On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Dr. Daniel Zimet, 34-time National Handball Champion, Sports Psychologist, and Lead Investigator for the Athletes' Transition Study. 

Tell us about growing up and playing sports and how that shaped you, going into college and beyond.

"Most of my sport activity was with soccer, and that was more organized. I also played baseball, tennis, I would almost always be found on my skateboard...and I'm a third generation handball player. Sport has been an enormous part of my community and also my family."

Do you see colleges helping to prepare athletes for their future after sports?

"Not typically, although there are absolutely schools that are making efforts to do that and have programming, but generally I would say no. I think that the life-cycle of the sport environment is very heavily focused on athlete development, so bringing people into sport, developing their skill-set, maintaining their presence, and building them to the point of excellence, and then there is the business of sport....I would say that most leagues pay no attention to the athlete once they are off the roster."

Tell us about the Athlete Transition Study that you are working on.

"Part of why we're conducting the study that we are is to understand broad, large-scale numbers (different sports, genders, communities and cultures) about how people leave their sport. How many suffer, to what extent, and in what ways...those are questions that still haven't been answered with any satisfaction."

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Dr. Daniel Zimet's Website: www.danielmzimet.com

Connect with Dr. Daniel Zimet on LinkedIn 

Participate in the Athlete Transition Survey 

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Taj Dashaun, former college football player and Author, Speaker, and Athlete Transition Coach. 

Tell us about your journey growing up and playing sports. 

“My first sport was basketball, I started when I was five. Then I started playing soccer....And then I saw the movie "Remember the Titans", and I decided that I wanted to play football. I started playing football at the age of 10, and by my freshman year in high school, I was on a mission get a football scholarship." I ended up getting a scholarship at Stoneybrook in Long Island, NY, and I loved every minute of it."

Did Stoneybrook prepare you for life after college sports?

"I didn't necessarily do a good job of seeking out those resources, if they were available...but those resources were not put in directly in front of us as athletes, either. That's why I was telling you that I love what you guys are doing at Alumni Direct, because that sense of community is what I was missing. I walked across that stage and was just thrown out into the world...versus having a support system and a community of people who have gone before me to help pull me up. Hats off to what you are doing, I think it's needed for so many reasons."

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Connect with Taj Deshaun: www.tajdashaun.com

LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

Listen to Taj's Podcast: Thrive After Sports Podcast

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Hannah Valenzuela, former elite runner and host of the Women's Locker Talk podcast. 

Did you aspire to be an Olympic athlete or a professional runner?

“Absolutely. I competed at nationals every year for cross country and track. My senior year of high school I qualified for two world championships, so I had the opportunity to compete in Slovenia in the World Mountain Running Championships, and I also competed in Spain in the World Cross Country Championships. To compete on foreign soil, at that level, is the highest level you can achieve in your sport. From there, I really pictured myself only going up...That's really all I wanted for myself and I truly loved it."

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Check out Hannah's podcast on Spotify: Women's Locker Talk 

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Julie Chaykin, former cheerleader, dancer, and coach.

Tell us about the practice and preparation required in cheer.

“A key factor in practicing for the sport of cheer is every single athlete being dedicated and present. This is imperative to the success of the sport. The multi facets that are involved in cheerleading require everyone's full attention and support in order to be successful."

What helped you transition from being a college athlete to running your own business?

"Teachers and coaches can have a huge impact on a child's life and on a family's life. In college, I had the blessing of having an amazing coach and I've had some wonderful teachers, so that really molded me into something that wanted to be nothing but positive and give positive light to children...It's definitely had an impact on the current things that I'm doing."

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Check out Julie's website: www.hurricanecheerleading.com

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Pete Maestrales, former professional baseball player, Olympic baseball player, CEO and founder of Airstream Jets.

How does one go from being an athlete to owning a private jet charter company?

“I could never have been successful in business if it weren’t for my failures in sport”  - Pete Maestrales, former professional baseball player, is living proof and speaks about how he went from baseball to owning a charter jet company in this interview.

