In this episode of The Coaching Podcast, Coach John O’Sullivan reminds us that your influence is never neutral. We dive into his powerful philosophy that the softest pillow is a clear conscience, the wisdom behind his bestselling book Every Moment Matters, and the enduring message from his TEDx talk encouraging parents to simply say, “I love watching you play.” John also shares why he believes team culture is like a circle – where every person has a voice, value, and role in creating success together.

About: John O'Sullivan – Founder, Changing The Game Project

John O’Sullivan is an internationally known TEDx Speaker and the founder of the Changing the Game Project, which he started in 2012

Connect with John:

Website: https://changingthegameproject.com/

What if we choose to unlearn everything we know about leadership and take a listen to The Coaching Podcast with a beginner's mindset? In this compelling episode, Charles Hardman challenges conventional thinking and explores the provocative message behind his book Leadership called Leadership is Not Leadership. He introduces the concept of leadership as followship, diving into what makes leadership truly effective—felt, not forced. We unpack key principles including the importance of asking questions, the need for receiver-centred leadership, and the role of practice. With decades of experience across sectors and levels, Charles invites us to reconsider how we lead and why it matters.

About Charles Hardman

Charles Hardman is a mentor, coach, advisor, speaker, and author who has been immersed in the practice of leadership for over three decades. He has worked across diverse sectors—including family-run businesses, multinational corporations, not-for-profits, and arts organizations—serving in roles from frontline operations to executive leadership and board governance.

Since 2010, Charles has dedicated his career to developing leaders through coaching, mentoring, and strategic consulting. His approach is grounded in real-world experience and a deep belief that effective leadership must be felt by others—not imposed. Charles holds a Master of Professional Education and Training (Workplace Vocational Education and Training) and a Diploma in Organisational Psychology.

As the author of Leadership called Leadership is Not Leadership, Charles provokes fresh thinking around power, influence, and the practice of leadership as a collective experience.

Connect with Charles:

🔗 Learn more at 5ds.com.au (Download a free copy of his book before the 25th of August).
🔗 Connect on LinkedIn

In this inspiring episode on The Coaching Podcast, we dive into the mind of Simon Gale — a leader who has dedicated his career to developing people, building culture, and transforming racquet sports programs from the inside out. As Senior Director of Racquet Sports at the USTA National Campus, Simon shares the secrets behind leading a massive team, creating athlete-centered environments, and asking the kind of questions that unlock true growth. We explore what makes people come back to the court, why hiring for mindset matters more than résumé, and the powerful link between coaching, curiosity, and retention. Get ready for a masterclass in purposeful leadership and practical coaching wisdom.

About Simon Gale

Simon Gale, originally from Perth, Australia, is the Senior Director of Racquet Sports Development at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. In this role, he oversees a team of 35+ teaching professionals, including five head professionals, and manages 100 courts across the campus. The campus welcomes over 400,000 visitors annually, offering 125+ programs that engage more than 2,000 players weekly, and hosts 350+ events each year. Before joining the USTA, Simon served as the Managing Partner and Director of Racquets at Taconic Sport & Racquet Club in Hopewell Junction, NY. Prior to that, he spent 12 years at Yonkers Tennis Center in Yonkers, NY, where he held multiple leadership roles, including Director of Tennis and General Manager. Simon has been featured in prominent industry publications such as PTR Pro Magazine, USPTA Addvantage Magazine, Tennis Industry Magazine and the USTA's Business of 10&U Infomercial. His accolades include: - Tennis Australia Top Operators Tour” presenter - 2024 Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) “Pro of the Year” - 2024 Professional Tennis Registry Women (PTRW) “Allyship Award” - Tennis Industry Association “National Youth Provider of the Year” - USPTA Eastern “Facility Manager of the Year” - Published in ITF Coaching and Sport Science Review: Growing and maintaining a successful tennis business backed by a sound framework - USTA Tennis Market Initiative (TMI) provider In addition to his role at the USTA, Simon founded SG Tennis Consulting, where he works with clubs and facilities to optimize operations and enhance racquet sports programming profitability. His certifications include PTR, USPTA, USTA High Performance, Tennis Coaches Association Australia, IPTPA (Pickleball), USPTA Padel, and the UF Director of Racquet Sports certificate. Simon also co-hosts the Racquet Fuel Podcast, which provides insights into leadership development within the racquet sports industry.

