The NIL check arrives. And then comes the question nobody prepared athletes for: Now what?

Leslie Callison has spent her career building toward the answer.

With 16 years teaching high school personal finance and 27 years in sports production, Leslie found herself at the exact intersection of experience, passion, and purpose when the NIL era opened. Through Unburdened, her financial coaching practice, she helps collegiate athletes navigate one of the most financially consequential moments of their lives — not by telling money how to behave, but by helping athletes understand their own behavior with money.

Her approach is rooted in a conviction that sets her apart from most financial advisors who work with athletes: the discipline, focus, and drive that made athletes great in their sport are the same qualities that produce financial success — when athletes learn to see and apply them that way. Leslie's job is to help athletes recognize that they already have what it takes. They just need the framework to transfer it.

In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Leslie to talk about what financial literacy for athletes actually looks like in the NIL era, why the behavioral piece matters more than the budget, and what parents, coaches, and programs need to understand about preparing athletes for the financial complexity that is now arriving earlier than ever before.

In this episode: — The biggest lie athletes are being told about NIL money and what financial success actually requires — Why financial coaching is fundamentally different from financial advice — and why athletes need the former — The five keys to financial success for athletes navigating NIL for the first time — What 16 years of personal finance education and 27 years in sports production built in Leslie that now serves athletes — How athletic discipline, goal-setting, and delayed gratification transfer directly into financial habits — when athletes are taught to see the connection — What parents and coaches need to understand about supporting athletes through the financial complexity of the NIL era

This one is for every athlete who just got their first NIL check and doesn't know what to do next. Every parent trying to help their athlete make smart decisions in a landscape nobody prepared them for. Every coach and program that wants to do right by their athletes beyond the field.

Connect with Leslie: Instagram: @unburdenedfinancialcoaching TikTok: @NILMoneyCoachLeslie LinkedIn: Unburdened

The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Support the show

CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: [email protected]

FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
• Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader
• Follow us on social media and join the conversation

BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 [email protected]

ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard.

New episodes drop every Monday.

Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

The end of athletic competition is not the end of the story. Most athletes don't know that yet. Evan Coleman is working to change it.

Evan Coleman is a marketer at LinkedIn, creator of the Playbook for Success newsletter, and host of Athlete After — a short-form interview series on LinkedIn and YouTube dedicated to helping athletes navigate life after sports. He is a former four-year basketball player at Emory University and part of the first class in program history to reach the D3 NCAA Tournament four years in a row. He built his career in marketing at Newell Brands before joining LinkedIn in 2022. He is a husband and a father of two.

And his core conviction is this: identity and experience are the greatest teachers.

What Evan is building with Athlete After and Playbook for Success is not just content — it's infrastructure. Infrastructure for the conversation most athletic programs never fully have with their athletes before the jersey comes off. A community built on the belief that what the sport built in you is not left behind when the sport ends — it is the foundation of everything that comes next.

In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Evan to talk about what the transition from sports to career actually looks like, what he has learned through the Athlete After interviews about what separates athletes who translate their competitive excellence from those who struggle to find their footing, and why storytelling and identity are the most underutilized assets former athletes carry into the professional world.

In this episode: — The biggest lie the professional world tells athletes about what the transition from sports actually looks like — What four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances at Emory taught Evan about consistency, discipline, and translating excellence — What he has learned through the Athlete After interview series about the common challenges and breakthroughs athletes experience in transition — Why identity and experience are assets — not obstacles — and how athletes can start treating them that way — How storytelling and personal branding help former athletes communicate their competitive value in professional environments — What parents and coaches need to understand about preparing athletes for the identity shift that comes when the sport ends

This one is for every athlete approaching the end of their competitive career and not sure who they are on the other side. Every parent watching their athlete struggle with transition and not knowing how to help. Every coach who wants to develop leaders and not just competitors.

Connect with Evan: LinkedIn: Evan Coleman YouTube: Athlete After Instagram: @Athlete.After Newsletter: Playbook for Success

The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Support the show

CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: [email protected]

FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
• Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader
• Follow us on social media and join the conversation

BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 [email protected]

ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard.

