Executive Athletes

In 2002 Mark moved to Thailand to further his dream of becoming a professional fighter – to train Muay Thai,. with the sport’s very best. Three years and two knee surgeries later, that dream was over. After spiraling into self doubt, pity and being an overall miserable person – going as far as forgetting how to smile for an entire year – Mark decided it was time for a major change.

Mark knew that whatever it was that led to his debilitating bout of depression and self doubt must also affect other people. He was determined to find out the techniques that can make us into better, more effective human beings.

Shortly after establishing himself as a life coach and presenter in Asia and Europe, Mark discovered the answer. Every conversation and coaching session about fear, trauma, self-loathing and self-doubt shared one common trait: the way in which people speak about themselves. The words we use.

Mark put this hypothesis to the test and four years and thousands of empowered clients and event attendees later, Procabulary was born.

https://procabulary.org/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markengland1/

There couldn’t be a bigger believer in purpose, than Paul Epstein. Over a 15-year run as a professional sports executive, he learned how purpose can be the igniter of high-performance. Backed by his track record of achieving success and significance, Paul steered business teams that executed billion-dollar NFL campaigns, broke Super Bowl revenue records, and generated league-leading sales results for cellar dwelling NBA clubs. Paul’s proudest moment was when he was internally known as the “Why Coach” at the San Francisco 49ers—coaching others to find their Why, and ACT on it. Paul has now curated the most actionable takeaways into a leaders playbook of how he and his teams produced this impact in these hyper-competitive environments. He calls it…PLAYING OFFENSE.

https://paulepsteinspeaks.com/playing-offense 

Ishveen Anand is a trailblazer in the sports marketing industry having built OpenSponsorship.com into the world's largest marketplace connecting brands to athletes for digital marketing campaigns. Her accolades include getting on the Forbes 30U30 sports list, Inc's top 100 female Founders list and raising $1.5M for the company including from NBA all-star Baron Davis, 500 startups, notable VCs and her Alma Mater Oxford Angel Fund. The marketplace has 7000 athletes, 60% are managed by the major sports agencies and 40% is athletes direct. They have done 6000 deals including for brands like Sperry, Anheuser Busch, ESPN, Fanduel and 100s more.

https://opensponsorship.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ishveenanand/

Steven Sashen is the co-founder and CEO of Xero Shoes • www.XeroShoes.com. Steven and his wife, started the company after discovering the comfort, benefits, and FUN of natural movement, by getting out of thick, padded, motion-controlled shoes.

Steven likes to ask, "Do your feet feel better at the end of the day than they did at the beginning?" If not, you're not wearing Xero Shoes.

Prior to jumping into the footwear business, Steven was an internationally-known Internet marketing expert, Search Engine and Social Media marketing consultant, and software designer. He also co-hosted the Emmy award winning, internationally syndicated TV show, Disk Doctors.
 

Steven is also a Masters All-American sprinter, one of the fastest 55+ year olds in the United States.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sashen/

Matt Johnson is the founder and is was also the President of the Garmin, Cannondale, and now EF Pro Cycling Team. He is also an avid ski racer and and has won a dozen Master's World Cup races and a few years ago was Master's SG World Champion.

https://thefeed.com/

We built The Feed to share how the right nutrition at the right time can instantly improve your performance, get you more improvement out of each workout, and increase your enjoyment of training and racing.

I started 8 years ago while I was running a Tour de France team, I saw how better nutrition was giving our riders a huge advantage in their training (getting more out of every workout) and in competition (performing stronger in the last 20% of the race or the last week of a 3 week stage race).

We boiled this down to a simple formula of what to eat Before, During, and After each workout. Over the past 8 years we have refined this further with feedback from over 200,000+ athletes being feed by The Feed.

But one size doesn’t fit all. Which is why we are here to build you a personal Feed that will work for you and your sport, your diet, your flavor preferences, and your training goals.

We hand picked the best products on the market for you. We have have picked products from over 150 top nutrition brands (out over 400 brands we have tested).

One of my biggest gripes was always being forced to buy a whole box of the same flavor. So we sell everything as “single servings”. We believe variety between flavors and products is critical to better performance. Plus nobody wants to eat twelve bars of the same flavor! (plus you can save money by just getting what you really want).

Every product on The Feed has been rigorously taste tested by us. We get rid of all the cardboard tasting bars and chalky protein. We also do real-world testing of every product during our own workouts. We answer questions on whether it delivers on what it promises. Finally we are heavily biased towards natural products and we keep only a few weeks inventory on hand so everything is fresh.

We work with big companies (hello Clif Bar!) and small companies (we are looking at you Joje Bars). We are focused on quality products, that you can use on-the-go, that are good for you (ahem, we are not GNC).

We are also a great place to find the latest, newest hot products. Sometimes they are from brands you have never heard of (Vafels, are yummy) or even big brands that surprise us, the new plant based Clif Nut Butter Bars are, well, the bomb!

Need help, our feed coaches are here to help you for free, email us at hello@thefeed.com and tell us your sport, what you are training for, any nutritional preferences and flavors you love and hate.

You can order two ways from The Feed. If you are more of a stock the pantry kind of person, then make a big one-time order. If you want to make sure you have the freshest stuff and mix up flavors and products, then choose a subscription and get the freshest products delivered every 4 weeks.

Mary-Kay Messier is a member of the Bauer Hockey senior leadership team as Vice President, Global Marketing where she oversees creative, digital, social, paid media, consumer experience, sports marketing and strategic partnerships, including with the NHL, the NHLPA, international federations and pro athletes.

