The topic of Trans Rights in Sports has been highly debated over the past few years. To InsertContext into this highly nuanced issue, I spoke with my high school track and field coach, Steve Nelson for his perspective. As a coach and a mentor to a number of highly successful female athletes, Steve wants what every coach wants for their athlete, the opportunity to achieve success in competition against their peers. 

Why Episode 7.5? I just felt like this topic needed its own space. While I do have my opinions on the matter, I look forward to continuing the conversation with representatives from both sides of the conversation. 

What do you think? 

Share with a transgender athlete that might have an opinion on the matter?

If you haven’t listened to the rest of my conversation with Coach Nelson on Episode 7, we discuss his success identifying and developing young athletes that went on to do big things. 

Check it out Episode 7 Here:
https://apple.co/3hu3asv
https://spoti.fi/3hEEkX3

Mentions/Notable/Outspoken Athletes in the conversation about Trans Athletes' participation in sports
@MeganRapinoe
@FallonFox
@ReneeRichards
@PauloCosta
@RondaRousey
@CaetlynJenner
@BeccaLongo
@CasterSemenya
@LaurelHubbard 

@MartinaNavratilova, who came out as a lesbian in 1981 and is a longtime gay-rights activist. She now stands accused of being “transphobic” after asserting that many transgender women — even if they’ve undergone hormone treatment — have an unfair advantage over other female competitors.

A few athletes in the spotlight that have spoken out, opposing the participation of trans athletes in sports, includes

• Rhonda Rousey
• Recently Paulo Acosta
• Martina Navratilova

Paulo Costa (UFC) re: Fallon Fox

He was born a man, and he is a man, even though he calls himself a transsexual,” Costa said. “It’s absurd cowardice, not only by him but also by the promoters of any event that has accepted this kind of absurdity. He has simply annihilated the girls who have fought against him. They were slaughtered, they put their lives at risk, they put their physical integrity at risk. I don’t want to get into [the personal aspect] of his choice, to be transsexual or not, homosexual or not. What happens here is that a man is fighting against girls, against women, as if he were one. This is absurd, and it can’t be accepted.

Links

https://ctmirror.org/2019/07/22/transgender-issues-polarizes-womens-advocates-a-conundrum/
@BeccaLongo - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becca_Longo

@CasterSemenya - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_Semenya

@LaurelHubbard - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_Hubbard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_people_in_sports

Jeneba Tarmoh, former teammate of mine, high school track & field phenom from East San Jose, D1 All American, and Olympic Gold Medlaist. We dove into what makes a good coach, how the pressure of being a star almost made her give up track all together, and her transition into the professional world after a long career as an athlete.

Topics We Discussed

• Growing Up in East San Jose
• Almost quitting track
• What makes a good coach?
• The pressure of carrying a team to success
• Going pro - The challenge, the spotlight, and the politics #TrackandFool
• Controversy around her tie with Allyson Felix at the 2012 Olympic Trials
• Beginning a career after sports

Shout Outs

Steve Nelson
Vince Anderson (@coach_vince_anderson)
Bob Kersee
Ginnie Powell
Shaun Crawford

Where do athletes come from. Are they born or are they made? I spoke with MY high school track coach Steve Nelson for a look into his highly accomplished career identifying, developing, and motivating athletes that would go on to become State Champions, D1 All-Americans, and even Olympic Medalists.

While coaching at Mt. Pleasant High School in my hometown of East San Jose, CA, Coach Nelson lead the girl's team to section team titles in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011.

Coach Nelson played a huge part in my early development as an athlete. Since then, he has continued to be an invaluable source of information, a family friend, and a mentor. I owe a lot to him for getting me going in track and field and I hope you too are motivated after this episode!

Some of his accomplished athletes:
Jenebah Tarmoh - Sprints (Olympics)Look for the next episode with Jeneba! 
Vashti Thomas - Hurdler/Jumper (D1 @CSUN)
Ed Lasquete - Pole Vault (
Darius Carbin - High Jump
Corey White (yea, me) - State finalist in discus and eventually a world class Javelin thrower.

#coach #trackandfield #olympics #usctrackandfield #NCAA

It’s no secret that opening a bar or a restaurant is a risky investment. With margins sometimes as low as 3-4% under normal conditions, many don’t have a full month’s cushion to lean on, let alone enough to float for 5+ months. 

In the midst of a global pandemic no one could have predicted, let alone prepared for, the owners of some of San Diego's favorite local drinking holes are struggling to stay afloat.

For an inside look at how bar/restaurant owners are managing to survive in this uncertain and constantly changing environment, I sat down with Eric Lingenfelder of the Verant Group.

