The Mindset Experience®

Born and raised in Toronto but growing up in an Italian household, "futbol was life!" for Jordyn Listro. She began playing at age 5 and loved to run, be part of a team and create relationships with families who lived nearby. The experience was as much cultural as it was athletic. However, as things became more competitive, she needed to adjust her focus to prioritize both the physical aspects of success such as nutrition, sleep, extra training but also the willingness to seek out information and feedback to get better. She needed to become her own biggest fan and advocate.

She attended the University of South Florida, where she was a 4-year starter, setting the USF record for career games played. She then made her professional debut in the Spanish Primera Division in 2017 before playing in the National Women's Soccer League. She has also been a member of the Canadian National Team.

Despite all her efforts, she fell short of a major goal to make the Canadian Olympic team who ended up winning gold without her. Rather than give up, she used her competitive mindset to dig even deeper on the mental side of the game while also gibing attention to her life outside of soccer.

Jordyn is looking forward to making an impact in the USL Super League for Tampa Bay Sun, still planning to compete for Team Canada on the biggest stage and helping grow women's professional soccer in her home country.

@jordylistro

Kendall Wesenberg has been a competitor from an early age as she "wanted to win before I knew what it was." She grew up playing all the typical youth sports and continued with club soccer through college. After seeing bobsled during the 2010 Olympic Games, this California girl moved to Park City, Utah 2 years later after graduation to learn more about the sport. She loved the adrenaline rush that bobsled provided but felt her body type was better suited for skeleton.

In 2014 Kendall earned an invite to US Team Trials where she took 4th then went on to become the first American woman to win the European Cup circuit overall title. The following season she earned a World Cup spot where she has competed for the last 3 seasons, winning a silver medal in the St. Moritz World Cup in 2017 and earning one of two Olympic spots for the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang.

Kendall shares how she trains her mind and body to access the zone and make 100 crucial decisions every minute. Her sport is extremely dangerous and challenging but she approaches it like she approaches life, by focusing on kindness, hard work and having the most fun!

@kendallorraine

Donnell Whittenburg was born to be a gymnast. He grew up doing back flips, tucks and handstand walks in his backyard. To help him avoid injury, his mother enrolled him into formal gymnastics classes. The ability to learn new and more challenging skills, share experiences with teammates and focus on the process of improving laid a foundation where he has competed on the international level for over 12 years including multiple world championships, Pan American Games. He was an Olympic alternate in 2016 and even has a skill named after him, "The Whittenburg." Despite all these accomplishments, his biggest obstacle is not competing at the Olympic Games.

Donnell shares his motivation to keep competing including unfinished business, growing the sport on the men's side, inspiring others to create opportunities to expand their cultural experiences and investing further in lifelong friendships and bonds. He teaches us that, "it doesn't matter how long it takes; as long as we keep trying, we always have a chance."

@donnell_whittenburg

Nikita played soccer for most of her younger years but struggled with severe anxiety and panic attacks leaving her unable to leave her home. "Forced" to play a sport, she found BMX to fulfill that rule, do it on her own time, and even in the driveway so she didn't have to leave her home. Little did she know that BMX would soon take over every aspect of her life and become the reason she would push through her fears one step at a time.

​Fast forward nine year later and Nikita now travels the world as one of the top female BMX riders. With podiums at multiple world cups since 2016, 2nd at the 2022 World Championships, and an Olympic bronze medal at the first ever inclusion of the sport, Nikita is ready to jump back into training for Paris 2024!

Nikita shares how she felt stuck in a room for so long but through her physical and mental training, she gets to experience the feeling of freedom. She chooses to use BMX and her voice to help end the stigma around mental health.

@nikita.ducarroz, @m1ndtricks

Born into a hockey family, Hayley Scamurra wanted to compete just like her brothers and father who had played in the NHL . While she fell in love with the sport herself, she also felt the need to always be the best and live up to her father's expectations. This pressure began to manifest in severe anxiety for which she sought out therapy. Through this process, she learned to focus on what she could control including being physical, controlling the puck and having fun. She also empowered herself to redefine her relationship with her father, set boundaries and help him treat her like his daughter not just a hockey player.

Hayley has won a championship for the Buffalo Beauts of the NWHL, finally made the team USA roster and ultimately won 2 gold and 2 silver medals in world championships. She is also a 2022 Olympic Silver Medalist. She reminds us that this has been the dream the whole time. As the competition grew more intense, she needed to maintain the mindset to remember how fun it was as a little girl when she skated in her backyard ice rink as fast as she could until she jumped into the snow along the rink!