Under Mary-Kay’s leadership, her team created the internationally successful First Shift program. Now in partnership with the NHL, NHLPA, and founding partner Hockey Canada, the First Shift has welcomed over 30,000 new families to hockey.

Drawing from her extensive professional network, as well as her management and marketing experience, she is helping to elevate the women’s game, growing girl’s participation and creating more career opportunities for girls and women across the sport of hockey. For the women’s game, She is focused on advancing equity for the best women players in the world through the establishment of a sustainable professional league.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-kay-messier-77427b34/

https://twitter.com/marykaymessier

https://pwhpa.com/pwhpa-welcomes-mary-kay-messier-as-senior-advisor/ 

Currently the CEO of Bonne Santé Group, Ryan Zackon most recently served as Vice President and Interim Chief Operating Officer for Twinlab Consolidated Holdings, Inc., a publicly held 50-year old international health and wellness company engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of a broad array of nutritional products. His responsibilities included overseeing operations, logistics, supply chain and business development. During his tenure with the company, Mr. Zackon designed and initiated a highly proactive restructuring program including a substantial decrease in personnel, significant cost-cutting, consolidation of operations, margin increases and realignment of the company’s priorities.

Prior to his position as Chief Operating Officer to Twinlab, Mr. Zackon served as the VicePresident of Operations at Woodfield Distribution, LLC a leading 3PL provider to the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry. During his tenure with Woodfield, Mr. Zackon oversaw significant growth in fiscal year 2018 revenue and expanded the company footprint by standing up new domestic and international facilities.

Before working with Woodfield, Mr. Zackon was Chief Operating Officer of Private Label Express, a nutraceutical health and wellness contract manufacturer and distributor. Under his leadership, Private Label Express scaled from 90 employees to over 240 employees with revenue exceeding $75 million. Prior to relocating to Florida, Mr. Zackon served as the Chief Operating Officer of PDF Security Services, a leading multi-national security consulting firm based in Sacramento, CA. Prior to PDF, Mr. Zackon founded Dynamic Protective Services.

In addition to his accomplishments in the private sector, Mr. Zackon is a graduate of the Los Angeles County Police Academy at Rio Hondo Class 177. Upon graduation Mr. Zackon was engaged by the Los Angeles Police Department and Palantir Technologies to serve as an Intelligence Analyst embedded within LAPD’s Special Investigation Section (SIS). Mr. Zackon trained at the Central Intelligence Agency in Mclean VA, followed by assignment to the Joint Regional Intelligence Center in Los Angeles. Mr. Zackon graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Psychology and is bilingual in English and French.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanzackon/

Scott is the Founder and President of CoreTech Leasing which is firm that specializes in the financing technology related assets. As a long time  and successful entrepreneur he built a leading business in the commercial finance and lending space.   In addition to be CEO and Founder, Scott understands the importance of physical and mental on being a successful business person.  He is a passionate snowboarder, body surfer and a high level competitor in the Underwater Torpedo League.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-mcfetters-a8a6454/

https://coretechleasing.com/

Greg is a World-renowned physical activity expert, a two-time Olympian in modern pentathlon and professor of applied sport and exercise science at Liverpool John Moores University. He has published over 200 peer reviewed papers and eight books in the fields of sports performance, exercise physiology, and medicine. He is the Director of Performance at the Centre for Health and Human Performance (CHHP), and he has helped to raise over £35 million for Comic Relief and Sport Relief.

https://www.gregwhyte.com/about/about-greg

#1 is Don McLaughlin

Don is a father of three, author, wellness advocate and ultra endurance athlete. A former trial lawyer of nearly 20 years, Don’s legal career included service as an Assistant District Attorney, litigator at a prominent Colorado law firm, and in-house corporate lawyer at a Fortune 500. As a corporate lawyer, Don became a nationally recognized expert in the areas of electronic data retrieval, analysis and management.  Following years of prolonged burnout, Don finally hit the wall in 2012. After what he can only describe as divine intervention and a newfound inspiration to become a better father and leader, Don overhauled his diet and began running ultra endurance trail races in the Colorado Rockies

Our Second Guest is Sean Mc Cabe

In 2015 Sean suffered a traumatic brain injury which nearly killed him, and he spent months in intensive recovery and rehabilitation. In the subsequent effort to restore his physical and emotional health, Don recommended that he try hemp extract and several other botanicals. Sean quickly discovered that this combination greatly improved sleep, reduced stress and restored his energy. Sean’s injury came on the heels of a successful career developing wind power projects in the U.S., and it forced him to reconsider his life and work priorities.

https://livepurepower.com/

Tyler Hamilton is a retired professional American cyclist and founded Tyler Hamilton Training in 2009. A fierce competitor renowned among his peers for his endurance and tolerance for pain. Tyler raced professionally for 14 years and competed in 11 grand tours including the Tour de France eight times.  In 2012, he released his memoir, "The Secret Race," a riveting journey into the heart of a never-before-seen world which became a New York Times Bestseller.  Today, he spends his time between Boulder, Colorado & Missoula, Montana enjoying a slower paced life after pro racing. He enjoys hiking, skiing, yoga and bikepacking.

https://www.tylerhamiltontraining.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerhamilton1971/ 

Lisa is a licensed psychologist, executive coach, and organizational consultant. Her private practice is located in New York City, where she works mostly with high potential managers and executives. Her organizational consulting work focuses on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, communication, leadership styles and team cohesion in corporations, higher education institutions, and non-profits. Her views about career management and advancement are regularly sought by the media and have appeared in various outlets such as 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝒀𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒔, 𝑵𝑩𝑪 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒔, 𝑹𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒚29 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝑫𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚. My book on overcoming Impostor Syndrome entitled "𝐎𝐰𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬: 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞" was released in April of 2020.