 Verant Group, one of the biggest players on the bar / restaurant scene in San Diego, owns a total of seven restaurants throughout the city including True North, Barleymash, PB Tavern, and Mavericks.

Check them out on IG: @barleymash, @mavericksbeachclub, @truenorth, @tavernpb

Peter paints a picture of a particularly painful period in his past that pushed him to pursue his passion!

It may or may not surprise you that stand-up comedy is more involved than just walking up on a stage and telling some jokes. Well, not by much, but it's definitely more difficult than being dumb personal trainer or something.

Peter Sers (@petersers) is a fitness expert, a comedian, and host of the podcast The Camera Adds Ten Pounds. Who better to speak to about starting a podcast than my homie Pete, 60+ episodes deep into his own.

What inspired him to start comedy?

Favorite story on the road?

Why can't you secure a decent WiFi connection from a watermelon farm in Oklahoma?

Peter's Favorite Episode of The Camera Adds Ten Pounds: Episode 32 with Blake Leeper https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0AEZyJ-d10

His comedy albums Slutcakes and Man of the Hood are available everywhere you listen to music, er uh... comedy.

#slutcakes #manofthehood #new #podcast #podcastlaunch #entrepreneur  #comedian #inspiration #hardtimes #inspire #baseball #personaltrainer #fitness #advice #business #comedy #motivation #love #mlb #podcastmovement #sports #funny #life #workout #comedian 

When you share a name with your father, who is a two-time Heavy Weight Boxing Champion AND purveyor of one of the finest grilling devices known to man, it may be somewhat difficult to crack the first few dozen pages of results on a Google Search. Not enough of a challenge? How about half a dozen brothers with the same name and a handful of sisters?

Football, Ferraris, Fighting, George Foreman IV (aka "G4" aka "Big Wheel")  hit the ground running in the fast lane straight out of college, with a goal of standing out.  Now a father himself, he has his sights on creating change in the workforce. What next? Governor Foreman perhaps?


Important Side Note
Looking at your world through a GTA Mode, third person point of view? Tasting iron on the back of your palette? Can't remember shit? You may have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) Get checked out.

#episode5 #new #podcast #podcastlaunch #entrepreneur #boxing #inspiration #ferrari #inspire #fitness #father #advice #business #mma #motivation #lamborghini #dadlife #family #podcastmovement #porsche #30daypodcastchallenge #travel #dad #kickboxing #georgeforemaniv #foreman2028

Martin Blencowe @martinblencowe is a former...well, you name it! D1 athlete, entrepreneur, NFL agent, film producer, etc.! Currently one of three co-founders of the celebrity messaging app @Cameo, Martin could be confused for someone who just can't miss. You may be surprised to learn that so much of his success stems from overcoming adversity and turning loss into gain. 

Over a few mid-day beverages, Martin and I recount memories of our days on the track team @USC and he tells me what it's like to be finally be an American  after a decade of jumping through citizenship hurdles.

Oh yea and I guess we touched on creating and growing a multi-million dollar celebrity messaging app, based on a creative birthday gift idea. Did he really just forget to buy a card? Maybe...

cmeo.co/bio


#episode3 #newepisode #new #podcast #podcastlaunch #entrepreneur #athletes #football #inspiration #dad #overcoming #loss #inspire #advice #business #fitness #nfl #motivation #family #growth #love #sports #challenges #30daypodcastchallenge #gym #cameofameo

In this episode, we also hosted a Facebook Live Event, to include as much community input as we could. It was pretty last minute, so there were some kinks. That said, I felt it was important to say something about the recent events.

We examined a number of topics, including the difference between Ignorant and Informed racism; what it's like to be pulled over as a black-ish person; and what it means to be the Weapons and Shields of the U.S.

People of all races are coming together in a fight against racism. Many have hit the streets in protest and others have taken to social media to make their voices heard. No matter what your ethnic background, you have the responsibility and the oportunity
For help on how to be an Anti-Racist, here are a few links and resources
https://crooked.com/articles/antiracism-resources/
Articles and resources to read

Anti-racism resources for white people (via Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein)

75 things white people can do for racial injustice (via Medium)

Ways to help (via Black Lives Matter)

"The true success is the person who invented himself" - Al Goldstein

In our very first episode, I sit down with Mylo Bard, founder of full service brand strategy and advertising agency, Climate Media (theclimatemedia.com) about his journey from working class Brit, to professional athlete, to media entrepreneur. We touch on a range of topics

Can a business be COVID-19-proof? 

How are some companies adapting their branding to position themselves as a beacon of hope while the world suffers through economic ruin? 

We also talk about the importance of social connection and share the best way to approach strangers at the gym.

This is the RAW version. Look for out the Shorty, where we extract  the most important lesson(s) from each episode and condense them down into a shorter, bite-size message.