@hayleyscamurra

As a high schooler, Catie Lang's identity was embedded in being an athlete to the point that she even loved the ideas of being tough, not quitting and "walking off" any pain or suffering. She had no real concept, awareness, or education of mental health despite having severe anxiety herself. Even after experiencing major panic attacks that were terrifying, she brushed them off and told herself that she was just being dramatic.

As a member of an NCAA Division 1 lacrosse team, her program lacked the culture and resources necessary to promote health, wellness and happiness but instead reinforced the antiquated narratives about strength and toughness. This flawed mindset and approach exacerbated her own challenges and resulted in multiple players walking away from the team. This story has made national headlines.

Catie shares her personal story of struggle including near suicide to both spread awareness but also spark action in addressing this epidemic of mental illness and suicide in college athletics.

WARNING: This episode contains emotionally sensitive material including discussion surrounding suicide that may be triggering or disturbing to some listeners. If any of the content in this podcast has brought anything up for you, please reach out or speak to someone you trust.

@catielang

At the age of 6, Kim Zmeskal watched her first gymnastics class and was upset that she, "wasn't allowed to play on the playground." A few years later, training under Bela and Martha Karolyi, Mary Lou Retton came back to their home gym with an Olympic Gold medal showing her early on that any dream was possible. Since then, Kim has become the first American to win the all-around at a World Gymnastics Championships in 1991, 2X Gold medalist in the 1992 World championships, 1992 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 3X US National Champion, 1991 U.S. Olympic Committee's Sportswoman of the Year and the 1991 March of Dimes Athlete of the Year. She is also a 2001 USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame inductee.

As an athlete, she worked hard to remove challenges and always strived for perfection. Now as a coach, she is passionate to learn more than she ever thought possible about trust, partnership, and appreciation for her athletes. She leans into the challenges and creates a culture where her athletes dream so big that they can achieve excellence over perfection.

@kimzb

Matt Choi is a 27-year-old former NCAA D1 football player, content creator, entrepreneur, and fitness enthusiast who decided to take on the Murph challenge every day for 30 days as an outlet to maintain his physical and mental wellbeing during the pandemic. Running a total of 60 miles in 30 days inspired a relationship with running that resulted in 12 marathons in 12 different cities in 12 months. The discipline and consistency required to maintain a high level of fitness for 365 days also provided opportunities to learn more about himself, meet so many different people and curate his experiences allowing him to live his life through his lens.

Whether he is running a 100-mile ultramarathon or running across Korea, Matt lives by the mantra that, "the only limits we have are the ones we believe in" and uses gratitude to shift his mindset from complacency to contentment through every challenge, every interaction, and every piece of content. He appreciates the opportunity to show up and get a little better each day as he is consistently working on his speech to the world.

@mattchoi_6

Dr. Madeline Barlow is a former collegiate swimmer, individual and team record holder, and NCAA qualifier. She is also CEO and Founder of Mind-Wise Mentoring LLC, The Director of Programming and Key Note Speaker for The Hidden Opponent, and a Transition Coach for Athletes Soul.

Self described as "highly sensitive," swimming initially provided support, self reflection and muted the intensity of her world creating joy…until it didn't. While competing in college, Madeline often got stuck between high levels of self awareness and action leading to recurring overwhelming episodes. When her swimming career came to an end, she kept moving forward and didn't allow her self to process the transition out of competitive sports until her body demanded that she stop and acknowledge the loss.

Through her "Mind-Wise" method and her book, "The Highly Sensitive Athlete: How to Embody the Magic of Your True Self in and Out of Sport," Madeline Barlow validates that we are human and offers actionable tools that give us the choice to challenge ourselves or give ourselves grace."

@mindwisementor

Donald Stewart is a former NCAA D1 football player at both Stanford University and Wake Forest University. He is also an HBO actor, published children's book author and mentor to high school athletes.

His dedication to sports was initially fueled by his desire to avoid doing household chores. His success inspired his community to embrace him and his brother who was born with a facial malformation. As such, his confidence grew in knowing his efforts could impact his future but also those he loved by being the star. While he became super confident, he was not super prepared for the transition to Stanford University where he would be surrounded by the brightest and most talented athletes, students, and future leaders.

In his junior year, a significant injury requiring surgery caused him to hit his rock bottom. In trying to figure out how to be happy, he chose to invest in his mind, body and spirit while exploring his passion for music and theatre.

As a mentor for high school athletes, Donald uses his experience to connect and help them figure out passions outside of sport by tapping into what motivates and inspires them within their sport.

@_donaldstewart