Connect with Simon

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simongaletennis/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simongale1972/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/simon.gale.39 

From the streets of Philly to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, Gabe DeRita brings a refreshing honesty and a fierce commitment to empowering others. In this conversation on The Coaching Podcast, we explore how to align thoughts, feelings, and actions to lead with integrity and character. We dive into the art of authentic relating, embracing nuance, and navigating difficult conversations – all while staying deeply human.

About Gabe DeRita, Goal Whisperer

Gabriel DeRita is a leadership coach and communication skills trainer who helps people find purpose in work and build stronger relationships with themselves and others. With a background spanning tech sales, hospitality, and consulting, Gabe brings a sharp business lens to the human side of leadership. Since founding his coaching practice in 2019, he’s worked with a wide range of leaders—from Y Combinator startup founders to Fortune 500 management teams at companies like AirBnb, LinkedIn, Gap & Goldman Sachs —helping them lead with clarity, trust, and authenticity. In addition to his private practice, Gabe is a trusted partner to leading coaching and consulting firms like GLG, Skillsoft, Lapin International, and Medley, delivering leadership development programs for global clients across many industries. His approach blends real-world business experience with powerful, practical tools for personal growth – making the abstract feel actionable, and the human side of work a whole lot more effective. Outside the office, Gabe can be found exploring remote areas on a bicycle, foraging for wild mushrooms, or trying to outwit the unpredictable Colorado weather in his backyard garden.

Connect with Gabe:

Website: https://www.effectiveconnection.com/ 
Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielderita/
Instagram: @funngabe

What does it mean to lead from behind the plate – and in life? In this episode on The Coaching Podcast, Ryan Lavarnway, World Series Champion, Olympian, and resilience coach, shares hard-earned lessons from baseball and beyond. From catching knuckleballs to catching life’s curveballs, Ryan explores how resilience is a skill you build before you need it, why inaction is the real enemy, and how great coaches create cultures where players lead themselves. He unpacks his powerful WHY NOT framework and offers practical wisdom for anyone striving to lead with purpose, trust, and grit.

About Ryan Lavarnway – Keynote Speaker | Resilience Coach | World Series Champion
Ryan Lavarnway is a former Major League Baseball catcher, Olympian, and World Series Champion known for his grit, adaptability, and leadership behind the plate. Over his professional career, he earned a reputation for catching some of the game’s toughest pitches – including the elusive knuckleball – and delivering under pressure. Ryan is a two-time published author, Ironman finisher, and proud Girl Dad. Today, he brings his passion for peak performance, resilience, and team culture to stages and boardrooms as a keynote speaker and resilience coach. Fueled by purpose (and perfectly timed caffeine), Ryan inspires audiences to lean into possibility and lead like a catcher – ready, responsive, and resilient.

Connect with Ryan:

Website: https://ryanlavarnway.com 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-lavarnway/ 
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/rlavarnway/ 
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Why-Not-Journal-Ryan-Lavarnway/dp/B0F3XYNWWN

What does it mean to truly partner with your clients as a coach? In this episode, Executive Coach and author Karen Davis shares what makes a great coach—from trusting your intuition and evoking inner wisdom to holding space through silence and structure. Karen offers insights from her book How to Get the Most Out of Coaching and unpacks the power of agreements versus expectations. We also touch on her recent keynote on gender inequity, her work with entrepreneurs, and why integrity in coaching always begins with “I”.

