Cooldown Conversations

On this episode of Cool Down Conversations, host Paxton Ballard interviews Charlie Ruiz, a former professional baseball player and current leadership performance coach. Charlie shares his story of how he went from playing baseball to becoming a coach and how he encourages others to share their stories and experiences to unlock potential.

Charlie reflects on his experience of having his career taken away from him due to a shoulder injury, and how he went back to school to use his education money and spent the next six to seven years fumbling around Silicon Valley trying to get sales jobs. He talks about understanding how different people receive information differently, especially in the sales world, and the importance of empathy and servant leadership.

[00:00:00] Athlete: Stand Your Ground. [00:04:06] Unconventional journey to success. [00:09:04] Close chapter on own terms. [00:14:52] Athletes: Sales Not Cookie Cutter [00:20:24] Athletic mindset leads to success. [00:24:34] Finding purpose through failure: Six words [00:28:14] Leadership development, success, support. [00:31:28] Fell in love with craft, shared story, helping others. [00:36:21] Merging worlds to coach executives. [00:40:20] Inspiring stories, bold action.

Get in touch: https://www.clrconnection.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charleslruiz/?hl=en

On this episode of Cooldown Conversations, host Paxton Ballard welcomes neuroscientist and public speaker Nicole Vignola as his guest. They discuss the concept of self-interruption and how our brains seek rewards from things like coffee and social media. Nicole shares her strategies for overcoming self-interruption and staying focused. They also talk about their first meeting and the power of connecting with strangers. Nicole dives into her background in neuroscience and how she uses her knowledge to make complex topics accessible to everyday people. Tune in for an engaging and informative conversation!

[00:00:00] Rewarding brain with coffee, phone, Nicole Vignola [00:03:44] Nikki Vignola: neuroscience, psychology, social media success [00:08:18] Instagram blew up: success story. [00:13:18] Rewire ourselves to break patterns. [00:17:13] Brain plasticity: Moldable, changeable, reshape thinking. [00:21:54] Manage energy for focus: 6 words [00:25:31] Brain rhythms, focus, ninety minutes. [00:28:19] Slowing down: take time to read. [00:32:46] Hydrate, create habits, reduce social media. [00:37:00] Rebuilding life, buying land, resetting, cocooning.

https://www.nicolesneuroscience.com/

Pre-order Rewire here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0241661838/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1684410756&sr=8-1

In this snippet Cooldown Conversations' host explains how valuable the transition into a leadership role allowed him to realize how his interacting with others differed from his own approach toward himself. We are much harder on ourselves than others when in reality we should also follow a similar fashion in our daily lives. 

Cooldown Conversations sits down with CEO and Founder of Rebranded Athlete LLC, Dr. Sarah Lepe.  

As a former Division 1 athlete, athletics played a tremendous role throughout her life and especially in pursuing her career goals. After the final whistle of her last game, little did she know what a challenge it would be to transition out of athletics and pursue her career.   

She is passionate about helping athletes understand their potential and drive them towards their purpose as they make the transition out of athletics and become change leaders in the world.  

In this episode we dive deep into her story, the challenges she overcame and what it really means to "transition" into our next chapter.

Get in touch:

Website: https://www.rebrandedathlete.com/

Instagram: @rebrandedathlete (https://www.instagram.com/rebrandedathlete/)

Cooldown Conversations' host, Paxton Ballard, sits down with former MLB pitching coach Douglas White and now co-founder of SoulCentered Workshops.  

In this episode Douglas does an amazing job portraying how he leveraged the vehicle of sport to create his next chapter.   

Doug White’s career has spanned 17 years across 4 organizations leading pitching development and managing infrastructure changes along the way. Most recently Doug has taken his expertise as a coach and combined it with his passion for personal growth. His understanding and explanation of emotions and the guidance they bring allows each person he works with to harness their individual power to deliberately create their own life. Doug has also teamed up with his sister, Dr. Jen Huberty, to create Mindful Vibin, a podcast focused on emotional awareness and behavioral change. In his free time you will find him surfing the coast of San Diego, reading and writing in the neighborhood cafes, or meditating at his home.  

Get in touch:  

Website: https://soulcenteredworkshops.com/ 

Instagram: @douglasbryantwhite (https://www.instagram.com/douglasbryantwhite/)  

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cooldownconvos

Cooldown Conversations' host, Paxton Ballard, sits down with Bronze medalist and professional tennis player, Marcus Daniell.  

Alongside tennis, Marcus is the CEO and founder of High Impact Athletes (HIA). A non-profit whose mission is to to create a groundswell of positive impact in the world, driven by the generosity and social influence of successful athletes.  

HIA connects athletes with the most cost-effective, evidence-based charities in the world in the sectors of Global Health & Poverty, Climate Change, and Animal Welfare, and harnesses the power of the collective athlete voice to educate the world about the benefits of giving effectively.  

Marcus brilliantly displays what it takes to play sport at the highest level and leverage the vehicle it provided him to create opportunity for himself and others.   