https://www.dynamictransitionsllp.com/dynamic-transitions/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaorbeaustin/

Chris was Recently inducted into the US Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame, won more medals than any male monoskier in history, was also a World Champion and Paralympic medalist in wheelchair track and in 2009 became the first “nearly unassisted” paraplegic to summit the 19k-foot Mt Kilimanjaro. With 13 Paralympic medals, he is a Hall of Famer for US Ski and Snowboard Association and the Paralympics. He began to ski race at six and was competing for Middlebury College when his ski popped off in the middle of a turn. The resulting fall left him paralyzed from the waist down. Less than a year later, he started to monoski and soon became the fastest in the world. The Dalai Lama honored him as an “Unsung Hero of Compassion,” Skiing Magazine put him on their list of 25 Greatest Skiers in North America and People Magazine named him one of “The 50 Most Beautiful People.”

https://chriswaddellspeaking.com/

Don is world class Motivational Speaker, New York Times Best Selling Author, World–Class Adventure Competitor and retired member of the Navy’s SEAL Team SIX.

But to become a SEAL, Don had to overcome his own troubled childhood and push his body to its breaking point–and beyond. Form being inside SEAL Team SIX, he shares what he learned about physical and mental toughness and unprecedented insight to the inner workings of the training and secret missions of the world’s most respected and feared combat unit.

Don Mann has over 40 years (1,000+ races) worth of competitive racing experience, completed 2 Ironman triathlons in a day and was once ranked 38th in the world as a triathlete.

https://www.usfrogmann.com/meetdonmann 

She began at ESPN working on the inaugural Extreme Games in an internship as a senior at Providence College in 1995.

Overseeing a myriad roles in public relations, marketing and event planning throughout the 20-plus-year growth of the X Games, leading global marketing for all X Games-branded properties. In addition to traditional local and global marketing, leading a team remotely, she directed the fan-facing festival and music elements for each X Games event, event production, corporate outreach, synergy with the ESPN and Disney teams, sustainability and brand messaging.

In 2016, she led the creation and launch of the Shred Hate program at ESPN, which focuses on bullying prevention, reaching more than 90,000 students nationwide.

Globally, Amy served as the overall event director for the X Games Tignes (France), Munich and Sydney events, overseeing all aspects of these international events.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amylupo/

Paul brings the rare combination of a proven CEO and operational growth leader with being a modern marketer. He’s led organizations of all sizes from early-stage and PE-backed fast-scale-ups to publicly traded large enterprises. He is the former CEO of North America for Havas, Managing Director at Accenture Interactive’s Wirestone and co-founder of the global culture network, The Annex. He’s led brand and digital campaigns for many of the most meaningful brands in the world including Coca-Cola, Adidas, Bauer Hockey, Jordan Brand, Microsoft, Jim Beam, Progressive Insurance and more. He is currently engaged in private equity, planning and launching multiple transformational start-up’s in the sports, wellness and direct to consumer categories.

He is passionate about providing resources and direction for under-resourced youth in the inner-cities of America with focus on education, fitness and sports (especially hockey.) He chairs and sits on multiple boards that share the mission of developing a healthier community for kids in America. He is a member of the newly formed fan diversity and inclusion council for the National Hockey League, advisory board member for the Chicago Blackhawks Foundation, Chairman of the Inner-City Education Program and board member of Off The Street Club on Chicago’s West Side. Paul is also a co-founder of the T.E.A.M Hockey Academy, a mobile hockey and life skills academy for BIPOC athletes in North America, launching in 2021 with former NHL player and TV personality, Anson Carter and CAA executive Jennifer Entin.

Paul is a corporate board member of Scorched Ice, a hockey IoT company currently in stealth and Broadstone Technologies, an MIT Sandbox company with a focus on cyber-security.

Paul lives in Chicago with his wife, two teenage daughters and English bulldog Lord Stanley. When not in a conference room or on a Zoom call, you can find him on the ice playing hockey, boating on Lake Michigan or watching Formula 1.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marobella 

Ali has been working in educational technology for 18 years, and is currently the CEO of Edlio. He's visited hundreds of schools to be able to build products that help improve educational outcomes. He loves learning from educators and having the opportunity to visit a school and learn about what makes it special. On the weekends and outside the office, he spends most of his time with his three daughters and wife. He also enjoys ping-pong, long-distance running, and learning about sharks.

https://edlio.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-arsan-b1b8a94/

Frank is the CEO and co-owner of Pactimo, a provider of technical performance apparel for dedicated cyclists and triathletes. Core customers include world champions, professionals, and dedicated amateur athletes. Pactimo has been recognized as a Colorado Company to Watch and a multiple year member of the INC 5000.

Frank has lived almost 20 years abroad, and his background includes extensive experience in the non-profit sector. He was a director and eventually chairman of HOPE worldwide, an international NGO serving 2.5 million people annually through 200 programs in 70 nations.

He has been married for 36 years and has 3 kids and 5 grandchildren.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-kim-328168a/ 

https://www.pactimo.com/ 

Braelin Thornton is originally from the Upper Valley in New Hampshire. Braelin now resides in Saratoga with her son, Reed, and Doberman, Lark. She has a passion for staying extremely active and engaged in life. She runs in 8th gear whether that is in her business, her family, training for the next Ironman event she is competing in, skiing on the weekends, or spending time on the lake boating and water skiing.

Both Braelin and the team enjoy staying active in the community. Braelin has been an active member of Elevate Cycles since 2007. Thornton Wealth Management sponsors events and charities, close to their hearts like the Wrenagade Foundation and Farm to Fork Fondo events to the American Breast Cancer Society.

