Sam Led is Anxious Ambition’s guest for episode 11! After going through a harrowing, traumatic, and life-changing experience, Sam spent close to a decade wallowing in self-pity as his life fell apart around him. One day, he decided he was tired of playing the victim. He worked to look beyond the chaos of his life and thought processes and try to find “absolute intelligence.”

Sam’s coaching involves “conversation, questions, and [an] experiential process” to help his clients discover their A-HA moments and begin reshaping their realities. Sam works to get his clients to access the divine wisdom, intuition, and insight that isn’t bogged down by second guessing and negative thought patterns. Sam has been described as “compassionate and intuitive,” dedicated, humorous, and hardworking by many of his clients.

You can find out more about Sam on his website, samledconsulting.com. Sam also has a podcast, Fear Less Now, that can be found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. He has also made numerous appearances on other health and wellbeing podcasts! You can also find him on Instagram @samledconsulting

For this episode and more, make sure to follow Anxious Ambition on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube, and @anxiousambition on Instagram! And make sure to keep sending us questions! 

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After a month-long hiatus, Anxious Ambition is back with our tenth episode of Season 2! Some of our guests have included: podcasters like Tre Moss, the founder of Active Minds at the University of Dubuque; LA-based actor and musician Josh Pertler; Chance Savant, executive director of the Southwest Louisiana branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and many more! In the hopes of shedding light on the fact that women and men deal with these issues, all of Season 2’s guests have been men.

This week is no different, as Justin sits down and talks with James Anastassiades, another of the founders of Off the Court. You may remember Off the Court from our last episode, when Justin welcomed Dalton Solbrig onto the show. James is a former volleyball player with a Bachelor’s of Science in Kinesiology. He’s currently pursuing a Master’s in Kinesiology. During his time playing volleyball, James struggled with an eating disorder and performance anxiety that affected every part of his life.

It is these personal experiences that help him with his work at Off the Court, an organization dedicated to teaching the importance of mental health, nutrition, and recovery when it comes to athletes. Through their podcast and various clinics, they have the often tough - but necessary - conversations that athletes need to have.

@jamesanastassiades

@offthecourthealth

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In this episode, we share a clip from each of the episodes from Season 2.

In Season 2 we focused on having on solely male guests with the hope to help promote Men's Mental Health Awareness. These amazing men all came on shared their stories. We truly appreciate each and every one of them for being vulnerable and reassuring others that they are NOT alone.  Visit their social media below!

Tre Moss @tre_speaks

Larry Wrather @motiv8_mvb

Josh Pertler @pertpertla

Reggie Vantrease @rollwiththeregg

Chance Savant @chance_savant

Rob Samp [email protected] 

Jarred Madison Frey @thebipolarbachelorpodcast

Dalton Solbrig  @dsoul42 @offthecourthealth

For this episode and more, make sure to follow Anxious Ambition on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube, and @anxiousambition on Instagram! And make sure to keep sending us questions!

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Dalton Solbrig is our guest for episode 9! Dalton is currently living in Germany playing professional volleyball. Dalton grew up playing sports in Illinois and attended college in Hawaii. As a result of injury and the pressure to perform at his best constantly, Dalton realized that mental care needed to be an integrated part of an athlete’s training.

That’s why Dalton, along with a couple of friends, started Off the Court, an initiative dedicated to improving mental health, nutrition, and recovery when it comes to sports. Through their very own podcast and social media, Off the Court has made it their mission to end the stigma around mental health in sports. Join Dalton as he talks with Justin about his personal sports and mental health journey from Illinois to Hawaii to Europe!  

You can find out more about Dalton and Off the Court at offthecourt.com, on their Instagram @offthecourthealth, and here on Spotify by searching for “Off the Court”!

For this episode and more, make sure to follow Anxious Ambition on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube, and @anxiousambition on Instagram! And make sure to keep sending us questions!

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Over the course of this season, we here at Anxious Ambition have talked a lot about depression and anxiety with our guests, but this week is a bit different. Our guest for episode 8 is Jarred Madison Frey, a man who was diagnosed with Bipolar I disorder over 14 years ago. In that time, he has been hospitalized 20 times as a result.

Since his diagnosis, Jarred’s life has been a series of ups and downs as he worked on figuring out his bipolar disorder. From thoughts of suicide to the hills and valleys of emotions and episodes, he and Justin talk about his journey of understanding and his desire to educate others on what bipolar disorder really is.

These days, Jarred does exactly that by hosting the Bipolar Bachelor podcast. You can find his podcast on Spotify, and you can find more information about it on Instagram @thebipolarbachelorpodcast

For this episode and more, make sure to follow Anxious Ambition on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube, and @anxiousambition on Instagram! And make sure to keep sending us questions!

