Brent Sopel is best known as a professional hockey player who spent over 18 years as a pro athlete, 40 years playing the sport… he’s also celebrated for being a Stanley Cup champion for the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks… but his journey a person is what fascinates me the most.

He grew up for most of his life with a learning disability… dyslexia… except he didn’t know he had it until after his hockey career when his daughter was diagnosed. This meant he never received the appropriate teaching methods to be successful at traditional learning. So… he struggled in school, often feeling misunderstood, angry with his misunderstood differences to the other kids, and resorted to sports to gain his self-esteem. His challenges with dyslexia followed him to the NHL and beyond in his next phase of life… it caused personal and family heartache that he still deals with today.

He wrote an awesome piece for the Player’s Tribune called “Lost in My Mind” outlining his incredibly challenging and introspective journey. I highly suggest you read this piece before listening to really understand where Brent comes from. He ultimately turned his adversity into empowerment, and formed the Brent Sopel Foundation to help people with Dyslexia which you can find online at Brent Sopel Foundation dot org.

In this conversation Brent is completely transparent about his struggles from childhood until now… many of which stem from the learning disability he recently discovered he even had… it’s a disorder that is heavily misunderstood and I think it’s important for everyone to learn more about to open up the compassion and empathy towards those who’s minds may not operate like ours… but are still incredibly intelligent nonetheless.

Brent also has an event coming up on October 2nd to raise money for this great cause, it’s a celebrity golf outing called Drive for Dyslexia which includes an after party with autograph signings and live music… you should definitely head to his website to purchase.

I hope you enjoy this conversation and appreciate Brent’s vulnerability as much as I do!

In this episode we talk about:

- Growing up “different” than other kids and how that impacts one’s psyche

- Dyslexia- how it’s commonly misunderstood, ways to identify it, and tools to work with it

- Incredibly successful people who have dyslexia

- Bullying

- Mental health

- Life after sports- the challenges that presents with identity

- Being a father of a kid with dyslexia and how to support their journey

- Masculinity and vulnerability

- His ever-evolving mission to self-acceptance

- Addiction

- Turning adversity into empowerment