Most recently, Braelin competed in the Long Course World Championship in Spain last year. She is currently training for the Lake Placid Ironman in July of 2021 and racing for charity. Her competitive, energetic, and genuine personality lends itself well to her leadership role as a business owner. She is known for her motivation, caring immensely, going all out no matter what task is at hand, and unwavering commitment to her family, friends, business, and clients.

http://thorntonwealthmanagement.nm.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/braelin-g-thornton-76979b19/

Kristy Ingram, EY Global Leader Athlete Programs

https://www.ey.com/en_us/people/kristy-ingram

Kristy leads the development and execution of the EY Athlete Programs, a diverse global Talent program designed to fully realize the collective leadership potential of athletes through advancing thought leadership, promoting athlete dialogue and supporting the transition of athletes into a successful life after sport. As a former competitive equestrian athlete, Kristy has always had a passion for sport which she was able to connect with her career through EY’s Rio 2016 Olympic Program and many of the firms other global sporting ventures

Dan Black, EY Global Leader Talent Attraction & Acquisition

https://www.ey.com/en_us/people/dan-black 

As Global Talent Attraction and Acquisition Leader, Dan is responsible for EY’s global recruiting strategy, including sourcing, attracting and hiring people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Dan leads a team of more than 1,200 recruiters around the world who are responsible for hiring talent at all levels, across all EY’s locations and lines of business

Chris Leidli is a life coach for business leaders who are looking to adopt healthier lifestyles and make a bigger impact at home and at work. Chris is a biotechnology executive and motivational speaker on leadership, health, and wellness. He is on a mission to help motivate and show others how to become the best version of themselves! Over the past 10 years of training and competing in Ironman, Chris has helped coach many friends and business colleagues overcome roadblocks to reach the start line and ultimately reach the finish!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/biotechguru/

Troy Howard- https://www.linkedin.com/in/troy-howard-a0b4b94/ 

Athletic highlights:

Rocky Harris was named Chief Executive Officer for USA Triathlon, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic National Governing Body for the sport, in August 2017, In his first year of tenure, Harris spearheaded a technology initiative to streamline USA Triathlon’s data, oversaw campaigns for anti-doping and SafeSport, and implemented key upgrades to the USA Triathlon Annual Membership program.

Prior to his current role he was the COO at Arizona State University, where he directed overall strategic planning, implementation, administration, direction, supervision, and day-to-day operations of Sun Devil Athletics. He also time with Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo, the Houston Texans and the San Francisco 49er’s.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rocky-harris-015b713/

https://twitter.com/sundevilrocky?lang=en 

Antwon Burton the executive Director of Sport Performance of Professional Bull Riders, but there is much more to the story.

“I love helping these people and kids around me. Because I was that kid on the east side who overcame poverty and family issues that could have put me down. I can show that to the people I work with, and help them,” he said.

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

Howard is the CEO of theturnlab - a consultancy led marketing technology company based in Toronto. Howard has been an entrepreneur since his university days launching half a dozen startups over his career. He is an ex elite road cyclist and has also coached members of Canada’s men’s and women’s national cycling team. His sports background also includes stints at the elite level in Martial Arts and inline speed skating. He is a cofounder of the Les Domestique Cycling club and chaired the fundraising for the $56 million Mattamy National Cycling Center.

https://theturnlab.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardchang1/

Jamey‎ Rootes has been one of Houston's leading executives for more than two decades. He currently serves as President of the Houston Texans and is responsible for all business functions of the club. Since joining the Texans, Rootes has overseen the team's efforts to secure stadium-naming rights and sponsorship, coordinated radio and TV broadcasting relationships, engineered the club's successful ticket and suite sales campaigns, led the creation and launch of the team's identity and developed the team's highly acclaimed customer service strategy.

Before joining the Texans, he was president and general manager of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer. And now has a new book coming out.

His Latest book: THE WINNING GAME PLAN: A PROVEN LEADERSHIP PLAYBOOK FOR CONSISTENT BUSINESS SUCCESS.”

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameyrootes/

https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Game-Plan-Leadership-Continuous-ebook/dp/B08MH9X5NT 

Ross is a Media and technology executive Ross has been named CEO of venture-backed mystical product and services start-up Sanctuary, where he will work to scale the company in its next phase of development

Prior to joining Sanctuary, Ross was the SVP of Business Development and Strategy at Epix, an MGM company, where he led business development and strategy including expanding digital distribution footprint through innovative deals with Roku, VRV and other leading platforms; he was also Vice President and General Manager of the Hearst and Snapchat joint venture Sweet, where he increased global audience by 130% during his tenure.

In addition to being a leading executive, he is an avid triathlete, skier and runner.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossclarksanctuary/  

Shelby A seasoned journalist and top-ranked podcaster, her work and podcasts have been featured everywhere from The New York Times and The San Diego Union Tribune to Outside Magazine, and ESPN. Curious about her subjects and willing to go to great lengths in her research, Shelby has surfed from New Jersey to New Zealand, studied with a breath guru, fasted for six days on only water, paddled down a portion of the Amazon River, given up talking (for not very long) and interviewed countless CEOs, athletes, and wellness experts on assignment for major publications.

