Hang Time

Renee Washington is a TV personality, author, small business owner, and motivational speaker. She is a former three-time All-American soccer student-athlete at LaSalle University, and she was recently inducted into LaSalle's Athletics Hall of Fame. Renee played professional soccer with SkyBlue FC for a short time before hanging up her cleats to pursue her master's degree and coach women's soccer a...

Matthew Raidbard is a former coach, an author, and a sports leadership consultant. A former men’s college basketball coach, he completed his doctorate in Educational Leadership before deciding to author “Lead Like A Pro.” His book provides coaches with foundational leadership knowledge and the tools to practice the best leadership style and behaviors that align with their personal values and belie...

Tayler takes time to recap some highlights from Season 3 and shares some information about the layout of the show for Season 4. ___ Fluffy by Smith The Mister https://smiththemister.bandcamp.com Smith The Mister https://bit.ly/Smith-The-Mister-YT Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/stm-fluffy Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/OM9G3nyLT_w

Ashton Henderson is a former football student-athlete, having played at Michigan State University (MSU). Ashton earned his advertising degree in 2010, after suffering a career-ending injury during his senior football season. As he pivoted and began to focus on life after football, he started a role as a graduate assistant in Student-Athlete Support services at MSU while earning his master’s degree...

Britni de la Cretaz is a freelance writer who focuses on the intersection of sports and gender. They are the former sports columnist for Longreads and for Bitch Media . Their work has appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, espnW, Vogue, The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, The Ringer,  Bleacher Report, The Atlantic , and more. Their work on racism in Boston sports media received the 2017...

Holly Stalcup is the Director of Stadium and Game Operations at the College Football Playoff (CFP). Holly joined the CFP staff in April of 2019 after having served as the Associate Athletics Director for Event Management at the University of Illinois. She began her career at Illinois in 2003 as a Graduate Assistant in the Athletics Ticket Office before transitioning to an Events Coordinator role a...

Dr. Lisa Rubin is an Associate Professor at Kansas State University in the College of Education, supporting their masters programs in College Student Development and Academic Advising, and the doctoral programs in Student Affairs in Higher Education and Leadership in Academic Advising. Her education and research interests are ethics in intercollegiate athletics, advising and developing student-ath...

Chris Everett is the Partnerships Outreach Director for Elevation Church . A former football student-athlete at Western Carolina University, Chris spent several years working in college athletics before transitioning to his new role at Elevation Church in January of 2021. He got his start working in college athletics first working in tickets before moving into a student-athlete development ro...

Jennifer Cross is a Co-Founder of Athlete Viewpoint, which is an innovative company providing quality survey and data analysis tools for athletics professionals and student-athletes. In that role, she works to assess and improve athletic culture for the students who participate and the professionals who work tirelessly to provide a positive experience. Additionally, Jennifer is the Owner of Percep...

Marissa and Jeff Allen are the husband-wife duo behind The Cookie Society. The two met at the University of Illinois, where they were soccer (Marissa) and football (Jeff) student-athletes. After college, Jeff pursued an NFL career and Marissa began to publicly explore her love for cooking via her blog/Instagram (@firstandfull). The couple’s most recent venture, The Cookie Society, was born from Ma...

Sivonnia DeBarros, the Protector of Athletes, is a first-generation lawyer and law business owner, woman in business and a former track and field Division-I College athlete. DeBarros graduated from Chicago-Kent College of Law with her J.D. in 2013, received a M.S. in Criminal Justice from Everest University in 2010, and her B.S. in Political Science from University of South Florida in 2008. DeBarr...

Daniel Fitzpatrick is a student-athlete services expert who has worked extensively within collegiate athletics. Through his experiences, he realized the data showed there was both a lack of diversity within athletic departments and hiring applicant pools across the nation. Fitzpatrick currently serves as the Assistant Director for Student-Athlete Support Services at Loyola University Maryland and...

