Today I am joined by Christen Shefchunas, former D1 swimming head coach and current professional Confidence Coach.

Working 1:1 with some of the greatest athletes and teams in the world, Christen coaches Olympians, World Champions, NCAA All Americans, and even high school athletes in their confidence to help them to seize their potential. From what to do in ‘pressure-to-perform’ moments to how to handle daily stressors and fears, Christen is on a mission to help guide a new generation of confident female athletes through her business, Coach Christen.

In addition to her boots-on-the-ground coaching, Christen is the creator of Confidence Nuggets, a bracelet line designed to remind women of their strength, and she’s the author of 30 Days to Confident, a month-long confidence challenge for female athletes.

Christen is a living breathing example of confidence. In this episode, she shares a lof of really simple things that can transform the way we show up in the world. One of my favorite moments from this episode is when Christen talks about the power of normalizing fear. This episode is full of advice that so many of us (dare I say, ALL of us) can benefit from, especially those of us who are women in sports, coach female athletes, or parent female athletes.

Couldn’t we all benefit from having more confidence?

Christen is here to help! Press play, and let me know what you think of my episode with Christen  Shefchunas!

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Here’s a glance at this episode:

[0:35] During her 16 years of coaching, Christen noticed that women were never the priority. Now, she’s on a mission to build up female athletes through confidence coaching.

[5:18] Christen explains how both fear of failure and social risk can impact an athlete’s performance. Lindsey asks the question, “Do athletes self-sabotage for the sake of fitting in?”

[7:53] How does a confidence coach stay confident? Christen gets vulnerable about what makes her nervous and how she’s trained her own brain to courageously face her insecurities.

[13:29] “You are in control of your life”. This is the phrase that launched Christen’s transition from coach to business owner. Taking us through the ups and downs of her first few years, Christen reminds us that building a business doesn’t happen over night! 

[18:05] The moments right before you perform are often the moments that hold you back. Christen doesn’t buy into the idea of being “fearless”, but she does believe in getting honest, facing your fears, and making sure your words match your deepest beliefs. 

[22:16] Oftentimes, athletes feel that they’re alone in their fear, but Christen’s never met an athlete without it. She openly talks about a time in her career when she messed up as a coach.

[28:06] Christen shares one fundamental thing she teaches all her athletes to help them accept their pre-competition nervousness and move past it to perform. She chats about her new book and her bracelet line.

[32:57] Lindsey shoots off a few rapid fire questions to get to know Christen. With each question, Lindsey peels back the curtain back on Christen’s personal routines, what she’s reading, what she’s creating, what she’s looking forward to, what she consumes, and what brings her joy.

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