Get in touch:  

Website: https://highimpactathletes.org

Instagram: @high.impact.athletes + @marcusdaniellnz

Cooldown Conversations' host, Paxton Ballard, sits down with Classye James. CEO and Founder of Shakeout LLC.

Shakeout's mission is to motivate, assist, and provide athletes a platform to enable success as they prepare for life after sports.

This episode is hands down our realist and most authentic episode. Classy doesn't hold back when sharing what it takes to create your next chapter and how we have to hold ourselves to a certain standard to be successful.

If you are interested in having more guidance and opportunity regarding your next chapter, you can still get tickets to the Athlete's Unite Conference (info available @ http://www.shakeoutllc.com/)

Streaming and available on major listening platforms NOW! *Link in BIO*

Get in touch with Classye:

Instagram: @shakeoutllc + @classyej

Website: http://www.shakeoutllc.com/

Cooldown Conversations' host sits down with former professional footballer, Amobi Okugo and founder of the financial-literacy company A Frugal Athlete.

Amobi was drafted after his freshman year at UCLA into Major League Soccer as part of the 2010 Generation Adidas Class. He has amassed over 200 appearances in all competitions professionally and has been honored to represent the United States national team program at various youth levels including the 2012 Olympic squad.

Amobi Okugo was born in Hayward, California, to Nigerian immigrants and is the oldest of four siblings. He holds a Masters in Sports Law in addition to a  Bachelor's Degree in Organizational Leadership and Development with a minor in Business Administration.

In this episode Amobi shares his experience as an athlete, his transition to "game 2" and how he's giving back to the industry he loves dearly. 

Get in touch with Amobi: 

https://www.afrugalathlete.com/

Instagram: @amobisays

Twitter: @amobisays

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/okugo/

Cooldown Conversations' host, Paxton Ballard, sits down with Taylor Wells, Senior Coordinator of Player Engagement at Major League Soccer.

In this role, she develops and executes league programs, resources, and events that engage and equip the MLS player population with strategies to succeed in their personal and professional lives.

This episode is unique. We discussed Taylor's role and how she helps stewards professional footballers for their next chapter. She brilliantly showcases what the transition period entails, the challenges it brings and the joy players can find in the process. 

Also, we were able to unpack how Taylor is leading by example and creating space and opportunity for women of color in the sports industry. Any listener will find value and feel inspired from this episode! 

Connect with Taylor: 

Website: https://www.taylorwellsmaberry.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twellsmaberry/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorwellsmaberry

Cooldown Conversations' host, Paxton Ballard, sits down with former Naval Supply Officer (Lieutenant) and collegiate athlete, Larry Green.

In this conversation, Larry walks us through his love for basketball, the role it played in his development and how he leverages the game to give back to his community to this day. His journey is a diverse combination of experiences from the military, sports and corporate worlds.

Larry now currently holds a roll at Google as the Health and Performance, Global Service Delivery Lead. As well as a small business owner that specializes in sports and fitness consulting (https://www.hoopdreams25.com).

Connect with Larry:

Website: https://www.larrygreen.info

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrygreen/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/splashbrotherlg/

Cooldown Conversation's host, Paxton Ballard, sits down with former professional tennis player, David Sammel. 

David Sammel is a tennis coach, sports consultant and writer. Since 2010, David is the head coach at TeamBath and the author of the book Locker Room Power: Building an Athlete’s Mind. David has coached dozens of professional players and international junior champions and is the founder and CEO of Mindset College

He now currently coaches Liam Brody and Marcus Daniell.

Connect with David:

https://davidsammel.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidsammel

Cooldown Conversations host, Paxton Ballard, sits down with former collegiate and professional basketball player, Anwar McQueen founder of TEAM.

Anwar McQueen grew up in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington D.C., raised by his single mother in the 1980s, during the height of the crack epidemic. His talent and drive as a basketball player offered him a path to different opportunities in the form of a full scholarship to UC Berkeley, where he played alongside future NBA legends like Jason Kidd, Lamond Murray, and Shareef Abdur Rahim. Anwar realized that basketball wasn't his only path to power and, after a coaching career and earning his Master’s in Sport Management, became an executive at Hudl. He helped develop the sports software company into the biggest player in the U.S. market.

In founding TEAM, Anwar is building on two decades of experience in the Bay Area as a technology executive, and on his own firsthand experience of urban poverty to help underrepresented youth see the technology field as a potential home for their talent, ambition, and commitment to social change.

Connect with Anwar -

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anwarmcqueen

Website: https://www.weareteaminc.org

IG: @amcqueen14 + @weareteaminc

In this episode founder of Cooldown Conversations, Paxton Ballard, shares his passion and testimony about the inspiration behind the podcast. His journey from a professional footballer, being uprooted by C-vid, to becoming an Executive Coach and how he's using this new found clarity to steward the athlete world. Creating and equipping athletes (and beyond) for a more purposeful, passionate and heart-filled career.