With a knack for audio stories, Shelby created and sold her first podcast about adventure called Wild Ideas Worth Living to REI Co-Op in 2020 (she remains the host) and recently hosted an award-winning travel show for Lufthansa called Life Changing Places. Her latest project, Vitamin Joy, has a standout crew of guests, offering prescriptions for having more health, humor and fun in everyday lives.

https://shelbystanger.com/

Hoby knows a thing or two about pushing potential—he has helped lead major companies like Volcom, Nike, and Skullcandy, competed in Ironman races and Crossfit games, and is a founding member of the Liminal Collective, a group whose mission is “to advance the limitless potential of humans, preparing and supporting those who take pioneering steps in extreme, unexplored, and unknown spaces.”

Whether he’s training, trail running, mountain biking or adventuring, Hoby loves to push himself and those around him

https://thealpinecollective.com/chapters/pc-members/hoby-darling-founding-member

Justin Blair, he has a very unique and interesting background: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-blair-242724/

Mike is a med device veteran who brings more than 30 years of sales and marketing experience in the medical device industry, currently serves as President and CEO Vomaris Innovations.

Outside of work, mike found a passion for endurance athletics. He completed seven Ironman Triathlons, twelve marathons, and a first ultra 50-mile. He finds that training for endurance sports is similar to business – you start with the end in mind. But perhaps the most critical elements are the incremental steps you must take on a daily basis to get to that end goal. In a sense, you get used to being “comfortable being uncomfortable”, which builds your resilience. I find this helps me in business to not be overwhelmed with the sometimes perceived enormity of various tasks. I know I just need to get things done, one step at a time.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelpnagel/

Ross is an Experienced CEO and entrepreneur who founded, ran and sold 2 technology analyst firms – Display Search and Young Market Research (YMR). He is now running another rapidly growing display market research, consulting and events firm called DSCC

In addition to being a CEO he is IRONMAN University certified coach who has completed 12 IRONMAN triathlons in 4 years. He Qualified for 2016 Kona World Championships, and completed a half Ironman in under 5 hours (4:57). But he has a crazy story about completing the 2016 kona race with multiple injuries that we will definitely jump into.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryoungdisplays/ 

Luke Bodensteiner is the Chief of Sport Development for Utah Olympic Legacy, which is working to define Utah’s long-term goals for youth winter sport, and identifying and implementing the best practices that will cultivate the culture required to achieve those goals.

Formerly an executive of U.S. Ski & Snowboard as Chief of Sport, Luke led the U.S. Ski Teams, the national training and education Center of Excellence in Park City, Utah, its sport science and medical programs, coach education and club development. Luke led three U.S. Olympic ski and snowboard teams (2010, 2014 and 2018), overseeing athletes who won a record 53 Olympic medals.

Prior to joining U.S. Ski & Snowboard, Luke was a cross country racer for the U.S. Ski Team, competing in the Olympics in 1992 and 1994. He is the author of “Endless Winter” chronicling his experiences in the lead-up to, and during the 1994 Games. Luke was a two-time NCAA champion at the University of Utah. In addition to his degree from the University of Utah, he holds an executive certificate in Olympic sport management from the Kellogg School of Business.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukebodensteiner/

https://utaholympiclegacy.org/

Kalinda is a strategist, advocate and brand developer who brings the art and science of strategic thinking to her clients.

For more than two decades, Kalinda worked across a range of business roles in executive leadership, as an entrepreneur, advisor and consultant creating and developing with global brands.

Kalinda’s formative experience training as a competitive figure skater provided the foundation for her drive, discipline and combination of analytical and creative thinking. She attributes these to her development and success as a leader and passion for access to sports for all. She is driven to deliver impactful results and thrives on collaborating with diverse thinkers to develop meaningful brands of products and services that solve problems, add joy and enhance the lives of people, families, businesses, and communities.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalindabogue/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobijoe/ 

http://joejacobi.com/ 

He is a Senior sports and entertainment executive actively leading in the digital, strategic and operational transformation of global media with 20+ years of international experience at Red Bull, WWE, Spotify, iHeartRadio, EMI and Bertelsmann.

He is Published author on disruptive media convergence, the evolution of the music industry, and emerging distribution business models.

Holds business degrees from Harvard University and the European Business School and currently lives with his family in beautiful Salzburg, Austria.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerritmeier/ 

Here at Grüvi, we strive to create an inclusive community focused on making better choices within our daily lives. We truly believe in a world where we don’t always feel inclined to drink in a social setting, and a world where everyone can feel comfortable, regardless of what’s in their cup.

Our mission is simple- help others be healthy and stay social, one drink at a time. We sought to create a line of craft, non-alcoholic beers and wine because you deserve it. Your health is your wealth, and the beverage you consume shouldn’t compromise that.

While alcohol remains so pervasive in our society, we’ve challenged ourselves to create a brand that breaks this cycle. Grüvi was created to dispel the common notion that non-alcoholic beer tastes, well, not great. We saw a desperate need for innovation in the space, and we are here to prove that you can have it all. Enjoy a tasty, healthy brew, and take your chance to live in the moment, alcohol free.

Get 15% off with the following code: executiveathletes 

Today’s guest are a little different than most that I have had on the show. They are actually brothers, Danny and Don Monistere. They come from exciting, varied and eclectic backgrounds in sport, from body building, track, running, martial arts and more. In addition they also excel in the business world.

Danny Monistere-https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-monistere-0203a74/ 

In his current role as SVP – Client Solutions, Danny Monistere leads the Local Watch and Audio Policy & Guidelines department to drive consistency in reporting across local TV, radio and digital properties. His responsibilities also include Audio panel compliance and enforcement of ratings distortion and media affiliation guidelines.

Since joining Nielsen in October 2001 as Vice-President of Quality, Danny has held positions of increasing responsibility.  Past positions include SVP, Product Leader for Television Audience Measurement (2009-2010) and SVP, Product Leader for Enabling Technologies. (2010-2011).