Karen Davis – Executive Coach | Author | Speaker
Karen Davis is a highly respected executive coach, author, and speaker with over 25 years of leadership experience in the B2B technology sector. A Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation, she brings deep insight, intuition, and heart to every coaching relationship. For nearly two decades, Karen has supported executives, entrepreneurs, and fellow coaches to thrive personally and professionally.

She is the co-author of How to Get the Most Out of Coaching: A Client’s Guide for Optimizing the Coaching Experience and two other titles. Whether she’s coaching from her studio near Boulder, Colorado, or walking in nature with her dogs, Jax and Pepper, Karen’s work is infused with compassion, clarity, and joy. Her greatest support system includes her life partner, Alex Mill, and her two adult children, Dustin and Alexa.

🌐 www.KarenDavisCoaching.com
📱 303.588.8935 | ✉️ [email protected]
🔗 LinkedIn | Facebook | Book

Purpose, perspective, and passion – Joe White believes these three ingredients create the compass that every great leader needs. From professional athlete to award-winning coach and educator, Joe’s journey is steeped in discipline, direction, and a deep desire to elevate those around him. Whether you're leading a team, a business, or your own life, this episode is packed with actionable takeaways to help you find your path, unlock your potential, and lead with heart.

About Joe White - Director of Golf at IMG Academy

Growing up playing competitive sports, Joe White is no stranger to striving for excellence while working with a team. Joe was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds and the Seattle Mariners, and played in the Seattle Mariners organization before a shoulder injury ended his baseball career. His love for the game propelled him into his next career as a baseball and football coach, during which time he was awarded coach of the year twice, regional coach of the year in 2013, and was a part of five state championship teams. 

Joe is also a retired teacher of business education, where he taught accounting, business law, and professional business. During his thirty years as a teacher, he was nominated for the Apple Teaching Award seven times and was listed in “Who’s Who Among American Teachers.” Joe has also excelled in public speaking, having spoken at coaches' clinics across the Midwest, as well as the Nike Football Clinic. Among all of his accomplishments, Joe’s greatest are being a loving son to his parents (his father, above, was also a lifelong coach!) and a devoted husband and father to three children, who have all excelled in sports and school.

Connect with Joe:

Website: https://www.coachjoewhiteconsulting.com/ 

In this episode of The Coaching Podcast, we sit down with Taekwondo coach Sadhbh McCarthy – a powerhouse of precision, purpose, and passion. With a research-driven yet playful approach to coaching, Sadhbh shares insights on creating high-performance environments, navigating the coach-parent dynamic, and why falling in love with the process is non-negotiable. She reveals what makes a great coach – an infinite mindset, passion (drive), and accountability – and the best business advice she’s learned along the way: collaboration, communication, and trusting the people around you. From healthcare to high kicks, this conversation is a must-listen for anyone who leads, coaches, or supports high performers.

About Sadhbh McCarthy

Sadhbh McCarthy’s journey with Taekwondo spans several decades. Her initial foray into the sport began in Dublin, Ireland, during the late 1980s and continued through the 1990s. After a hiatus, she reignited her passion for Taekwondo in Brisbane, where she returned to compete and coach. Recognising the need for higher-level competition exposure, Sadhbh led teams to interstate and international events, securing numerous podium finishes—including Australia’s first medal at a Cadet World Championship event in Uzbekistan in 2019.

Sadhbh played a pivotal role in establishing the Performance Pathway Program (PPP) in Queensland. She has led the development of athlete and coach profiling tools, collaborated with the University of Queensland on strength and conditioning programs, and integrated mental performance initiatives alongside the AIS. Her strategic leadership and commitment to athlete development have significantly advanced the sport in Australia.

In addition to her work in Taekwondo, Sadhbh is a practising and accredited podiatrist, specialising in sports podiatry and injury management. Her dual expertise underscores her commitment to holistic athlete care and performance.

