Lea B Olsen was raised in poverty in a blended family in South Minneapolis. She was introduced to sports relatively late in her youth. Lea began her basketball career in her junior year of high school and after only two years, went on to play Division I basketball at the University of Minnesota.  After college, she transformed her success on the court into a sports journalism career. She broadcasted basketball on ESPN’S national WNBA coverage, as a game analyst for the Minnesota Lynx, and as a television sideline reporter for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Lea’s experiences playing and covering sports, and seeing the pressure youth athletes face to Win at all costs, lead her in 2015 to found Rethink the Win. Rethink the Win is an organization dedicated to preserving the fun in youth sports while teaching kids how to apply lessons learned in sports to the real world.

This is how she got here

Wes Walz was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and this is where he started his tedious road to the NHL.  Walz's path exemplifies his commitment to play hockey at the highest level.  Whether it was the long bus rides in the snowy tundra of Canada or playing overseas in Switzerland. His journey had many ups and downs but at times it looked like there were more downs.  Wes plowed forward and got a second chance. He made the most of it playing for the Minnesota Wild.  

This is how he got here.

If you knew nothing about Jason Zucker except that he was a professional athlete, born in Newport Beach, CA, and grew in Las Vegas, Nevada, what sport would you think he played?   Maybe he is on the PGA tour? He kind of looks like a baseball player maybe he plays in the MLB? Or maybe he is the Las Vegas version of Spud Webb!  Based on where he is from the last sport you would think of is Ice Hockey.  But it is Ice Hockey.  He is a left-winger for the Minnesota Wild in the NHL.  Zucker was drafted in the second round(59th overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft by Wild.

This is how he got here.

At 7 years old Gavin Kaysen saw what the power of food could do. He saw this making cookies with his grandma. Food can make people smile. This started his love for cooking. Playing youth sports helped him for years after he was done. The lesson learned permeates through his business and life. He learned about culture from his Little League coach Pete Carroll(Seattle Seahawks Head Coach) and how professional athletes handle wins and losses. Like in sports, all it takes is one person to see something in you. That person was a restaurant owner who found Gavin in a Subway making sandwiches as a teenager.  This love for food transpired into multiple critically acclaimed restaurants and provided meals for the Minnesota Wild.

Originally run 12/16/18

Marcus Foligno was a well-travel youth athlete.  Not on his own accord but following his NHL star father.  Where his dad played, the family lived. Where his dad coached the family lived.  A budding baseball star's final childhood move went from Hershey, PA to the nickel mining town of Sudbury, Ontario where baseball was no longer a reality and hockey became everything.    This is his story

The Evereve Journey started in a women's dressing room in a San Fransico clothing store.  A young mom by the name Megan Tamte felt overwhelmed and alone!  This is not how a young mother should feel about her shopping experience.  Megan knew that the clothing options for young moms were extremely limited and the experience was miserable for a mom toting around her children. She knew that this needed to change. She shared her vision with Mike Tamte.  After much discussion, they decided to go for it.  Mike tells how playing sports impacted his leadership and how he and Megan went from an idea to 90 stores.  This is how he got here.

Photo Credit-Glenn Stubb

WE BELIEVE THAT EVERY ACT OF KINDNESS—NO MATTER HOW BIG OR SMALL—GOES A LONG WAY.” Eric Brust - Co-founder- CEO Johnny pop

Armed with a blender, assorted kitchen utensils and Erik’s vision of a “better-for-you” frozen fruit bar, Andrew Sather, Connor Wray, Kilian Wald, and Erik Brust made their way to the basement kitchen of their dorm at St. Olaf College, in Northfield, Minnesota.

The guys spent many hours cutting and peeling fruits, blending and measuring ingredients, and freezing small batches in ice trays prepped with popsicle sticks. 

Connor Wray tells his story of How He Got Here

Hockey tryouts are on us in Minnesota.  Blake talks about how he had to process his 8-year old son getting cut from the top team and how this notion of being cut affected him, he was cut from a team as a youth hockey player.   This episode talks is a conversation between former professional athletes being cut and how they deal with their kids getting cut from the team.