Act? Look no further than Michigan State Men's Tennis Head Coach Gene Orlando.
A Ball State University Hall of Fame inductee from his days as a player, "Coach O" has cemented his name in MSU Spartan athletic department history as the program's all-time winningest coach.
Gene shares how lessons he learned as a player have helped him in his coaching career, what mantras of "BBA" (Bounce Back Ability) and "Make a difference" mean to him, and how success goes beyond wins and losses.
If you've ever felt like you lost a piece of your identity after your First Act ended, like you're drifting through days without an end goal, or that you haven't found that new passion or purpose that will leave you fulfilled, join us as we learn and grow together on The Next Act.
In this inaugural episode, former NCAA Track & Field athlete Jade Bollet joins The Next Act. We talk about life in her First Act as a student athlete all the way through college, how she relates to the recent rise in women's sports and NIL activity, and how she found her Next Act managing a million dollar business.
Jade shares how she used lessons learned from overcoming loss and injuries, how pressure is a privilege, and how she strives to bloom where she's planted in order to impact those around her.
If you've ever felt like you lost a piece of your identity after your First Act ended, like you're drifting through days without an end goal, or that you haven't found that new passion or purpose that will leave you fulfilled, join us as we learn and grow together on The Next Act.
Jake Summey makes his appearance as the first baseball player on The Next Act. Jake played Division II baseball at Palm Beach Atlantic University, where he started for four years and earned his degree in Exercise Science. This background led him to his current position as one of the head strength and performance coaches at Pinnacle Performance in Atlanta, Georgia.
We talk about the grind of being a student athlete, the difficulty of trying to navigate life between college and finding a career, and how he feels like he's found his calling in life of helping others.
If you've ever felt like you lost a piece of your identity after your First Act ended, like you're drifting through days without an end goal, or that you haven't found that new passion or purpose that will leave you fulfilled, join us as we learn and grow together on The Next Act.
Welcome to The Next Act. Take a quick listen to find out about the podcast so I don't have to type out a whole essay here.