Intentional Performers

Jesse Cassady joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Jesse is a yoga-instructor, a deep thinker, and he’s philosophical. He thinks about how he wants to show up in the world and he’s extremely intentional. Jesse is extremely vulnerable and willing to share his story even if it can help just one person. Jesse is a giver and a teacher, and he loves sharing his knowledge in both the body and the mind. In his yoga practice, he brings together the body and the mind in an incredible way. In his business, he’s about to open a yoga studio in Washington, D.C. in the Georgetown area. In this episode, they discuss what life was like for him as a kid (5:30), what it was like being the middle child (7:30), the qualities his parents passed down to him (9:20), the draw to being in the outdoors (11:40), how he thinks about religion compared to spirituality (13:20), when yoga came into his world (14:50), if he was a reader (20:20), if the accident helped him discover yoga (22:10), what allowed him to go towards something that was difficult (24:20), his thoughts on being and becoming (28:00), his thoughts on feeling (31:00), how pain led him to yoga (33:30), some of the dark spots of his childhood (34:15), when gratitude entered his life (37:00), what inside him allowed him to go towards gratitude as opposed to anger (40:00), why the President being elected affected him so much (42:10), his perspective on addiction (44:30), if yoga can help with addiction (49:00), his meditation practice (51:00), how he blends teaching and having a beginner’s mind (52:40), how he doesn’t judge people when they do something awful (54:30), what he would say to people that went through what he went through (59:20), and what he’d say to people struggling with addiction (1:00:40) Thank you to Jesse for coming on the podcast. Jesse is opening a yoga studio in Georgetown called Uprising Yoga Center on O St. in NW Washington, DC. You can find more information at https://uprisingyogacenter.com/. We encourage you to check out his Instagram @thegratefulyoga and his business Instagram @uprisingyogacenter. Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please support us at Patreon or follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Dr. Travis Heath joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Dr. Travis Heath is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Metropolitan State University of Denver which is also where he attended. He is a licensed psychologist working in private practice in Denver, Colorado, and is the Co-Founder of Rocky Mountain Narrative Therapy Center. He will talk about narrative therapy which focuses on shifting from multi-cultural approach counseling to one of cultural democracy. He really believes in the power of writing and how writing can help people shift their narrative and story, as well as elicit emotions. He is currently in the process of writing a book on narrative therapy. Travis is a psychologist, teacher, writer, and he wears all these different hats which make up a lot of his identity. He is also passionate about sports, but this conversation is mainly about humans and how he feels about the world of psychology. He has run workshops to share his work in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Norway, United Kingdom, and the United States of America. He is on sabbatical right now, so he’ll talk about that experience, and he is scheduled to teach in Auckland, New Zealand in November, Mumbai, India in January and Ystad, Sweden in 2020. In this episode, they discuss what life was like for him as a child (5:40), if he does anything to just get lost and go wander (10:15), his family dynamics (11:30), the values his parents passed down to him (14:00), what it was like being an only child (15:35), what it was like when his father passed away (18:40), his psychology background (20:20), why people get scared about envisioning their future 5-10 years out (28:20), what he envisions for his life at 50 years old (30:40), what his book is about (34:40), his thoughts on emotion with performance and psychology (41:30), what it’s like wearing a lot of different hats (46:30), how he transitions from each of his different areas (51:00), the draw to stay in academia vs. going all in on entrepreneurship (54:40), and the meaning behind his tattoos (57:45) Thank you to Travis for coming on the podcast. We encourage you to check out Travis on twitter @DrTravisHeath, and you can also email him at HeathT@msudenver.edu. Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please support us at Patreon or follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Ticha Penicheiro joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Tina is a Portuguese sports agent and retired basketball player. She was just recently nominated to get inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. She is in the Old Dominion University hall of fame where she played her college ball. She was also a four-time WNBA all-star, and three-time all WNBA selection. When she finished her career, she was considered one of the all-time greatest point guards in the history of women’s basketball and led the WNBA in all-time assists and is now currently second in all-time assists. She won a WNBA championship with the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005, and