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This week on Anxious Ambition we have Rob Samp, mental performance coach and licensed therapist specializing in trauma, athletes, and substance abuse! He first realized he wanted to help people in this field when he was a camp counselor around 2011. Realizing he wanted to help people on a deeper level, he graduated with a Master’s from Adler University.

Based out of Naperville, Illinois,  Rob works with Labyrinth Counseling and Consulting as a therapist and with MOD Volleyball focusing on mental performance.

Join Justin and Rob as they discuss Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), their time coaching and how they were able to help with more than just sports, and how they try to focus on the mental, emotional, and spiritual sides of athletics.

For this episode and more, make sure to follow Anxious Ambition on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube, and @anxiousambition on Instagram! And make sure to keep sending us questions!

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Episode Six of Season Two has Justin welcoming Chance Savant to Anxious Ambition!

A Louisiana native and graduate of McNeese University in Lake Charles, Chance is currently the executive director of the Southwest Louisiana chapter of NAMI, or the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Coming from a small town of roughly 2,000, Chance was unaware of the mental health services that could have helped someone in his position. It wasn’t until he left Kinder that he became cognizant of everything offered. This prompted him to pursue a degree in the mental health field and do his best to pay it forward.

Founded in 1979 in Wisconsin, NAMI is one of the largest national grassroots, nonprofit organizations. With multiple chapters in many states, they exist to provide mental health services to their surrounding areas, including educational courses, support groups, and seminars for all ages. Chance’s specific chapter of NAMI currently serves Calcasieu, Cameron, Jeff Davis, Allen, and Beauregard Parishes. You can find out more about NAMI and what they do at NAMI.org!

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Continuing our season of all-male guests, Justin welcomes Reggie Vantrease to Anxious Ambition!

As Reggie navigated his way through early life and a budding personal training career, he found himself working to understand the relationship between mental and physical health. He soon realized that, as a result of events from his childhood resurfacing, he was dealing with anxiety and depression. He soon recognized the signs, and after visiting with a therapist, he was able to learn strategies to help him deal with it.

Currently, Reggie works as a sports performance coach and personal trainer out of Chicago. Over the last 11 years, Reggie has worked with thousands of athletes, from kids just starting out to professional athletes. You can find out more about Reggie on his website rollwiththeregg.com, on Instagram @rollwiththeregg, and on Facebook by searching “Roll With The Regg”!

For this episode and more, make sure to follow Anxious Ambition on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube, and @anxiousambition on Instagram! And make sure to keep sending us questions!

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After a short Christmas break, Anxious Ambition is back, as Justin sits down with Josh Pertler, actor, model, and musician. Justin and Josh go all the way back to their freshman year of high school. He began modeling and acting at a very young age, and with the help of his mom, he broke into the business around the age of 11. After high school, he made his way out to Los Angeles to pursue his dream.

He began experiencing anxiety as he began waiting to hear about parts and modeling jobs. He began struggling with drugs and alcohol as a way to cope with feelings of loneliness and hopelessness. After going back and forth between Illinois and Los Angeles, he finally got a handle on his addiction and is still pursuing acting and working on his music!

You can find him on Instagram @pertpertla, on Spotify under the name “Pertla,” and at his website joshpertler.com

For this episode and more, make sure to follow Anxious Ambition on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube, and @anxiousambition on Instagram! And make sure to keep sending us questions!

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Ever since 4th grade in Chicago, Illinois, Larry Wrather has struggled with his identity. Born to a black father and white mother, he was bullied for being different in many of the places he went. In Chicago, he was the “half-white” kid. When his family moved to Lake Forest and he began playing volleyball, he was just the “black” kid, having to deal with horrible stereotypes. Eventually, all of these factors led to a crisis of identity, with Larry working through a depression and figuring out who he was. Listen in as he talks with Justin about their varying experiences playing club volleyball, mental health, and figuring out their identity.

Over the years, through self-reflection, self-growth, and realizing nothing changes overnight, Larry realized who he was in terms of the black community and the world as a whole. Currently living in Georgia with his wife, he is coach to both the men’s and women’s volleyball teams at Fort Valley State University.

He has his own podcast, “Motiv8 MVB,” which can be found on Spotify. You can also find him on Instagram @Motiv8_MVB.

For this episode and more, make sure to follow Anxious Ambition on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube, and @anxiousambition on Instagram! And make sure to keep sending us questions!

Anxious Ambition: https://linktr.ee/theanxiousambition

Contact Us: [email protected]