Category

Professional Athlete

Gold Medalist, Dr. Jason Richardson

By Education, Grief, Mental Health, Personal Growth, Philosophy, Professional Athlete, Sports No Comments

This episode is sponsored by:

If you’re feeling frustrated and unfulfilled because you’ve been tirelessly pursuing your dreams with purpose, but nothing seems to be working out, and you’re constantly facing setbacks and roadblocks, then you are not alone!


This week’s guest is Gold Medalist Jason Richardson. After a catastrophic injury, he defied the odds and returned to his passion of racing. But what led him to become a psychologist and expert in sports performance? Join us as Jason shares his journey of soul searching, overcoming obstacles, and discovering the keys to success. But just when it seems like he’s found the answer, a shocking twist leaves him facing a difficult choice. Don’t miss this gripping story of resilience and determination.

In this episode:

  • Tackling hurdles head-on and paving a path toward true accomplishment
  • Igniting your inner fire and taking calculated leaps toward your dreams
  • Fostering an optimistic lifestyle and implementing restorative wellness strategies
  • Examining your core beliefs and determining your authentic ambitions
  • Embracing minimalist techniques to reach your objectives and prevent standing still

Meet Jason Richardson, a gold medalist in BMX racing at the Pan Am Games, who has transformed his life after a life-changing injury. With an MBA under his belt and a thriving career in sports psychology, Jason is passionate about helping others find their true desires and cultivate personal growth. As an author of “More, Better, Happier,” he shares his insights on overcoming challenges and embracing life’s opportunities. As a guest on the Gary Scott Thomas Show, Jason’s energy and enthusiasm is infectious, making him a friend you’d want to have by your side in your journey of self-discovery.

The resources mentioned in this episode are:

  • Check out Dr. Jason Richardson’s book It’s All BS! We’re All Wrong, And You’re All Right! for tips on improving mental health.
  • Consider seeking out a sports psychologist, like Dr. Richardson, for help with improving performance and mental health.
  • Practice avoiding the four things that rob you of energy: comparing, complaining, complicating, and worrying.
  • Focus on feeling your emotions and finding ways to be productive and helpful to yourself and others.
  • Seek help for clinical issues from professionals in the field.

Quotations:

“Having the intention of racing actually sped up and gave me great not just motivation, but a great intention to heal and get better and push myself.” ~Jason Richardson

“Gratitude is one of the biggest things that can help you not only get over a hump but actually take stock of where you are.” ~Jason Richardson

“If you are truly not happy with where you are or even who you are, what is the opposite of that?” ~Jason Richardson

“Comparing, complaining, complicating, and worrying, those are the four things that just suck energy out of us.” ~Jason Richardson

Contact Dr. Jason Richardson:

https://www.drjasonrichardson.com/

Kerri Walsh Jennings

By Faith, Personal Growth, Professional Athlete, Sports No Comments

From heartbreaking defeat in Tokyo to family, the joy of winning, and the dream of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Kerri Walsh Jennings is sharing the journey that she is on as a parent and pro athlete in this week’s episode of Here’s What We Know.

This episode is sponsored by:

In This Episode:

  • Pursuing the Olympics – Paris 2024
  • Sacrificing family time vs. empowered choices
  • Faith, family, and sports.
  • Setting the example for the next generation of athletes
  • Choosing a partner for Paris 2024

Quotations:

“I took a year and a half off. I realized I wasn’t done yet, and so here I am.” – Kerri Walsh Jennings

“I see my choices as a decision I willingly made, and because of that, it must be very meaningful to me, and therefore I’m willing to take the good with the challenging, the heartbreaking with the triumphs–all of it.” – Kerri Walsh Jennings

“I wanna speak the things into my life and claim the things in my life that make me feel empowered. And I don’t care if the ground is falling out from under me or the roof is falling down. If I choose to own that situation, then there’s always a way out.” – Kerri Walsh Jennings

“I don’t care if you win or not. If you get to play, that’s all that matters.” – Gary Scott Thomas

“I had to learn how to lose and how not to have my identity wrapped up in it, not have it ruin my life.” – Kerri Walsh Jennings

“For me, I do not want my children thinking about playing for a high school scholarship when they’re 13 years old. To me, that takes away the joy of everything, and then everything becomes so end-result focused and pressure-filled.” – Kerri Walsh Jennings

“If you love something, I know that I’m willing to suffer for it, and I’m willing to take the good and the bad. But it has to be a sincere, authentic desire on your part. Otherwise, it’s not sustainable.” – Kerri Walsh Jennings

“It takes a lot of courage and a lot of faith, and a lot of belief in yourself. And so those are the tenets that I would love to preach and to be an example of to the next generation because the journey is long, and you have to take it day by day, step by step.”  – Kerri Walsh Jennings

Guest’s Bio:

Kerri Lee Walsh Jennings is an American professional beach volleyball player, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a one-time Olympic bronze medalist. She is the beach volleyball leader in career victories as of 2016 having won 135 international and domestic tournaments.