New episodes drop every Monday.

Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Most people treat social media like a lottery ticket. Chase Coleman treats it like a craft.

The difference shows up in the results — and in what gets built.

Chase Coleman is the founder of Social Playbook, a boutique content strategy firm that helps growth-stage brands turn social presence into pipeline. His path to founder ran through Stetson University's D1 football program, then through the halls of Amazon and Starbucks — where he learned how the biggest brands in the world actually think about strategy, storytelling, and scale — before he bet on himself to build something of his own.

He has grown his personal platform to over 180,000 followers not through hacks or viral shortcuts, but by applying the same discipline and strategic thinking the football field and the corporate world built in him. He advises growth-stage brands on content strategy, builds AI-powered tools for marketers, and writes about strategy, storytelling, and what he calls "operator life" in his newsletter.

He lives in Atlanta with his wife Christen and their two young sons — who he describes as his toughest clients and best content inspiration.

In this episode — Episode 62 of The Standard Podcast™ — Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Chase to talk about what treating social like a craft actually looks like, what the biggest mistakes brands and entrepreneurs make when they chase numbers instead of building something real, and what the intersection of athletic discipline, corporate thinking, and entrepreneurial courage actually produces when you put all three together.

In this episode: — The biggest lie the marketing industry sells entrepreneurs about social media and content creation — What D1 football and years inside Amazon and Starbucks taught Chase that most content creators never learn — Why the focus on pipeline over vanity metrics changes everything about how you show up on social — How he has grown 180,000+ followers by treating content creation as a professional craft — What AI tools are changing in content marketing — and what they can never replace — What every entrepreneur building a platform needs to understand about strategy, storytelling, and operator life

This one is for every entrepreneur who knows they need to be more consistent on social and can't figure out why it isn't working. Every marketer who wants to turn content into real business results. Every founder building a company while building a family and trying to do both without losing either.

Connect with Chase: LinkedIn: Chase Coleman Social Playbook Newsletter: Strategy, storytelling, and operator life

The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Support the show

CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: [email protected]

FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
• Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader
• Follow us on social media and join the conversation

BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 [email protected]

ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard.

New episodes drop every Monday.

Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Most people manage money. Very few build legacy.

Brad Mayer, CFP®, has spent over 20 years helping high net worth individuals, families, and business owners understand the difference — and build the latter.

As Executive Director and Senior Private Client Advisor at Texas Capital Private Bank in Austin, Brad specializes in comprehensive wealth management that goes well beyond investment advice. He coordinates with clients' entire advisory teams — CPAs, estate planning attorneys, and other professionals — to ensure that every financial decision works together in service of the client's full picture: current needs, future transitions, and multi-generational legacy.

He is a Certified Financial Planner® and Certified Exit Planning Advisor. He holds a BBA from Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business and an MBA from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. His career has taken him from Intel Corporation through Wells Fargo Advisors, BMO Harris Bank, and Comerica Bank, before landing at Texas Capital. He serves on the Austin Market Leadership Team and is an active member of the Baylor Angel Network.

He is also a husband to Shelly and father to four children — Connor, Camryn, Jared, and Jace — and he understands from the inside what it means to build wealth that is meant to serve a family, not just a balance sheet.

In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Brad to talk about what legacy planning actually requires, what business owners get wrong about exit planning, and what families building meaningful wealth need to understand that most financial conversations never address.

In this episode: — The biggest lie the financial industry tells people about wealth building and what legacy actually requires — Why comprehensive planning is fundamentally different from isolated financial advice — and what the difference costs families who don't know the distinction — What exit planning demands of business owners beyond the financial complexity — How to coordinate investment strategy, tax planning, and estate planning so they actually work together — What multi-generational wealth transfer requires that most families aren't thinking about yet — What Brad has learned in 20+ years that he wishes every young professional and business owner understood earlier

This one is for every business owner who knows they need a succession plan but hasn't started. Every family building significant wealth and wondering whether their advisors are actually talking to each other. Every high achiever who wants to build something that outlasts them.

