Athletes to Entrepreneurs: The Alumni Journey

In the latest episode of “ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey” hosted by Alumni Direct, we speak with Renee Washington, a former college hall of fame soccer player, founder and CEO, and ESPN reporter.  Tell me about your transition out of sports. "I always have been someone who juggled multiple things. I grew up playing many sports at once...and for me, as I started trying to figure...

In the latest episode of “ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey” hosted by Alumni Direct, we speak with Scott Fox, former college athlete, coach and founder of the Champion Playbook.  Tell me how athletics shaped your personality growing up. "My parents recognized early on that I had some athletic skill. They forced me, literally kicking and crying, to play baseball. I was about...

In the latest episode of “ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey” hosted by Alumni Direct, we speak with Sivonnia DeBarros, former college track athlete, attorney, podcaster, and "protector of athletes".  Tell me about your thoughts on NIL.  "I love the fact that college athletes now can monetize their own celebrity. It's something that should have been done a long time ago, and i...

In the latest episode of “ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey” hosted by Alumni Direct, we speak with Reid Meyer, former college baseball player, certified college counselor, and co-founder and CEO of Athletes to Athletes.  Tell me about your transition out of sports and how you handled it and what you're seeing around you with other athletes.   "Personally, my transition out o...

In the latest episode of “ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey” hosted by Alumni Direct, we speak with Brandon Beachy, former Major League Pitcher and current top-performing franchisee & Franchising Consultant.  Growing up playing sports there are a lot of sacrifices you have to make. How do you think that shaped you throughout high school and into college? "For me, it didn't fee...

In the latest episode of “ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey” hosted by Alumni Direct, we speak with Winston October, former college football player, NFL player, and professional coach. Did you have a dream growing of being a professional athlete? "I did...I remember I told my Mom that I'd be a professional football player one day. She told me to go write that down and go pray about it....

In the latest episode of “ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey” hosted by Alumni Direct, we speak with Jennifer Garrett, author, business branding expert and creator of the "Move the Ball" movement.  Tell me about growing up playing sports. "I played sports my entire life. Playing sports can really teach you to be successful in whatever it is that you're doing in life. People talk al...

In the latest episode of “ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey” hosted by Alumni Direct, we speak with Danielle Berman, Events Consultant and Entrepreneur, Founder and CEO of Tackle What's next. Danielle chats with us about growing up playing sports for fun, to managing teams and sports communication in college, to becoming an Event Consultant and later founding her own company.  Tel...

On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Coach Jim Johnson, Basketball Coach, Motivational Speaker and Author. Coach Jim developing his players to be leaders: "Our program became attractive because I was more than just a guy that wanted to win basketball games...I started really focusing on trying to develop our players to be winners on...

On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Kasten Spethmann, retired professional windsurfer, recovering venture capitalist, nomad entrepreneur and coach.  Do they do anything at Portland University to teach athletes what to do next, after they transition out of sports? "I can't speak to that with 100% certainty because I wasn't an at...

On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Dominick Domasky, former college basketball player turned founder, entrepreneur, and TV show host.  When you went to Pitt, what kinds of things did they do to help their athletes perform well and also transition out of sports? "Education was huge. I remember that if I struggled, I had tutors....

On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Coach Chris Michel, former walk on college football player turned sales executive, author, and entrepreneur.  Talk to us about your experience as a walk-on football player in college. "Overall it was a really cool experience. I walked on to a major university (The University of Illinois) and...

On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Dr. Daniel Zimet, 34-time National Handball Champion, Sports Psychologist, and Lead Investigator for the Athletes' Transition Study.  Tell us about growing up and playing sports and how that shaped you, going into college and beyond. "Most of my sport activity was with soccer, and that was mo...

On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Taj Dashaun, former college football player and Author, Speaker, and Athlete Transition Coach.  Tell us about your journey growing up and playing sports.  “My first sport was basketball, I started when I was five. Then I started playing soccer....And then I saw the movie "Remember the Ti...

On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Hannah Valenzuela, former elite runner and host of the Women's Locker Talk podcast.  Did you aspire to be an Olympic athlete or a professional runner? “Absolutely. I competed at nationals every year for cross country and track. My senior year of high school I qualified for two world champions...

On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Julie Chaykin, former cheerleader, dancer, and coach. Tell us about the practice and preparation required in cheer.   “A key factor in practicing for the sport of cheer is every single athlete being dedicated and present. This is imperative to the success of the sport. The multi facets that a...

On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Pete Maestrales, former professional baseball player, Olympic baseball player, CEO and founder of Airstream Jets. How does one go from being an athlete to owning a private jet charter company? “I could never have been successful in business if it weren’t for my failures in sport”  - Pete Maes...

On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Marques Ogden, former NFL player, keynote Speaker, entrepreneur and all-star podcaster.  AMBITION and DRIVE: “For the success cycle, it is ambition, create your blueprint, drive, be inspired, over-motivated, hard work, focus on yourself not the competition.”- Marques Ogden Marques encour...

On this episode of Alumni Direct's show "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey," we chat with Shea Hillenbrand: Former professional baseball third baseman and first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays and more before he became an entrepreneur.  Shea’s drive to win his parents' love and respect led to a drive and...

On this episode of "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey", an inspiring series by Alumni Direct, we speak with Adrian Archie, former football player and entrepreneur. Adrian is the founder of petNmind Naturals.   He shares about how being an athlete changed his life and why athletes have a natural entrepreneurial spirit. Don't forget to like and subscribe so you never miss an episode...

In this episode of "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey" by Alumni Direct, join this fascinating conversation with Dominik Senn, whose love for skiing began in Switzerland at 3 years old in a city not known for skiing. Hear how he went on to become a national champion and then to win the European cup but due to knee injuries later in his sport career, he began his sports management compa...

On this episode of "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey" by Alumni Direct we chat with Marc Chaykin, baseball player, college cheerleader, actor, and President of US cheerleading association.  Marc Chaykin’s college repertoire is extremely diverse. As a sportsman he double majored in Broadcasting and the Theatre Arts which led him to a career in acting and baseball to collegiate che...

In this episode of "ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey" podcast we speak with Michael White, former elite runner and entrepreneur.  How should athletes transition from the world of sports to the working world?   Michael White shares, “You put your disciplined self in front of people (future employers) and they see your determination and personality and they see that and they s...

In the latest episode of “ATHLETES TO ENTREPRENEURS: The Alumni Journey” hosted by Alumni Direct, we speak with Chris Salem, former baseball player, coach, speaker and Award winning author/radio show host.  Chris shares how athletes can benefit from guidance and mentorship to utilize their on-field leadership and communication skills in roles and careers outside the sports arena successfully....