Guest’s Contact Info:

Whitney Miller

By Fun, MMA, Music, Personal Growth, Professional Athlete, Sports No Comments

This episode is sponsored by:

In this vulnerable and enlightening conversation, Whitney Miller reveals that she’s just as scared as the rest of us – but she doesn’t let that stop her. From being crowned Miss United States to a country music career, Whitney Miller shares her secrets on never letting fear get in the way of your dreams.

In this episode:

  • From evening gloves to boxing gloves – next steps after passing on the crown
  • Whitney Miller’s biggest fear
  • The surprising way Whitney started singing (that’s different from most artists!)
  • What is a walking coach?
  • A behind-the-scenes look at Whitney Miller’s singer/songwriter career
  • Turning emotions into art
  • Miss United State’s best advice on how to face your fears

Watch the video version here:

Quotations:

“I just realized you have this one life to live, and you have to go for it. I’m not about to live another day keeping myself living in this fear.” – Whitney Miller

“I was scared to get in the ring with somebody for sure. I was scared to get on stage, you know, in my bikini or my evening gown, or answer some random question in front of a crowd of thousands, you know? All of these things really put me in a place to push myself outside of my comfort zone, but I always knew deep down that there was one fear and one thing that I always wanted to do, and that was sing.” – Whitney Miller

“I wasn’t fully living. I wasn’t doing me, Whitney, myself. I’m not doing that anymore. Absolutely not. I’m not going back to that little girl who believed that she shouldn’t be up there, that her voice wasn’t good enough, or that she didn’t have the, whatever it was to get up there anymore.” – Whitney Miller

“When it was the final shot, and he said, ‘All right, cut.’ It just hit me that I’m here doing it. I’m living the dream that I prevented myself from doing my entire life, and it’s all coming together in this one moment.” – Whitney Miller

“People are thinking this. People go through that. Why do we shy away from so many of these emotions or thoughts and feelings? We shy away and say, ‘Oh no, we can’t think about that, or that’s not good.’ Maybe acting out on it isn’t good, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t put it into art.” – Whitney Miller

“So this is going to be a very big peek into who I am and into my heart. Hopefully, it gives other people permission to feel okay when they feel something similar.” – Whitney Miller

“I try to really anchor into how it makes me feel. Are the lyrics authentic to who I am? Would I really say that? Would I really want to sing that way? Would I really feel that way? If not, I’m not putting the lyric in there…I just want it to really encompass who I am. And so when I say, ‘You get a sense of my heart in this,’ you really do, because I’m stripping it away to make sure it feels authentic.” – Whitney Miller

Guest’s Bio:

Former professional athlete, Miss United States 2012, kickboxing commentator, and podcaster Whitney is a Texas-born country rock pop singer-songwriter living in Nashville, TN. Whitney’s roots and deep love to write and perform original country music dates back to being a little girl in South Texas, growing up listening to acts like Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Bonnie Rhiatt, and Johnny Cash from her parents’ record collection. Today, her sound is influenced by those early days and early Miranda Lambert and Gretchen Wilson. 

Whitney strongly encourages self-empowerment and a fearless take on life. Hearing no is only an opportunity to find a yes. Her overall mission in life is to inspire others to live life out loud! Before her move into her passion for creating music, Whitney specialized in unique relationship and life design. She knows how freeing it is to live life on your own terms, with less fear, and she directly supported hundreds of people, from professional and Olympic athletes and CEOs to stay-at-home parents, as they step into their truth and unleash the life they truly desire.   

She joined forces with some of the leading scientists and researchers in the field and co-hosted an extremely popular podcast that debuted at #50 on the overall iTunes charts and now has over 1.5 million downloads. 

In true “go for it” Whitney fashion, she has decided to take her biggest leap of faith yet and left her home state of Texas for Nashville, Tennessee, to chase her lifelong dream as a singer-songwriter. Her vast life experience and comfort in the spotlight allow her to not only create feeling through her lyrics and voice but also to inspire her audience. Whitney is currently finishing her debut album, recorded at Orb Recording studios with an all-star cast of guest musicians to be released in 2022. Expect a fun, country rock album filled with vulnerable, real-life stories and lots of attitude!

