Welcome back to a new episode of Reach Your Prime. Today we are talking with Chris Everett, the Director of Student-Athlete Development at UNC Charlotte.

Chris is a driven former student-athlete with aspirations of one day leading an athletic department to the pinnacle of college athletics.

His natural curiosity pushes him to accomplish his goals, while gaining knowledge that will prepare him for new obstacles in life. Like many others, Chris suffered a major injury early in his collegiate football career, but he didn’t allow it to define him.

On today’s episode we’re going to dive into the story of how Chris battled back onto the field, how he thinks about goals and the journey to accomplishing them, and some of his habits for success.

Enjoy!

Key Topics:

Chris’s story and how he ended up at UNC Charlotte (1:26)

What gave Chris the purpose and drive to overcome his major injuries (4:28)

How Chris has maintained his competitive mindset and drive in his day-to-day life (10:13)

Understanding why time is a great equalizer in sports and in life (12:20)

What Chris is focused on and expectant of in his career (16:22)

The biggest thing that student-athletes need today (20:02)

What Chris does to maintain his success from a practical, and big-picture standpoint (22:55)

The last tweet that Chris would send if Twitter got shut down (26:54)

Title of the book that Chris has not written yet (27:35)

Interact with Chris Everett:

LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophereverettjr/
Twitter — https://twitter.com/coej10
Website — https://charlotte49ers.com/staff.aspx?staff=70

Hard-hitting Quotes:

“When I broke my arm, those two bones, I just remember thinking I’ve never sat out a year of football; this is going to be hard.” (4:59)

“In a sense, I was just kind of in limbo just watching, to be honest, the Titanic sink that year.” (5:18)

“To me, loyalty is always more important.” (5:47)

“Those relationships that you create will outlast your statistics and the memories that you create within a sport.” (6:19)

“You might not be the best at whatever you’re doing, but time is a great equalizer.” (8:22)

“Sweat plus sacrifice equals success” (13:13)

“People strive too hard for those long-term goals and the forget to live in the moment right now” (17:25)

“All we’re trying to do is make connections so that other people can feel loved in this world” (24:22)

“Humility can go a long way in this world nowadays” (27:23)

“Never give up and always work hard.” (28:34)

“Being able to say I competed with somebody so hard for so long that it created one of the best bonds in my life, to me that cemented in me just how much you can reap from being a hard worker. Being a hard worker doesn’t mean that you’re going to be somebody that everyone’s going to hate or not want to talk with. Being a hard worker means that people see the fruit of your labor and they can connect to that, so why not be a hard worker in everything that you do?” (7:49)

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

UNC Charlotte — https://www.uncc.edu/
Western Carolina University — https://www.wcu.edu/