Connect with Brad: Texas Capital Private Bank — Austin, TX

The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Support the show

CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: [email protected]

FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
• Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader
• Follow us on social media and join the conversation

BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 [email protected]

ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard.

New episodes drop every Monday.

Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

NIL changed everything for college athletes. Most of them are navigating it without a framework.

Evan Alexander, MBA, is working to fix that.

Evan is the Founder, CEO, and Lead Coach of Pivot Athletic Consulting — and a former Southern University athlete who spent 15 years in corporate leadership before dedicating his career to helping the next generation of athletes make better decisions under pressure. His proprietary Pivot Operating System is the first systematic framework built specifically for athletes navigating the unprecedented complexity of NIL opportunities, financial strategy, personal brand decisions, and the transition beyond sport.

What Evan brings to this conversation that most people in the NIL space don't is the combination of having lived the athlete experience and having spent 15 years in boardrooms where high-stakes decisions happen under pressure every day. He knows what frameworks feel like when they work — and what the cost looks like when athletes make major decisions without them.

In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Evan to talk about what the NIL era is actually doing to athletes who aren't ready for it, what the Pivot Operating System is built to do, and what every athlete, family, coach, and program needs to understand about building lasting optionality before the playing career ends.

In this episode: — The biggest mistakes athletes are making in NIL strategy and financial decisions right now — Why athletes need frameworks for decision-making, not just advice — What the Pivot Operating System is and how it helps athletes protect today's opportunities while building toward tomorrow — What 15 years of corporate leadership taught Evan that athletes desperately need — What Blueprint to Bluechip™ and Pivot Athletic Consulting see on the same side of the same problem — identity has to come before opportunity — What families, schools, and programs need to understand about supporting total athlete development

This one is for every athlete navigating NIL for the first time without a plan. Every parent trying to help their kid make strategic decisions in a landscape nobody prepared them for. Every coach and program that believes athlete development extends well beyond the final whistle.

Connect with Evan: LinkedIn: Evan Alexander, MBA Pivot Athletic Consulting

The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Support the show

CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: [email protected]

FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
• Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader
• Follow us on social media and join the conversation

BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 [email protected]

ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard.

New episodes drop every Monday.

Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Most athletes compete to win. Abby Brenner chose to compete for something bigger.

Abby Brenner is the Director of Development at the United States Air Force Academy Athletic Corporation — and a former NCAA Division I student-athlete who won a National Championship and three Big Ten titles at the University of Michigan, then added a Pac-12 Championship and a third-place NCAA finish at the University of Utah.

She could have taken that resume anywhere.

She chose to take it to the Air Force Academy — where she advances philanthropic engagement efforts that strengthen Air Force Athletics and enhance the experience of cadet-athletes who will serve as leaders of character in the United States Air Force and Space Force. Before that, she built her development career at Boston College's Athletic Department, supporting fundraising across all 31 varsity sports, and at the University of Utah with Utes Sports Properties through corporate sponsorship work.

Her personal connection to service academy athletics runs deeper than her job title. Her husband, Nicholas Blessing, is a proud Air Force Academy Class of 2020 graduate and former member of the Men's Soccer team — a team that won two WAC Championships and made a Sweet Sixteen NCAA Tournament appearance.

In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Abby to talk about what championship athletic experience actually prepares you to do, what it means to serve something larger than individual achievement, and what she has learned about developing leaders of character from her years at the intersection of elite athletics and military service.

In this episode: — The biggest lie collegiate athletics sells student-athletes about what success actually means — What winning national championships taught Abby about the difference between achieving and serving — What makes service academy athletics fundamentally different from any other collegiate program — How her competitive background informs her approach to developing and fundraising for future military leaders — What student-athletes need to understand about building identity beyond individual achievement — What parents and coaches need to know about character development alongside competitive success

This one is for every student-athlete who has started to sense that winning isn't enough. Every parent raising a young competitor and wondering what comes after the sport. Every coach who wants to develop leaders, not just champions.

Connect with Abby: United States Air Force Academy Athletic Corporation Air Force Athletics — goairforcefalcons.com

The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Support the show

CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: [email protected]

FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
• Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader
• Follow us on social media and join the conversation

BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 [email protected]

ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard.