Guest’s Contact Info:

https://www.whitneymillermusic.com/

Bob Fitzgerald

By Fun, Professional Athlete, Sports One Comment

Sports, sports, sports! Fans of the Golden States Warriors will definitely recognize his voice, but did you know he’s also done broadcasting for water polo at the Olympics, boxing, and more? Listen to this episode to get an inside look at the fascinating world of sports broadcasting.

In this episode:

  • How competitive it is to be a sports broadcaster
  • Alabama football
  • Stephen Curry
  • Notre Dame
  • His thoughts on Brian Kelly leaving to go to LSU
  • Shifting from accounting to sports
  • What makes hockey players different
  • The really competitive thing Michael Jordan did
  • Calling water polo in the Olympics
  • Something he hasn’t had the opportunity to call but would love to
  • Concussions in the NFL and what could change

Watch the video version here:

Quotations:

“I really spent a lot of days thinking just how fortunate I have been and how lucky I’ve been.” ~Bob Fitzgerald

“It’s okay to be emotional. It’s okay to have fun.” ~Bob Fitzgerald

“Short to be kicking people in the shins; I think you want to have fun at what you do.” ~Bob Fitzgerald

“I’m a Notre Dame graduate. See, there’s a difference. You have fans, and then you have graduates.” ~Bob Fitzgerald

“For me, Alabama is one of the most iconic programs of all time. And Nick Saban is the greatest coach in the history of the sport. They’ve been on a run, 15 years or so, that really has been unequal.” ~Bob Fitzgerald

“If you love doing it and you’re still skilled at doing it, and it’s a part of what you look forward to, you should do it as long as you’d like to.” ~Bob Fitzgerald

“I could live with an adjustment in the sport if it means less brain damage for people who play it [American football].” ~Bob Fitzgerald

“You need good fortune to smile on you for your team to achieve their best potential. There are no championship teams that sailed through without good fortune, and there are no championship teams that have their five best players injured.” ~Bob Fitzgerald

“I love Steph [Stephen Curry] more than his mom and dad love Steph.” ~Bob Fitzgerald

Guest’s Bio:

About American sports commentator Bob Fitzgerald:
One of the most recognizable sports personalities in the Bay Area, Bob Fitzgerald has served as television play-by-play announcer for the Warriors on NBC Sports Bay Area since 1997. He called his first Warrior game on radio, Feb 18, 1993, as the backup radio play-by-play broadcaster and host of the Warriors Roundtable television programs. Since his arrival, the Warriors broadcast team has received 16 nominations and won three Emmy Awards for “Best Live Sports Broadcast,” most recently for NBC Sports Bay Area’s broadcast of the Warriors vs. Kings game during the 2014-15 season that featured Klay Thompson’s NBA-record 37 points in a single quarter. Fitzgerald has received six Emmy nominations for “Best On-Camera” and was awarded the Emmy for “Best On-Camera, Play-by-Play Sports” for Northern California in 2007 and 2014.

On a national basis, Fitzgerald currently calls NFL and college football games for Sports USA Radio and the San Francisco 49ers preseason broadcasts. He has 25 years of experience broadcasting the Olympic games for NBC Sports, and has called the 2021 Tokyo Olympics (Men’s and Women’s Basketball). Additional credits include NBC’s 2012 London Summer Olympics (Men’s and Women’s Basketball), 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics (Men’s and Women’s Water Polo), 2004 Athens Summer Olympics (Men’s and Women’s Basketball), and the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics (Men’s and Women’s Swimming). Fitzgerald was also chosen to call the NBA Playoffs in 2020 for TNT at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. Fitzgerald has also handled network television NFL broadcasts for NBC and the NBA G League Finals series for Versus in 2010.

In 2019, Fitzgerald finished a 28-year run at KNBR radio in San Francisco, hosting the popular Fitz and Brooks show for 15 years. Fitzgerald was the television and radio voice for the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League for twenty years and spent six years as the play-by-play voice for ESPN’s NBA Basketball video game series. He also wrote a column for the Oakland Tribune and ANG Newspapers for seven years.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Fitzgerald also received his master’s degree in sports management from the Ohio State University. While at Notre Dame, he worked as a play-by-play broadcaster for Fighting Irish football and basketball on campus radio station WVFI.

An avid golfer, Fitzgerald lives on the Peninsula with his children, Erin, Ryan, and Quinn.

Guest’s Contact Info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Fitzgerald