We've said it before and we'll say it again - it's been a minute! Tayler and Melissa take some time to catch everyone up on what caused the 8 month hiatus between recordings. Melissa shares a semi-alarming story about how she spent her 30th birthday last January.  ____ Fluffy by Smith The Mister https://smiththemister.bandcamp.com   Smith The Mister https://bit.ly/Smith-The-Mister-YT   Free Downlo...

Julianna Jung is a championship baker and a student in the field of public health. She joined us to talk about her experiences with baking and shared how she ended up on TV. Since being discovered on Instagram, she has had the opportunity to showcase her baking skills for the masses. As a student in public health, she also discussed her thoughts on how COVID-19 might impact the future of healthcar...

Alex Onion is the self-avowed #DomesticFeminist and the owner and operator of Mertle and Dot, a Chicago-based floral design company. Outside of Mertle and Dot, though, she works in Chicago tech full-time. Excluding Tayler, Alex is the third Onion to grace The Bloom Pod, and she brought a new kind of bloom to the show. She explained how Mertle and Dot got its start and why it took her so long to la...

Edward Jones II is currently the Assistant Athletic Director for Player Development at Baylor University. With previous stints at Kansas University and the University of Houston, Edward focuses on the holistic development of the student-athletes he works with. He recently founded the Beyond the Field Program, LLC, which creates programming that inspires generational impact. Edward joined us to sha...

Ashlynn Fields is a higher education professional, sports enthusiast, and a part of #TeamAwesome, otherwise known as Women Leaders in College Sports. She joined us to talk about her background, interests in higher education, love for craft beer, and much more. Tayler and Ashlynn discuss her purpose, which is to enhance the holistic growth of others and increase access for women of color who aspire...

John Shertzer is the Executive Director at the Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ). John joined us to share how he went from working in leadership development for youth groups to his current role at SPJ. He discussed the idea of perpetuating a free press and the importance of fact finding and truth seeking in journalism. Tayler and John also discuss the differences in media accessibility be...

Resa Lovelace is the founder and president of RBL Theory, LLC, and currently serves as the Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Enhancement at the University of Maryland, College Park. Resa is a repeat guest for The Bloom Pod, as she served on our first-ever panel-style episode last summer. She joined us to talk about what she’s been up to since our N4A Panel episode aired, and she shar...

Alexander Martin is a student-athlete development professional and doctoral student. Currently, he serves as the Assistant Director of Student-Athlete Development at the University of Miami (FL). Alexander discusses his background and shares how a mentor during his undergraduate experience helped to shape his vision for his career path. Tayler asks Alexander about the differences between working i...

Blake Konrardy is the Millennial Millionaire. He is also the Vice President of Product at kin insurance, and the creator of more than 40 patents granted by the US Patent Office. Blake joined us to talk about his book, Millennial Millionaire, and the experiences that led him to that point. Tayler asks Blake to “dumb down” the meaning of actuarial science. The two discuss Blake’s idea for a protein...

Mike Avery is the current head coach of Fort Wayne FC, which is a men’s outdoor soccer team competing in the United States Soccer League 2 (USL2). “Coach” Avery joined us to share his journey from college coaching and how his transition to the professional level came to be. Tayler asked Mike about his focus on “community centered program building.” Mike shared how his experience surrounding a team...

Karyn Nishimura Sneath is the Director of Education for the Society of Professional Journalists, and the owner of Npower, which is a leadership and organizational development consulting practice. The two talk about Karyn’s first impressions of Tayler’s mom, Cathy. Karyn shared how her experiences in Panhellenic ultimately led her to a career in helping teams function at their best. Tayler asks Kar...

Tayler’s mom, Cathy Onion, makes a triumphant (and surprise) return to the Bloom Pod to share some of her infamous episode notes! During this bonus episode, Tayler and Cathy revisit major points from the guests of season one, and share some of their favorite moments.

JP Abercrumbie serves as the Associate Athletic Director at Rice University and the Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. She is a former student-athlete, a fellow Women Leaders Institute for Administrative Advancement graduate, and a lover of positive vibes. She shared with the Bloom Pod how her background and experiences - across all the time zones - propelled her to the position she’s...