New episodes drop every Monday.

Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

A 14-year-old boy arrives in Los Angeles from Odesa, Ukraine. No English. No money. A 45-minute bus ride each way to practice. Home by 9:30 PM. Every night.

That boy became a four-time Olympic gold medalist.

Lenny Krayzelburg is one of the most decorated backstroke swimmers in history — and one of the most powerful examples of what happens when character refuses to yield to circumstance. Born in the Soviet Union in 1975, Lenny immigrated to the United States in 1989 at 14 years old, settling in Los Angeles with his family amid severe financial hardship and a language barrier that made even understanding his coaches a daily challenge.

What he built from that starting point is almost impossible to believe — until you hear how he talks about it.

By 1998, Lenny became the first swimmer since 1986 to sweep backstroke events at the World Championships. In 1999, he broke world records in the 50m, 100m, and 200m backstroke — all three in the same year — establishing himself as the greatest backstroker in the world. At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, he won three individual gold medals and helped Team USA to a fourth in the relay. He returned to the Olympics in 2004 to add to his legacy.

And then, in 2001 — at the peak of his career — he chose to skip the World Championships to compete in the Maccabiah Games in Israel. He carried the American flag in the opening ceremony. He honored his Jewish heritage. He proved that who you are is not limited to what you win.

Today, Lenny serves as General Manager of LA Current in the International Swimming League, developing the next generation of competitive swimmers while continuing to shape a sport he has served his entire life.

In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Lenny to talk about what those early years really cost, what the mental and identity battle of immigration looks like from the inside, and what he has learned about character, heritage, and legacy across a lifetime of competing and leading at the highest levels.

In this episode: — What the 45-minute bus ride to practice actually built in him that talent alone never could — What the biggest lie sports culture tells athletes about adversity and starting from behind — What it means to carry two identities — Ukrainian immigrant and American champion — and honor both — Why he chose the Maccabiah Games over the World Championships — and what that decision says about who he is — What separates athletes who use their circumstances as fuel from those who are stopped by them — What he is teaching the next generation of swimmers at LA Current about character alongside competition

This one is for every athlete who feels like they are starting too far behind. Every immigrant family chasing a dream in a country that doesn't yet feel like home. Every parent who wonders whether the sacrifices are worth it.

Connect with Lenny: LA Current — International Swimming League SwimRight Academy — Los Angeles and Miami

The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Support the show

CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: [email protected]

FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
• Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader
• Follow us on social media and join the conversation

BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 [email protected]

ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard.

New episodes drop every Monday.

Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Some setbacks look like the end.

Alex Molden's looked like three torn ligaments — ACL, MCL, and PCL — suffered during the Independence Bowl while playing for the University of Oregon. A knee injury that severe doesn't just threaten a season. It threatens everything.

What Alex chose to do next is the story worth telling.

Nine months of grueling rehabilitation. A comeback that started with nine starts in 1993, built to All-Pacific 10 cornerback in 1994, and peaked with All-American honors in 1995. And then the validation that made it undeniable — selected by the New Orleans Saints with the 11th overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft. Eight seasons in the NFL for the Saints, the San Diego Chargers, and the Detroit Lions. 298 tackles. 12 interceptions. 8 sacks.

Now a motivational speaker in Portland and father of eight children — including son Elijah Molden, drafted by the Tennessee Titans in 2021 — Alex Molden has spent his life proving one thing: resilience isn't something you have. It's something you build, one choice at a time, in the moments when giving up would be the easier option.

In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Alex to talk about what that comeback actually cost, what the mental battle of a career-threatening injury really looks like from the inside, and what he's learned about character, adversity, and legacy from both sides of the hardest season of his life.

In this episode: — The mental battle of facing a career-threatening injury and deciding to fight back — What nine months of rehabilitation taught Alex about the difference between resilience and motivation — How to separate temporary failure from permanent defeat — What the character traits built through adversity look like that you can't develop any other way — The generational impact of a comeback — what it means that his son Elijah is now in the NFL — What Alex tells athletes and people today who are in the middle of their own hardest chapter

This one is for every athlete who has faced an injury that made them question everything. Every person navigating a setback that seems permanent. Every parent raising a young competitor who is learning what adversity actually costs.

