Holly Brooks (she/her) took the path of coach to elite athlete (2x Olympian, World Cup Bronze Medalist, and 2x Mt. Marathon winner, you know, just the casual things) to now mom and therapist. Throughout all of these experiences she has gathered a wealth of knowledge and a firm practice of supporting the human in every athlete.

Today we'll talk about eating disorders and how they can be tied into abuse and mistreatment, NCAA's NIL and how it can make an athlete more vulnerable, and the importance of coaching for longevity.

Links:

Holly's Website

Holly's Instagram

Project Red-S

Winning At All Cost: Breaking the Silence on Athletes & Eating Disorders

With so many different agencies, the nuance of the various policies that offer protection to athletes, and the inconsistent political environments across the country, it can be pretty difficult to know your rights and to self-advocate when your rights aren't being protected. At WomenX Mary Ciampa (she/her pronouns + WomenX Founder) and Tiffany Bullock (she/her pronouns + WomenX COO) are working to bring women accessible, high quality, female-led education with the purpose of giving women the knowledge to advocate for themselves and their communities.

On today’s episode we'll discuss Title IX, whether or not it’s being used to its fullest extent, how athletes can learn more about Title IX, and the difference between constructive criticism and changing yourself to stay in another person’s good graces. You can learn more about WomenX here and stay up to date with their work here!

Kara Goucher (she/her), The Rex Project's 3rd and final board member, wears a lot of different hats. She's a mom, one of the most accomplished distance runners in US history, NBC Sports commentator, author of The Longest Race, Oiselle Athlete-Advisor, and a candy-corn enthusiast (rightfully so).

She's also a fierce advocate for safe and fair, doping-free sports. On this episode, Kara shares her insight around tough coaching, the complicatedness of abuse, and why you should educate your athletes on identifying and responding to abuse even if you're the safest athletic organization in the world.

Show Links:

Kara Goucher's Instagram

Kara Goucher's Book, The Longest Race

The Rex Project Website

The Rex Project YouTube Channel

The Rex Project Instagram

Sam Benzing (she/her), a former student-athlete, now coach and The Rex Project's second board member. Sam is passionate about working at the intersection of mental health & high performance and shares her insights into what that has looked like for her so far, why she brings in the experts, and how she has navigated coaching her former teammates.

Get to know Karelle Edwards-Perry (she/her), a former pro hurdler, now therapist & performance consultant, and The Rex Project's first board member. After sharing her experience with abuse in sport, Karelle joins us again to discuss navigating identity, coachability, and boundaries as an athlete. Karelle is smart, witty, empathetic, and just an all around fantastic human being using her experience to make sports safer. Listen and you'll see why I am so thankful to have her on The Rex Project board.

Show Links: