On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we talk to Brett Hundley, former NFL quarterback, entrepreneur & philanthropist.

Did you dream about becoming a professional athlete?

"I really always wanted to play football. My Dad and my uncle played football, so I came from a football background, and I always knew that I wanted to make it to the NFL."

What advice would you give to your younger self?

"This opportunity, regardless of whether you go to the NFL or not, can really help your life going forward, so make the most of it. And have an understanding of how to network, and how to keep up with people. Really start using the college's networking opportunities while you're still playing."

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we talk to J.R. Butler, former college hockey player and the founder & CEO of Shift Group.

Talk about how growing up playing sports shaped you.

"I really grew up in the rink. I would say a lot of the ways that I approached life, like my mindset, I owe it all to hockey and growing up in the environment I grew up in...things like discipline, things like teamwork, things like always having a growth mindset, focusing on getting better every day, those are all things that were inherent in my childhood, in my household, and the rink we went to every day."

What advice would you give to your college self?

"You want to have fun, but you need to approach it with balance. And have as many conversations with as many people as possible, from an alumni and parent perspective."

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we talk to Lexi Mickens, former college basketball player and the founder of the nonprofit organization Run It Back.

Tell me about how growing up in sports shaped you.

"I think growing up in sports shaped me entirely. There were so many different life skills that weren't taught in the classroom unfortunately, such as time management, cognitive thinking, personal branding, pitching yourself...I mean, just showing up and being 110% in the moment. I had a great opportunity to continue sports throughout college, and even sports today is still teaching me so much of who I'm becoming and want to be, just because of the determination and discipline, I would say. Without sports, I don't know what my identity would be like, honestly."

Lexi talks about her transition out of sports and into the corporate world:

"I think the mindset shift was a bit difficult to navigate those first few months, but I think a lot of the skills that your coaches teach you about communicating loud, early and often, being super aware and hyper present of your environment and the team that you're working with, really just takes your work ethic to the next level, especially in corporate."

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we talk to Bo-Dean Sanders, former college football player, motivational speaker, author and TV host.

Bo-Dean talks about his mother's reluctance to allow him to play sports, his passion for it, and everything he learned along the way.

Share your thoughts on NIL:

"I knew folks' parents who owned businesses throughout the area. Just imagine the opportunities I could have had because of the relationships I had...It would have been at least an opportunity! So I'm all for Name, Image and Likeness. All for it."

Bo-Dean talks about having a strong support system as a student athlete:

"I had great mentors on-campus and off-campus. There's just so many people that had a positive effect on me as I became a senior."

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we talk to Blake Williams, former football player & NFL coach, entrepreneur, financial advisor and podcast host.

Blake talks about the lessons he's learned through sports.

"There's a lot of life lessons in sports, I tell people all the time. I think it's the ultimate microcosm of life; every season is like a life of it's on. It's like reincarnation every year. You have this family, you come together, you have losses, wins, injuries...you have adversity, you have joy, you have a lot of lessons learned. And then you go on and you do it again, you know, the next year. It taught me a ton in life."

Blake talks about the importance of athletes understanding how to prepare for their transition out of sports:

"The more that can be taught and the more programs that there can be for that ahead of time, and have those conversations ahead of time, I think we can help solve a lot of issues on anxiety and depression, some of those things that happen when athletes leave the sport, often not of their own volition. Somebody's told them, get off the train, you can't play anymore. And they don't have a proper plan in place...and that can cause a lot of angst sometimes."

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we talk to Ben Fagan, former college baseball player, author, motivational speaker and co-founder of the DNB (Define New Boundaries) lifestyle brand.

Tell me about how sports shaped you growing up?

"There was nothing more fun to do than being on the ballfield, getting to play, getting to play hard, getting my uniform dirty. So I think that, along with my brother who introduced me to the game, having those coaches who instilled the right way to play, and the pure joy of the game, was something that I think played such a big role in ultimately getting me to where I am in my career."

Ben shares about walking away from his last baseball game and what it meant to him:

"During my senior year in college, I began to work toward becoming the most consistently great baseball player I could possibly become...And it culminated in me eventually becoming the player I actually wanted to become. And in my last at bat, I ended up striking out, and I remember I was walking away, and there was a photo of me taken, right after I struck out, baseball career over...and there's a smile on my face. That's become one of my favorite moments because in that moment, by all intensive purposes, I failed. I stuck out, I lost, baseball is done. But there was a smile on my face, and that represented to me that I had become the player I wanted to become...I think that to be able to walk away from the game with true fulfillment, being genuinely fulfilled with what I had accomplished, allowed me to go into the next phase of my life relatively seamlessly."

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we talk to Erika Fay, former water polo player, marathon runner, therapist and coach.

Erika shares about the health challenges that she had prior to playing sports, and how her sport helped her get her health back.

Erika's advice to athletes to help them establish an identity outside of sports:

"How else do you define yourself besides being an athlete? What else is important to you? Look at what your qualities and skills are, not just academically, but what people tell you you're good at, or what you're doing in your sport. All of those are actually transferrable skills, and I think getting an awareness of that can be one of the foundations for looking at the bigger question of who am I, really?"

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we talk to Kathy Judson, former college runner, pro triathlete, author, and pharmacist.

Kathy shares about her dream of becoming a professional athlete:

"I started dreaming of becoming an Olympian when I was 12 years old, because at that point that's the highest that women could go."

Kathy's advice to current athletes preparing for the transition out of sports:

"Have a lot of grace with yourself and know who you are. Learn to have an identity outside of sports; learn that you're more than just competing. You're more than just a basketball player, or a cyclist, or a runner. There's so much more to who you are than what you do."

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we talk to Alex Bolowich, former soccer player, coach, and the founder & CEO of Elite Mental Performance.

Alex shares about his love of soccer, his thoughts on NIL, and about his own transition out of sports.

Alex's advice to student athletes about the importance of networking while they're still in school:

"There are people in your university right now that have a massive web and network of connections. And they can't read your mind, so they don't know that that's what you want to do. So you have to get out of your way and say, 'hey- I want to step into this world and I don't know where to start or who to talk to or, do you have any advice?' And you'll see immediately they'll be like, let me get you in contact with so and so. And it's that simple- it's just a conversation."

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we talk to Chris Weedon, former professional soccer player & the founder of Mentally Shredded.

Christopher speaks candidly to fellow athletes:

"Speaking to you athletes out there: You can wake up and you can go get a paycheck. You can clock in, you can clock out, and you can live the rest of your life like that. But if you've already lived and performed at a high level, something's going to be missing if you live your life like that."

Christopher talks about the importance of taking action on your goals and dreams:

"I didn't wake up and say yes, I want to do this, and it was just here. There has to be action. That's where faith comes in; faith is action. You have to take action in order to create what you want."

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