Danny is currently a USATF Masters Athlete and has competed with Team USA in 2018 World Masters Championships held in Malaga, Spain and the 2019 North American Masters Championships in Toronto, Canada.  He is the 2018 silver medalist for the USATF National Championships, 3000m Steeplechase and is a two-time Masters All American in the Steeplechase.  In his spare time, Danny is a volunteer coaches for RacerX Track & Field a youth team that competes in the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation (TAAF).

Don Monistere- www.linkedin.com/in/donaldmonistere/ 

In his current role as Chief Operations Officer at IBML Monistere is responsible for the day-to-day operations of IBML’s marketing, sales, manufacturing, implementations, support, and IT services.

Previously, Monistere was Senior Vice President and General Manager at C-Spire where he was responsible for developing and executing short and long-term plans in collaboration with the company’s executive team.

Athletically, Monistere has proven to be a bit eclectic. He reached national prominence in Bodybuilding qualifying for the Mr. Universe competition in his teen years and 25 years later after focusing on other athletics, returned to the sport to win multiple regional contests qualifying again as a National Competitor. Monistere recently played in the MSBL (Men’s Senior Baseball League) as a catcher and starting middle infielder, participated in multiple triathlons, raced in many criterium cycling events and currently is a 3rd Dan degree black belt in Kyokubugi Karate, a modified version of Japanese martial arts which includes stand up and ground fighting. He owned and operated two Karate Dojo’s  and after his own fight career he trained many fighters who later went on to compete in MMA events.

Monistere is also and author publishing “Enhanced Life Performance” in 2017 and his second coming out this summer “Enhanced Executive Performance” with his third in the trilogy “Enhanced Corporate Performance” due out late next summer. All three books focus on an approach to life, career and business that allows you to achieve a flow state that Monistere describes as “Enhanced” He has used many of the techniques in these publications to create the success that he has achieved to date

Mike is the founder of anabolic aliens. Mike started making YouTube fitness videos in 2014 self teaching himself videography, editing, as well as SEO. Now the Anabolic Aliens YouTube channel reaches over 600k+ subscribers worldwide and 80k+ followers on Instagram.. Across all media’s, the Anabolic Aliens brand has amassed a following of over 1mil with multiple sponsorships. Along with his online success, he  created the workout app Exerprise which was rated the #1 new health and fitness app in the Play Store for 2018 and has over 150K active users to date. The brand has transformed from influencer into business a very successful business over the years.

https://www.anabolicaliens.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-rosa-458055194/

Dr. Jen Welter is the NFL’s First Female Coach, a groundbreaking and barrier-busting force of nature. She is a female trailblazer, a sports pioneer, PhD, passionate leader, world-renowned speaker, entrepreneur and source of inspiration around the globe. Her relentless pursuit of individual excellence and success in challenging the status quo time and time again, fuels her current drive to help others achieve their best—in sports, health and wellness, professional pursuits and in life.

https://www.jenwelter.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/welter47/ 

Chris is a Co-founder of velofix, the largest fleet of Mobile Bike Shops in North America. A first-generation Canadian, Chris was living in Vancouver and frustrated with the traditional brick-and-mortar bike shop experience. The solution? A Mobile repair service that could shake up the retail industry as we knew it.

Chris’s management experience includes growing a company to $90 + million and a successful IPO, the launch of an Internet startup that went on to raise $100 million in financing and driving growth at a $30 billion dollar consumer packaged goods company. He is also very active in endurance sports, having run a 2.54 Boston Marathon, completing two Ironmans and most recently qualifying and racing the 70.3 Ironman World Championships in Nice, France.

“Save Time. Ride More” has been Chris’s driving vision for the business since its inception.

https://www.velofix.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-guillemet-b9a77aa 

Hans-Petter is the founder and CEO of Zalaris, a global HR and Payroll services org. He is also the Norwegian 2017 E&Y entrepreneur of the year which qualified him for the Global awards in Monaco. Peter is a high level competitive endurance athlete, having raced the Leadville 100 mtb race, Cape Epic in South Africa, and the Norseman for the last couple of years in Norway.

He is a family man with 2 sons and he is always looking to push the limits of business, life and sport.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hpmellerud/

https://twitter.com/mellerud 

https://ir.zalaris.com/profiles/hans-petter-mellerud/ 

Lex is the best totally blind long and triple jumper in the history of the U.S. Paralympic movement. He is the current world record holder in the long jump, a four-time Paralympic medalist, a three-time long jump world champion, and an 18-time national champion. He is the only totally blind athlete to ever eclipse the 22-foot barrier in the long jump. If you think that any of this came easy, you should think again.

At the age of 19, Lex won his first Paralympic silver medal in the long jump. His achievements at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, Greece were the culmination of years of hard work and training. Since that time, Lex has solidified himself as a tenacious competitor for Team USA.

Lex now has his sights set on the 2020 Paralympic Games, and he is currently training and competing to make his fifth consecutive U.S. Paralympic team. There is one goal, and that is to win gold for the United States of America. As an athlete, motivational speaker, and singer song writer, Lex epitomizes the phrase “No Need for Sight When You Have a Vision®”.

https://lexgillette.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexgillette/ 

Alex currently acts as CEO of Get Bizzy Inc., a startup beverage company whose mission is to create the highest quality and most convenient beverages on the market. When not working on his business, Alex spends his time mentoring college students and training for ultra-endurance races.

Prior to starting Get Bizzy Inc. Alex worked as an Associate at 301 Inc. General Mills' Venture Capital division, as a Marketing Analyst for Cheerios, an M&A Analyst at Lazard Middle Market, Demand Forecast Analyst at Best Buy, and started Lifty, a consumer brand in the snow sports industry

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexjfrench/

https://www.bizzycoffee.com/

Mark's passion is helping entrepreneurs get unstuck so they can pursue their freedom.

Depending on the unique situation, Mark’s talent for introducing just the right combination of perspective and process sparks teams to start moving, move faster, or begin moving in the proper direction - with clarity. As a teacher, coach, and facilitator, Mark spends most of his time directly engaged with entrepreneurial leadership teams as a Certified EOS Implementer—helping them implement EOS in their own companies. He's delivered over 500 full-day EOS workshops with companies from around the U.S., and he's the Co-Author of Rocket Fuel.

Mark has been an entrepreneur since the age of 28, after catching the “bug” during B-school at the University of Chicago. At last count, he's started/bought/sold/shut down 11 different companies. One recent venture, as a Founder and CEO, had a very successful exit – yielding a 100x cash return in less than 3 yrs. All this activity has led to some recognition, including being named a Tech Titan finalist as an emerging company CEO, and listed as “40 Under Forty” by the Business Journal in both Milwaukee and Dallas. Mark was also awarded Rookie of the Year and Chair Excellence distinctions by Vistage International.

https://www.markcwinters.com/rocket-fuel-now/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markcwinters/

Shawn Boom is a limit pusher.  His most recent long-distance finish line was at the Grand2Grand Ultra, a 7-day, self-supported ultramarathon stage race in the Grand Canyon.  An endurance athlete and adventurer from childhood, Shawn has climbed to the top of Pico de Orizaba, a snow-capped 18,491’ mountain, run ultra-marathons on active volcanoes, raced in multiple 24-hour solo mountain bike events and competed in several Ironman triathlons.

Professionally, Shawn has a 20-year career focus on growing businesses that help people achieve more in their lives by harnessing their mental and spiritual strength, providing access to education and through endurance sports.  Shawn is presently the CEO of Vanco Payments, a 300-person global social impact company focused on serving those who enrich our communities by providing tools that help organizations such as schools, non-profits and faith-based communities raise money and administer their operations.

Shawn and his wife, Bethany, have been married for ~19-years and live in Minnesota where they are raising their two strong and independent daughters, ages 8 and 6.  They call their family “Team Tusk” as a symbol for strength and humility, toughness and rarity.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnboom/

Peter Murray, a senior sports executive is the Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of the Professional Fighters League (PFL). Murray oversees all business strategy and operations, fighter roster, event management, production, content, and marketing for the mixed martial arts league.

The PFL is the first organization ever to present MMA in a true sport format with individual fighters competing in a Regular Season, Playoffs, and World Championship. PFL is distributed on ESPN and additionally on 160+ countries worldwide.

Before joining PFL, Murray served as VP Global Brand and Sports Marketing at Under Armour. In this role, he was responsible for category management of football, baseball, basketball, soccer, combat, and Olympic Sports. Prior to Under Armour, he was Co-Founder and CEO of Insignia Sports Agency and EVP Marketing & New Business at William Morris Endeavor. For the previous 13 years, Peter was also a senior executive at the National Football League, including roles as SVP of Business & Content Development, SVP of Global Brand Partnerships.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/petercmurray/ 

https://www.pflmma.com/about 

Jilyne is a four-year NCAA athlete & seven-time NCAA All-American. She is also an alum of the U.S. Ski Team. 

After retiring from ski racing in 2009, she co-founded a nonprofit organization, ZGiRLS, with fellow US Ski Team alum. They started ZGiRLS because they saw the essential need for confidence-building and mentorship for little girls in sports. ZGiRLS launched in 2012 and has served over 1,000 girls with more than 40,000 mentorship hours invested. They host programs with professional athletes like Sue Bird, Lindsey Vonn, Ashley Wagner, and many more.

Check out Z Girls Here: https://www.zgirls.org/ 

Jilyne Jarvis on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jilyne/

Mark Divine is an expert in human performance as it is displayed in mental toughness, leadership and physical readiness. His work is based on an integral warrior-leader model that he developed and tested on over a thousand special operations candidates worldwide. The integrated training, which involves physical, mental, emotional, intuitional and spiritual training, has resulted in over a 90% success rate for the Spec Ops candidates. It is now taught to executives and corporate teams, tops sports teams, top athletes, professionals, first responders and warriors from all walks of life.

Mark is the founder and leader of several highly successful enterprises including SEALFIT (Physical and mental training), Unbeatable Mind, LLC (Executive Mastery Development), NavySEALs.com and USCrossFit. He also co-founded the Coronado Brewing Company in Coronado, CA.

SEALFIT developed out of the Navy's SEAL candidate Mentoring program, which took the pass rate for Navy SEAL candidates from 33% to over 80% on the Physical Screening Test at Navy Boot Camp. This program was instrumental in helping the Navy grow the size and quality of the SEAL force.

Mark's other professional experience includes 20 years as a Navy SEAL officer, retiring as a Commander in 2011. Also 4 years as a CPA with the firm now known as PriceWaterhouseCoopers prior to his joining the Navy. As a reserve SEAL he led several prominent projects, including the Navy's internal study on whether to support the invitation of USMC into the Special Operations Command.

Mark served as Adjunct Professor of Leadership at the University of San Diego and has authored four books: "The Way of the SEAL," published by Reader's Digest Publishing, "8 Weeks to SEALFIT" and "Kokoro Yoga" by St. Martin's Press, "Unbeatable Mind" and the "SEALFIT Training Guide," both self-published.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdivine/

https://sealfit.com/ 

Jeremy Bhandari was born in Ashland, Massachusetts on June 19, 1996. Unlike the plurality of babies born in the 20th century, Jeremy wriggled into the world in his mother's bedroom, rather than a hospital. His rare arrival on Earth is ironically symbolic with his life story.

