Mindset Stories

Doug Christiansen didn't know healthy scratches existed. He found out he was one. Doug is the commissioner of ECAC Hockey, an NCAA Division I conference. He grew up outside Milwaukee, played four years at Union, spent time in the minors, and has put in fifteen-plus years between coaching and hockey front offices, including the USHL, before coming back to the league he played in. He says the ju...

Three or four coaches he trusted told him not to do it. All but one said moving down to Junior A was a road you don't come back from. Brad McKenzie is the head coach of the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL. He was an instructor at 13, co-wrote a book on the psychology of hockey at 18, went to Finland at 19 as the youngest student in his class, and was coaching university players who were older...

Two Olympic golds. Six world championships. General manager of the Toronto Sceptres, and eight years running Canada's national women's program. Gina Kingsbury has been the player fighting for a roster spot and the person deciding who gets one, and in this episode she talks honestly about both. Getting cut in 2002 and what the hardest part actually was, which wasn't the doubt. It was the phone call...

Nico Somerville was named a team captain in his third year of college. It turned out to be the year he got scratched the most. Nico is going into his third season of being pro hockey player in the ECHL. This season he will be playing with Greenville after spending the past two in Wichita, and prior to that four years in the NCAA and four in the BCHL. He left home at 14. For years he handled not pl...

Janine "Tiger" Charron looked like the most positive person in any room. Behind closed doors, there were mornings she physically couldn't get out of bed. A former NCAA Division I hockey player at UNH and assistant captain, Janine went on to play pro, run marathons, and win a fitness competition, all fueled by achievement and external validation. Then came the decade she never saw com...

Charley Healey committed to play college hockey in Ottawa, then her mom was diagnosed with stage four cancer. A physical in her first year turned up Wolff-Parkinson-White, a rare heart condition sending her rate to 275 on the ice. She thought that was just working hard. Then came pneumonia, thirty pounds lost, heart surgery, and a transfer home to Calgary. In this episode Charley talks openly for...

Six guests in, and we're taking a week off from interviews to talk about what we've actually learned. Eric, CJ, Finley, Ben, Marcus, and Steve have almost nothing in common on paper. Different sports, different generations, different levels. But every single story has a struggle in it, and almost every one turned on the same moment: when they stopped explaining it away and looked at themse...

Steve Trimper spent 28 years as a Division I head baseball coach at Manhattan, Maine, and Stetson, winning more than 780 games along the way. In this episode he tells us how sitting in donor meetings early in his career completely changed what he believed about coaching, and why he came to see the relationship piece as more important than the talent piece. He opens up about the parts that cost him...

In this episode of Mindset Stories , the hosts welcome one of their own clients: Marcus Harper II (known on the field as "Big Mark"). Marcus is a former Toronto Argonauts offensive lineman who achieved a legendary collegiate milestone at Oregon State: never allowing a single sack in over three consecutive years of college football. But behind this jaw-dropping statistic lies a profound s...

In this episode of Mindset Stories , the hosts sit down with Ben Barr , the head coach of the University of Maine Black Bears men’s ice hockey team. Under his guidance, the Black Bears have undergone a massive cultural and competitive revival, transforming from a struggling program into back-to-back NCAA tournament contenders. But Ben’s journey to becoming one of college hockey’s most supportive a...

In this special, altered-format episode of Mindset Stories , hosts Sara and Luc take a powerful look at resilience through the eyes of a child. Debriefing a pre-recorded interview in real time, the hosts unpack the extraordinary mindset of Finley Skiff , a 10-year-old cancer survivor who has recently entered remission after a grueling battle with anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. Blending profound e...

Professional hockey goaltender CJ Jackson has built a career defined by resilience, authenticity, and an unwavering commitment to showing up—regardless of the circumstances. In this episode of Mindset Stories , CJ shares her incredible journey from growing up in rural Nova Scotia and competing in male-dominated sports, to becoming a record-setting NCAA goaltender, an Isobel Cup Champion, and a pro...

Former NHL forward Eric Tangradi has built a career defined by accountability, profound self-reflection, and the grit required to overcome the hidden mental battles of elite sports. In this episode of Mindset Stories , Eric shares his incredible journey from growing up in the inner city of Philadelphia and starting out at a local figure skating rink, to becoming a 42nd overall NHL draft pick, a Ca...

From the day you’re born to the day you die, the only person inside your head every second is you . So wouldn’t it be better to have that voice be your own personal coach that actually helps, instead of one that tears you down? In this episode of Mindset Stories, Sara and Luc dive deeper into two important themes from their last conversation that consistently show up in their work: self-doubt (fee...

Why did we start Mindset Stories ? In this special pre-launch episode, Sara and Luc sit down for an honest conversation about the purpose behind the podcast and the lessons they've learned through years of working with athletes. Together, they explore the human side of performance, the power of feeling seen and heard, and the common struggles that connect us all: self-doubt, fear of disappoint...

In this episode of Mindset Stories, we sit down with Billy Larkins, strength and conditioning coach, business owner of 5 gyms across Pennsylvania, father of 5, husband, and the man Sara has openly called both her villain and her hero. Billy takes us through his unconventional path. Quitting accounting after thirty seconds, mentoring under a 40-year-old bodybuilder in Portland, building a small gym...

In this pre-launch episode of Mindset Stories, the tables turn, co-host Sara shares her own story. Sara grew up playing hockey with the boys at a time when girls' hockey barely existed, built a career as an NCAA Division I coach for 18 years, and from the outside, things looked good. But for more than three decades, she'd never truly looked at herself honestly. Then a strength coach she ca...

At 21, Luc went through a traumatic, life changing experience. What came next shaped the man he is today. This is his story. Welcome to Mindset Stories, The Human Side of Performance. In our first pre-launch episode, we sit down with co-founder Luciano Somerville (Luc) as he shares his story for the first time. Luc grew up in small towns across Vancouver Island chasing the dream of playing profess...