she also led ODU to the national championship game during her time. Ticha is very free, fearless, lives for the moment, and focuses on controlling what she can control. In this episode, they discuss what life was like growing up in Portugal (3:50), her mindset playing against boys on the playground (5:40), the values her parents passed down to her (7:20), the cultural items that influenced the person she became (8:20), why she ended up at Old Dominion (10:10), the vision she had at 18 years old (11:15), the experience taking ODU to the national championship (12:30), what made her teams championship-caliber teams (13:25), the locker room when they lost to Tennessee compared to when they won it with Sacramento (15:00), how she would cultivate fearlessness on a big stage (17:10), her thoughts on the preparation vs. performance mindset (18:40), how she thought about leveraging her emotions when playing ball (21:20), what she loved about passing (23:20), what makes a great passer (24:05), what makes a great leader (25:10), what it was like to represent her country on the national team (25:50), her thoughts on women’s sports and women’s basketball (28:00), the life of a WNBA player (32:20), what she was like at 23 vs. 33 (33:30), her pregame habits (34:00), playing overseas vs. playing in the WNBA (35:00), what she thinks the future of the WNBA will be (36:00), what drew her to becoming an agent and what she’s learned (37:10), what she does to make sure she’s at her best from a career standpoint (38:30), similarities and differences between being a point guard and an agent (39:30), what she loved about playing ball (41:20), what it was like becoming an American citizen (42:30), her passion for the special Olympics (43:00), how she thinks about the future (44:30), how she thinks about focusing on what you can control (46:00), what she does when she has negative thoughts (47:50), how she doesn’t bring perfectionism into the arena (49:40), any processes she did to make sure she was present (52:30), what she would say to an 8-year-old girl with dreams of playing pro basketball (54:20), and how she makes sense of her accolades and where basketball has taken her (55:00) Thank you to Ticha for coming on the podcast. We encourage you to follow her on twitter @TichaPenicheiro, check out https://sigsports.com/team-member/ticha-penicheiro/, and her website http://www.tichapenicheiro.com/. Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please support us at Patreon or follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Matt Bodnar joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Matt wears many hats; he has been named to “Forbes 30 Under 30” and he’s a partner in multiple “Inc Fastest Growing Companies.” He is a deal maker, strategy expert, and he has scaled businesses across multiple industries. He has done over $100 million in deal volume across 25+ transactions. He is Chairman of Fresh Technology, CoFounder and Managing Partner of Fresh Capital, and Managing Partner of Fresh Holdings. Matt will share with you some of his work in real estate, restaurants, and technology. He is always looking to invest and become a partner in companies as he really values ownership. He is an entrepreneur at heart, but his career started at Goldman Sachs where he learned a lot about finance and what went into that world until he decided to pursue a life that went along with his values and strengths. Matt is intentional about how he spends his days and his weeks, and where he’s looking to go from a career standpoint. In this episode, they discuss when his entrepreneurial spirit came up for him (4:30), what brought him to Wall Street (7:15), if anything in his childhood showed his entrepreneurial spirit (8:30), how his travel shaped his view of the world (10:30), what he was like as a kid in the school system (12:10), how being the only one in the house with his parents affected him (14:50), how he feels about reading in the middle of the day (15:50), his daily routine and thoughts on productivity (16:50), how he uses Evernote for journaling (23:10), what’s the psychology behind getting yourself to put out content (27:30), what comes after meditation and journaling in his routine (32:30), how he thinks about exercise and fitness (34:10), what his conversation would look like if he had an employee that wanted to journal, meditate, etc. during the day (35:40), his career up to this point (36:30), how he makes the decision to delegate (38:40), how he compensates for always wanting to delegate (39:50), what makes him feel most alive (42:10), when he became interested in self-help and personal development (45:20), what he does to work on himself (47:05), and what he struggles with (50:50) Thank you to Matt for coming in the podcast. We encourage you to check out his podcast at https://www.successpodcast.com/ and sign up for his email list. Matt also reads and responds to every email from everyone that signs up for the email list so if you email him at Matt@successpodcast.com he will respond. Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please support us at Patreon or follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Heideh Shahmoradi joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Heideh has her own firm that some would call a lobbying firm, but she calls it an educating firm. She really has become a big player in Washington, DC and on Capitol Hill and has made a tremendous impact on the homeless community and transportation industry all over the country. Heideh has worked with some of the most influential people in our government and she will share how she came to get to that point, and also some of the challenges that she’s faced along the way. At the end of the day, Heideh is someone who is kind, grateful, and looks for the best in life. In this episode, they discuss what Sasha Bruce does (4:40), her story and how she ended up at Sasha Bruce (5:30), her teenage years (7:30), how religion played a role in her life (8:20), her experience meeting her husband (10:00), when Sasha Bruce became a resource for her (11:00), why she ran away from home (13:00), what was so great about her experience at Sasha Bruce (14:50), what she thinks people saw in her (16:20), what it was like working in transportation (20:30), what she was like academically (21:20), her college experience (24:30), what it was like not having a permanent home (26:20), how she thinks about vulnerability (28:20), what she does to practice gratitude (33:40), if positivity is innate for her (34:50), when she shifted to taking advantageous of her situations (35:30), what she thinks makes someone successful (37:50), her experience working on Capitol Hill (39:30), the importance of relationships (42:10), what she liked about being in politics (44:50), what she’d be doing now if she didn’t go to DC (51:30), how she thinks about what she has gone through (53:50), how she sees religion today (56:20) , her relationship with her parents today (58:10), what she’s up to now (1:02:00), what she does for youth homelessness (1:05:30), what makes a good educator (1:06:15), and what she does to make sure she’s at her best (1:09:05) Thank you to Heideh for coming on the podcast. If anyone is ever looking for guidance, advice, or consulting information on the work that she spoke about today they can reach her at Heideh@osstrategiesllc.com. Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please support us at Patreon or follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Stu Singer joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Stu has worked as a Director of Performance Psychology for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, and as a Performance Psychologist for the University of Maryland Women’s Basketball team, Fordham University, Rice University, and the Connecticut Sun among other teams. Stu has served an integral role in helping the University of Maryland Women’s Basketball reach back to back Final Fours, and Fordham University win their first A10 Championship. Stu’s approach focuses on teaching and providing mental performance skills for athletes that have the pressures of competing at elite levels in high school, college, and pro sports. He also provides team trainings, clinics, and consultations with coaches on how to develop healthy and effective mental performance fundamentals for their athletes. Stu completed his doctoral coursework at the University of the Rockies where he specialized in sport and performance psychology and is also a professional member of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. He additionally received his M.Ed. in Counseling from Shippensburg University. This conversation gets into the core of mental performance and he will talk about everything that he has learned up until now and where he sees the field going in the future. In this episode, they discuss what life was like for him as a child (6:40), the path his brother was on (10:20), his parents’ family business (13:00), how sport came into his life (14:40), the values his parents passed down to him (16:40), when he became interested in sports psychology (18:20), why he majored in business (20:20), the art and science of people (26:00), how he thinks about confidence (29:05), his thoughts on self-talk (35:40), how he thinks about mastery in his world (39:40), what he does to work on his craft (45:10), what he does now that he wasn’t doing 5 years ago (47:50), where he’s going in the next 5 years (49:20), the app he created to train athletes (51:30), what his meditation practice looks like (55:05), what he does differently working with kids vs. college athletes vs. professionals (56:05), how he toggles between teaching and asking questions (59:10), how much of his work is focused on mental performance vs. the clinical side (1:03:00), and how much of his work is with the staff vs. athletes (1:06:05) Thank you to Stu for coming on the podcast. We encourage you to check out his DoSo app and to check out his website http://wellperformancecoach.com/. You can also follow him on Twitter @Wellperformance and on Instagram @wellperformance. Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please support us at Patreon or follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Tom Penn joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Tom has had quite an illustrious career in the sports industry. He started out his relationship with sports playing basketball in high school, and then he went on to become a captain of the swim team at the University of Notre Dame. From there, he went on to law school, and after law school he decided to get into the NBA where he became an elite executive for the Portland Trail Blazers. He also served as a high-ranking executive in the basketball operations for the Memphis Grizzlies where he worked alongside Jerry West. Tom also worked for ESPN for a number of years as an analyst and continues to do TV work currently for Turner. Tom also runs LAFC which is one of the the best MLS soccer teams in the league. In this episode, they discuss what life was like for him as a kid (5:50), the values his parents passed down to him (7:40), what he was like as a teenager (11:20), why making the Notre Dame swim team had such a big impact on his life (12:50), his relationship with swimming (14:40), how religion played a role in his life (17:50), when law school became of interest for him (19:00), what his mindset was like as a swimmer (21:00), how he approached leadership at Notre Dame (23:00), what it was like to coach while in law school (24:00), what it was like working with his dad (27:30), where the desire to play in different buckets comes from (29:30), why he was interested in working in the NBA and why he keeps his rejection letters (31:00), how he transitioned from law to sports (36:50), if he thought he wanted to be an agent or an executive for an NBA team (42:30), what basketball was like in Vancouver (46:20), his thoughts on integrating business and operations in the NBA (49:50), the organizations that he looks to as models (54:30), his experience with Memphis and then Portland (56:20), what made Jerry West special (59:10), what makes a great leader (1:01:50), Jerry West and his experience with depression (1:03:30), why he went to TV (1:06:20), how he felt when he got let go (1:11:30), going all in on soccer in Los Angeles (1:17:20), the difference between running teams and being on ESPN and Turner (1:20:40), and what has helped him to get the headspace to manage people (1:24:20). Thank you to Tom for coming on the podcast. If you are ever in or around Los Angeles, we encourage you to check out an LAFC game. Tom is also very involved in St. Jude’s Children Hospital in Memphis, TN which is a 100% free hospital that’s mission is to find cures for children usually fighting cancer or other diseases. You can also find Tom on twitter @TomPennLAFC. Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please support us at Patreon or follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Paul Biancardi joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Paul is somebody who has spent his entire life analyzing people, trying to figure out how to bring out the best in people as a coach and now as a scout for ESPN. Paul has spent a lot of his career as a Division 1 basketball coach. He’s served as an assistant coach for Boston College and Ohio State, and then went on to become the head coach at Wright State University. Today, Paul works for ESPN doing all of their basketball recruiting at the high school level. He is in charge of creating the board that shows the top 100 basketball players in the country and he plays a major role in the recruiting that goes on at the college level. In this episode, they discuss what life was like for him as a kid (5:00), what his parents were like (6:30), the values his mom passed down to him (8:35), what his coach provided for him (10:40), his experience playing Division 3 basketball (12:00), where his persistence came from (16:00), why he didn’t get into trouble (17:30), his relationship with his dad (21:10), what has helped guide him as a parent (24:10), what Tom Thibodeau was like as a coach at Salem State (26:00), his first experience coaching (27:50), what Coach Jarvis saw in him (31:30), his coaching journey (32:40), his experience at Boston College and Ohio State (37:10), what it was like being the head coach at Wright State (40:45), what qualities make a great head coach (43:05), why he transitioned out of coaching into the work he does now (45:15), what he likes about working for ESPN (47:30), what he’s looking for in high school basketball players (54:00), and how he thinks about his process for getting better at his job (59:30) Thank you to Paul for coming on the podcast. You can find him on twitter @PaulBiancardi and Instagram @paulbiancardi. You can find his work on espn.com and we encourage you to check out his website at https://www.coachbiancardi.com/ to see all the different work he does around basketball and recruiting. Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please support us at Patreon or follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Phil Costa and Rob Curley join us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Phil and Rob recently wrote a book called The Transition Playbook for ATHLETES: How Elite Athletes WIN After Sports. Phil played professional football and was the starting Center for the Dallas Cowboys. After football, he worked for a medical device company assisting heart surgeons through more than 500 operations. In 2018, he decided to go back to school and got his MBA from Columbia Business School and today he lives in Madrid, Spain where he is enrolled in Spanish Language School. Phil has played football at the highest level and has also done academics at the highest level, and he’s somebody who is very thoughtful and intentional with how he’s going about his life. Rob was the winner of the Charles L. Albert