Jess Knecht is a former multi-sport athlete who currently coaches high school and club volleyball. Her coaching style reflects a huge emphasis on mindset training. She has made a tremendous impact over the past few years in her coaching/mentoring role with individual high-performing athletes. She shares many wonderful insights and nuggets about how to develop and train the whole person. Her take on perfectionism is one of many I loved. We are also so excited that she is bringing her talent, passion, personality, and energy to the Max Out Mindset team. 

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Damon is known for many different things during his lifetime. National Championship Husker athlete, award-winning sports radio co-host, high school football coach, husband, father, and son. But life hasn’t always been easy for him, which makes his story and his insights so compelling. I have always loved listening to him because of his intellectual curiosity and thoughtfulness about many challenging issues facing human beings. His willingness to be vulnerable in this setting and share his struggles and successes pleasantly surprised me. In the end, I love people who have a growth mindset and are willing to evolve. Ultimately, this stood out to me during our conversation on the Max Out Mindset podcast. Enjoy!

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Coach Tarman is a former Division I volleyball player at Kansas State who has been a head coach for Papillion La-Vista South high school for the past three seasons. The title of one of Meatloaf's songs fits her head coaching journey fairly well-Two Out of Three Ain't Bad! We discuss her journey as a former player, including one of her regrets. We discuss the last three seasons that have included two State Championships and how she trains them to max out when it matters the most. Her 2021 team went undefeated, and the success of that team will certainly stand the test of time and go down as one of the best in Nebraska's high school history. You will love her insights and the wonderful nuggets she shares to help high performers max out in life and sport.

Today on the podcast is Coach Dani Busboom Kelly. She played volleyball at the University of Nebraska and won a National Championship in 2006. As an assistant coach at the University in Nebraska, she helped them win a National Championship again in 2015! In 2016 she became the head volleyball coach at the University of Louisville and had taken the program to historic heights reaching the Final 4 in 2021. She was named the 2021 AVCA East Region Coach of the Year. All she does is win!

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Kim Hill is one of the most decorated volleyball players in U.S. history. She has been on the United States women’s national volleyball team during a stretch where they won a gold medal at the 2014 World Championships and a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics. She was a member of the first U.S National team to ever win a gold medal in the 2020 Olympic Games! Her focus on the importance of the non-technical skills of volleyball, such as working on vulnerability, building relationships, role clarity, and role acceptance, stood out to me as drivers of getting her teams to max out. She is now on the board of LOVB and was just named the volunteer coach for the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team.

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Coach Brink is a former national champion gymnast at the University of Nebraska from 1997 to 2000. In 2000, she won a National Championship on the vault and in the All-Around competition. She won the Honda Award, which is the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, her senior year. She began coaching gymnastics at the University of Nebraska in 2011 as an assistant coach became the Associate Head Coach for a while before being named the Head Coach in 2019. I spent many years working with her when she was the assistant coach, and we have maintained close contact, although I'm not currently working with her team at this time. As you will be able to tell, she is passionate about the sport of gymnastics, and she bleeds Husker Red!

Congrats to Iowa Western Volleyball on a comeback to win a 2nd National Championship in 7 months! It is so hard to repeat as National Champions in any sport, let alone seven months apart! Head Coach Alicia Williams shared her thoughts about the team before the match. 

"I am in disbelief at what this team has done in the last week. The joy and passion of coming together with a common goal is unmatched. I have never hugged so many players more than I have in the last two days! They are incredible and so fun. I love each and every one of them. Let's see what happens tonight."  

How cool is it to feel this way about your team and their journey before the final outcome is even known!

It is so fun to collaborate with a team that buys into training all the necessary ingredients required to be in a position to max out when it matters the most. Developing an elite mindset can be trained like any physical skill, and Iowa Western put in the work. In Set 5, they were the tougher team—the fearless team, and it showed especially the last 5 points of the match.

Today on the podcast we explore her journey as a player, an assistant coach, and to achieving back to back National Championship! Ultimately having Coach Alicia Williams Named NJCAA Volleyball Coach of the Year!

Welcome to a repeat guest on the Max Out Mindset podcast—Coach Renee Saunders. She is one of the nation's top high school volleyball coaches at Skutt Catholic HS in Omaha, Nebraska. Her team has won 7 State championships in a row—a record in Nebraska! She was named one of two National High School Coaches of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) for 2020. We focus on the journey of her past two seasons as she shares several nuggets that will help other coaches continue to build their culture and learn additional strategies to help their teams max out when it matters the most.

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