Connect with Sadhbh:
🌐 Website
📸 Instagram: @syviotkd | @globalmartialarts_brisbane
📘 Facebook Profile

In this powerful episode, Sjeanne Cawdry – Business Advisor and Quantum Reinvention Strategist – invites us into the art of liberation leadership. We explore what it means to trust your internal compass, glide with the current of life like an eagle, and make bold decisions before the evidence appears. Sjeanne shares how Quantum Leadership, embodied intelligence, and deep intuitive thinking are reshaping modern leadership – and why the convergence of eight global megatrends demands reinvention now. This conversation is a call to lead with stillness, courage, and consciousness in a rapidly evolving world.

About: Sjeanne Cawdry - Business Advisor and Quantum Reinvention Strategist

Sjeanne Cawdry is a rare and formidable force at the intersection of business strategy, high-performance leadership, and transformational reinvention. With a career spanning elite-level sport, senior corporate leadership, and entrepreneurship, she has carved a reputation as a trusted advisor to visionaries, C-suite leaders, and movement-makers navigating disruption, innovation, and exponential growth. As the founder of The Center of Liberation, Sjeanne is a Business Advisor and Quantum reinvention strategist working with visionary leaders, entrepreneurs and movement builder showing them how to leverage the forces of AI, unlock the vast opportunities in the various wealth transfers and harness the power of their consciousness so that they can architect their category-of-one leadership in this new era. Together we design strategies that support them and help them quantum leap onto new timelines as they shape the new era of wealth, success, and influence – without playing small, hiding their voice, or waiting for permission.” Because effort-based leadership is no longer the path to standing out in the pack.

Sjeanne spent over a decade as a senior leader at Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) – Africa’s premier corporate and investment bank – where she advised CEOs and executive teams on complex financial strategy, business model reinvention, and large-scale transformation, and took up the lead transformation role on multiple high-stakes initiatives. Her work helped shape the bank and continued to show how visionary leaders operate under pressure, lead through change, transform their businesses, and outperform their own benchmarks. But Sjeanne’s power doesn’t come from her resume. It comes from her lived integration of the masculine and feminine, logic and intuition, structure and soul. Once a top-ranked international athlete, she now helps leaders and their teams calibrate to their highest potential – in business, in wealth, and in life.

Connect with Sjeanne:

 Website: https://www.centerofliberation.com

Links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjeanne-cawdry/  
https://www.facebook.com/sjeanne.cawdry  

In this inspiring episode of The Coaching Podcast, we dive deep with Nicole Pratt – former world No. 35, two-time Olympian, and a Tennis Australia National Teams Coach. Nicole shares her hard-earned wisdom on building trust, simplifying coaching in a world of noise, and nurturing the "X-factor" that separates good players from great ones. From the culture behind Australia's Billie Jean King Cup team to the subtle art of observing and truly listening, Nicole reminds us that the heart of great coaching lies in belief, care, and alignment to a shared vision. Whether you’re coaching a team, leading a company, or growing as an individual, Nicole’s lessons will inspire you to keep it simple, stay curious, and never stop learning.

About Nicole Pratt - Tennis Australia National Teams Coach

Nicole Pratt is a former professional tennis player and a world-renowned coach, celebrated for her contributions to the sport both on and off the court. Nicole began her tennis journey at a young age, quickly rising through the ranks to become a formidable competitor on the WTA tour. During her playing career, she achieved a top singles ranking of World No. 35 and WTA doubles 18. Nicole is a 2 x Olympian, having competed at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympic Games. After retiring from professional play, Nicole transitioned into coaching. She has worked with a variety of athletes, from elite junior players to seasoned professionals, helping them refine their skills and elevate their performance. Athletes Nicole has worked with include Daria Saville (nee Gavrilova), Storm Hunter (nee Sanders), Casey Dellacqua, Alicia Molik, and most recently Marc Polmans. Known for her innovative training methods and unwavering support, Nicole has played a pivotal role in shaping the careers of many successful players. With her extensive knowledge of the game and her dedication to nurturing talent, Nicole Pratt continues to influence the world of tennis, inspiring the next generation of players to reach their full potential.