award for the most outstanding athlete at Lafayette College. Phil and Rob played football in high school together where Rob was the QB and Phil was the Guard, and Rob went on to play professional football in Europe. Rob has worked in sales for a leading global pharmaceutical manufacturer and today he lives in Bern, Switzerland, where he attends German Language School. These are two worldly guys who also played football at the highest of levels and they’ve come together to share their knowledge and research on athlete transition. Their passion in life is to help people and give advice on how people can better get themselves ready for massive transitions. In this episode, they discuss what high school was like for them (6:10), if football was their passion (8:10), what college was like (8:40), what Rob did mentally as a QB (10:20), if they loved football (11:20), the details and how they dealt with pain (16:30), what it felt like for Phil to leave the NFL and Rob to leave Lafayette (17:30), what they did on gameday to make sure they were there mentally (20:10), the idea of being a novice vs. an expert (26:20), the advice he’d give to Gronk transitioning out of the NFL (29:00), how they thought about leveraging themselves as athletes (32:10), what they’d tell a high school kid going to play their sport in college (34:20), how people respond to athletes looking at things outside their sport (36:10), if leagues are trying to help current players explore job opportunities once they’re done (39:00), when they realized they wanted to write a book together (42:20), what Rob’s transition was like after playing sports (46:00), what is currently out there on this topic (47:30), what it was like interviewing people for the book (49:00), the similarities athletes did to be successful with the transition (51:10), what athletes miss the most when they left their sport (52:20), the knowledge that Jordan Steffy shared (54:40), transition outside of sport (56:00), and the process of writing a book together (57:20) Thank you to Phil and Rob for coming on the podcast. Their book is coming out in late May and 100% of the pre-order proceeds are donated to the AthLife Foundation https://athlifefoundation.org/ which supports student-athletes all across the U.S. You can find their book on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Transition-Playbook-ATHLETES-Athletes-Sports/dp/0578500876 and Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-transition-playbook-for-athletes-phil-costa/1130810803. Finally, we encourage you to check out their website https://thetransitionplaybook.com/ and you can find them on Instagram @thetransitionplaybook. Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please support us at Patreon or follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian

Henry Abbott joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Henry started a blog in 2005 called True Hoop and that blog ended up gaining a ton of interest. It was so popular that he brought that content to espn.com and he started True Hoop at ESPN. Henry has since left ESPN after a 10-year run and started his own thing called True Hoop which sends newsletter format emails with all kinds of gems and quality content you can’t get anywhere else. If you are an NBA fan you have probably ready some of Henry’s work, heard him on podcasts/TV’s, and he has been at the forefront of the changes that have occurred in the NBA over the last 10-15 years. Henry will share how he became a writer/journalist and entrepreneur, and how he believes teamwork plays a role in developing culture. In this episode, they discuss what inspired him to get into the blogging world (5:40), what it felt like to get paid for different reasons (10:30), what his childhood was like (13:40), his experience with his parent’s divorce (17:20), if he challenged authority (20:30), why he goes against the standard (24:00), his thoughts on passion and going in the right direction (27:00), what he studied in University (28:50), what he liked and didn’t like about journalism (32:20) , where he saw himself in journalism (35:20), where his entrepreneurial spirit comes from (37:30), why he started a blog about basketball (41:00), what it felt like to interview Jason Williams (50:10), Brian’s experience meeting Obama (53:00), if his Dad is very matter of fact (57:30), how curiosity plays a role in the work that he does (1:00:20), when he realized people would read his blog (1:04:00), what it was like going to ESPN (1:06:30), how he thinks about editing vs. writing (1:08:00), soft skills vs. hard skills (1:12:30), playing at home vs. away (1:17:00), how he built his culture at True Hoop (1:21:30), what he’s up to now (1:29:40), what makes a popular story (1:31:20), and who, over the last 20 years, he would pick to build a team around (1:34:40) Thank you for Henry for coming on the podcast. We encourage you to check out https://www.truehoop.com/ and you can put your email in for free. On truehoop.com you can also subscribe to get two premium posts per week which are magazine style with a ton of great insights into the NBA which you cannot get anywhere else. You can also find them on twitter @TrueHoop. Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please support us at Patreon or follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening. -Brian