Before dropping him off to preschool, Jeremy's mother would spread out the sports section in the Boston Globe for her son to examine while he ate his breakfast. Jeremy, at just 4-years-old, would study the MLB standings and league leaders. At this point, circa 2001, all the Massachusetts baseball fanatics obsessed over Pedro Martinez and Nomar Garciaparra, two stars on the Boston Red Sox. When it was time for Jeremy to select his favorite player for the back of his Tee Ball card, the calculated cherub demanded that Alex Rodriguez, a shortstop for the Texas Rangers, be labeled on his individualized square. While Jeremy probably couldn't locate Texas on a map, he knew that Rodriguez was leading the American League in home runs, so why not classify him as his front-runner?

Jeremy's love for sports continued to maturate as he grew older. In elementary school, he started writing fictionalized stories of baseball games, where one team would always make an epic comeback in the late-innings. Fast forward to his junior year at UMass Amherst, and Jeremy was still scripting about sports. After handing in a paper on the relationship between spending and winning in the MLB, Jeremy decided to take writing more seriously. At 23-years-old, Jeremy signed a contract with Mango Publishing and wrote Trust The Grind, which reached #1 on Amazon’s Teen/YA Fitness & Exercise bestseller list, and was most notably endorsed by NBA legend, Jason Kidd. In addition, Trust The Grind was added to the list of Summer Reading options for the students at Ashland High School (Ashland, MA). 

Aside from writing, Jeremy puts a strong emphasis on physical fitness, and spreading love to all those around him.

https://www.amazon.com/Trust-Grind-How-World-Class-Athletes/dp/1642502448

https://twitter.com/jeremythegrind

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremybhandari/

Rob is currently the CEO of the Iditarod and for most of us the Iditarod conjures images like no other sporting event: blinding white terrain, icicles knotting ruddy-faced mushers’ eyebrows, silver-eyed dogs lunging frantically into a vast unknown.

Basically, crazy people charging headlong into challenging horizons.

The word is Ingalik Indian for “distant place.” The Iditarod race across Alaska couldn’t be much farther from where Louisville Kentucky native Rob Urbach began his career in sports management. After earning his degree—and competing as a nationally recognized tennis, swimming, and cross-country athlete moved to Philadelphia to earn an M.B.A. at the Wharton School of Business.

Next were executive vice president positions at premier sports and entertainment firms such as SFX and Octagon, where he oversaw international marathon, tennis, and golf events and soccer’s 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

A highly decorated “Ironman” himself, Urbach moved to Colorado in 2011 to become CEO of USA Triathlon, where he founded the NCAA triathlon program, helped make possible the first USA triathlon Olympic gold at Rio, and launched the Paralympics program that, also in Rio, had the highest medal count of any country.

http://www.roburbach.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/roburbach/ 

Dr. Takla is an emergency medicine physician and amateur athlete with a passion for health and fitness.

The role of an ER physician can be stressful, and he is responsible for one of the busiest emergency rooms in Michigan. In addition to practicing clinically, he has extensive administrative experience as a medical director supplemented with an executive MBA from the University of Michigan. While emergency medicine and innovation in health care remain passions of his, He also thrives on the pursuit of health and fitness.

Pursuing a well-balanced life combining physical, mental, and emotional health and fitness, is critical to happiness. As an amateur athlete and Ironman, He enjoys utilizing his medical skills and knowledge to further his own health and fitness. He thoroughly enjoys and welcomes the opportunity to motivate, coach, mentor and consult with both individuals and groups assisting them with improving their own health and fitness. Each of us, from amateurs to professional athletes, can find ways to further improve our wellness and maximize our chance of reaching our fitness goals.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberttakla-md-mba/ 

Dr. Steven MacGregor is the Founder of The Leadership Academy of Barcelona with clients including Salesforce, Uber and McKinsey. He has taught several hundred classes at leading business schools, and has been a visiting researcher at Stanford and Carnegie-Mellon. Overall, he has helped improve the health and wellbeing of more than 20,000 people worldwide through face-to-face delivery of the Sustaining Executive Performance program, and a further 250,000 online. Dr. MacGregor holds a PhD in design thinking and virtual teams and is the author of 6 books. Notably Sustaining Executive Performance and Chief Wellbeing Officer, now a popular podcast. A former international level duathlete and national champion, he has trained with Olympic athletes, Tour de France cyclists, and Ironman champions, and can be found on a frequent basis running up and down the mountain overlooking the city of Barcelona.

Alyse is the General Manager of Sky Blue FC, the National Women’s Soccer League NY/NJ franchise. She previously was the GM of the Chicago Red Stars, Worked with the Seattle Storm, co-founded a major international Girls Soccer & Leadership academy across Chicago, Mexico, Houston, and Columbia.  She is one of only two women currently holding the title of General Manager in the NWSL and is the first woman in league history to serve as General Manager in both Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) and the NWSL.

She also has an extensive and impressive track record of community development and volunteering. Alyse is a leading voice on diversity in all areas as well as an important voice on increasing gender diversity in leadership positions across sports. She is also Curator/Founder of the only online women's sports business weekly newsletter: WOMENxSPORT.

What we discussed: 

1. Women in leadership in sport?

2. Diversity in sport?

3. Where do you see soccer going?

4. What are you doing differently during this pandemic?

Since youth, sports have always been a part of her life. Swimming and soccer competitively at an early age eventually tran