When Pete was asked about his alumni experience and networking with other athletes, his answer was, “...it brings us all together … it’s really a cool thing …even in ProBall, a lot of the guys that I played with, those connections have paid dividends over the years, they know someone that needs a flight somewhere, and having played with those top level athletes, those connections have really helped too because a lot of those guys are big money guys now.”

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Check out Pete's website: www.airstreamjets.com

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Marques Ogden, former NFL player, keynote Speaker, entrepreneur and all-star podcaster. 

AMBITION and DRIVE:

“For the success cycle, it is ambition, create your blueprint, drive, be inspired, over-motivated, hard work, focus on yourself not the competition.”- Marques Ogden Marques encourages athletes to focus on their professional and personal development and strongly recommends finding a mentor, “someone who you trust to help you prepare for the transition from student athlete, graduating and entering the workforce and prepare with hard work, dedication and fortitude.”  Watch this video to learn more about the self made laws by which Marques lives by and the soft skills essential for an athlete's success.

Connect with Marques Ogden:

Instagram | LinkedIn

Website: www.marquesogden.com

Email: [email protected]

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On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Shea Hillenbrand: Former professional baseball third baseman and first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays and more before he became an entrepreneur. 

Shea’s drive to win his parents' love and respect led to a drive and competitive spirit to become the best in sports. He says his work ethic got him on the team in junior college and eventually drafted by the Boston Red Sox at twenty years old to Player of the Year!

“Keep going when everyone else quits.” - Shea Hillenbrand

Listen to his 5 Non-Negotiables and gems of wisdom in this very animated and engaging conversation with Rob Finklestein, Founder and CEO of Alumni Direct and apply them to your life!

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Visit Shea Hillenbrand's Website: www.sheahillenbrand.co

Connect with Shea on LinkedIn & Instagram

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On this episode of "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey", an inspiring series by Alumni Direct, we speak with Adrian Archie, former football player and entrepreneur. Adrian is the founder of petNmind Naturals.

He shares about how being an athlete changed his life and why athletes have a natural entrepreneurial spirit.

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Visit Adrian Archie's Website: https://linktr.ee/petNmind

Connect with Adrian on LinkedIn 

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In this episode of "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey" by Alumni Direct, join this fascinating conversation with Dominik Senn, whose love for skiing began in Switzerland at 3 years old in a city not known for skiing. Hear how he went on to become a national champion and then to win the European cup but due to knee injuries later in his sport career, he began his sports management company to represent skiers like himself and his colleagues. 

Passionate about golf, Dominik is changing the face of Golf country clubs in America in building the most exclusive gated golf community, Panther National, to cater to a wider generation of golfers and other athletes.

Listen to this inspiring and fascinating conversation with Rob Finkelstein founder and CEO of Alumni Direct.

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Visit Dominik's Website: www.panthernational.com

Connect with Dominik on Instagram

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On this episode of "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey" by Alumni Direct we chat with Marc Chaykin, baseball player, college cheerleader, actor, and President of US cheerleading association. 

Marc Chaykin’s college repertoire is extremely diverse. As a sportsman he double majored in Broadcasting and the Theatre Arts which led him to a career in acting and baseball to collegiate cheerleading and currently is the President of the US Cheerleading Association.

In terms of how alumni networks worked for him, he stayed in touch with a lot of people in the theatre department at the University of Miami(UM) and business-wise he has worked with friends from UM that run their own theatre departments to work on projects and eventually was hired to do several TV commercials which launched his career into acting.

Marc Chayin’s advice to athletes whose careers are transitioning out of the field of sports is:

“Taking one of those skill sets that allowed them to be successful in sports—dedication, commitment, preparation and then putting it into the field that they have a passion for and then just always trying to make sure that what you’re doing, that you have a purpose—What is this purpose?  It shouldn’t just be  about creating wealth— it should be about making a difference and making a positive difference no matter what it is.”

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Visit Marc's Website: www.uscheerleading.com

Connect with Marc on LinkedIn & Instagram

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