Connect with Alex: alexmoldenspeaks.com

The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Support the show

CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: [email protected]

FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
• Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader
• Follow us on social media and join the conversation

BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 [email protected]

ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard.

New episodes drop every Monday.

Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Most people talk about resilience. Chris Vasami has had to live it — three times.

Chris Vasami is a former Division I baseball player at Notre Dame and Elon University, a Colorado Rockies draftee who achieved his lifelong dream of playing professional baseball, a three-time thyroid cancer survivor, keynote speaker, and founder of Vasami Training — a coaching company he built from the ground up at 20 years old and has run for more than two decades.

His story isn't about one defining moment of adversity. It's about what happens when adversity becomes a way of life — and you choose to grow through it anyway. Three separate cancer diagnoses. Ongoing hypothyroidism management. A business to build. A family to lead. And a message that has taken shape not in spite of all of it, but because of it.

What Chris calls "resilient personal greatness" isn't a motivational framework. It's a lived conviction: that true performance comes from clarity, ownership, and discipline — and that you have to lead yourself before you can ever lead anyone else.

In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Chris to talk about what resilience actually costs, what identity looks like when adversity keeps showing up, and what it means to stop waiting for someday and start showing up on purpose.

In this episode: — The biggest lie culture and the sports world sell athletes about identity and resilience — What fighting cancer three times while building a business taught Chris about what performance actually requires — What "resilient personal greatness" means beyond motivation — and why clarity, ownership, and discipline are the real foundation — What it means to lead yourself before you attempt to lead others — What coaches and parents need to understand about developing the whole person, not just the player — What anyone facing ongoing adversity needs to hear about choosing growth every single time

This one is for every athlete dealing with pressure they didn't see coming. Every person navigating adversity that won't resolve itself neatly. Every coach and parent trying to build something in young people that lasts beyond the sport.

Connect with Chris: Website: chrisvasami.com Vasami Training: vasamitraining.com Instagram: @chrisvasami

The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Support the show

CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: [email protected]

FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
• Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader
• Follow us on social media and join the conversation

BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 [email protected]

ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard.

New episodes drop every Monday.

Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Most programs build fast swimmers.

Katie Robinson builds complete people — and the results speak for themselves.

Katie Robinson is the former Associate Head Coach for women's swimming and diving at Stanford University, a two-time member of Team USA's coaching staff, and a former 11-time All-American and team captain at the University of Texas. With over 15 years of collegiate coaching experience — including leading both men's and women's programs as Director of Swimming and Diving at Northwestern University — Katie has developed world record holders, international champions, and school record breakers at every program she has touched.

But what sets Katie apart isn't the results. It's what she believes creates them.

Her coaching philosophy is built on holistic development — the conviction that confidence, leadership, and resilience aren't soft additions to elite performance. They are the foundation of it. And that championship culture, done right, doesn't just create fast athletes. It creates people who win in every room they walk into for the rest of their lives.

In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Katie to talk about what it actually takes to develop complete champions — what the swimming world gets wrong about elite performance, what coaches miss when they focus only on results, and what the student-athlete experience should be building beyond the sport.

In this episode: — The biggest lie the swimming world sells athletes about what elite performance actually requires — What 15 years of coaching at Stanford, Northwestern, and Team USA taught her about what separates good athletes from complete champions — What holistic development actually looks like in practice — not as a philosophy, but as a daily coaching decision — What the student-athlete experience should be building beyond times, titles, and scholarships — What coaches need to understand about creating environments where character and performance grow together — What parents of competitive swimmers need to know about supporting development that lasts beyond the pool

This one is for every competitive swimmer chasing something bigger than a best time. Every coach trying to build a program that matters. Every parent who wants their athlete to become someone, not just win something.

Connect with Katie: Instagram: @coach.k.robinson

The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Support the show

CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: [email protected]

FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge

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ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard.

New episodes drop every Monday.

Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.