Intentional Performers

Spike Mendelsohn is a world-renowned chef and he has worked with some of the top chefs in the world including Thomas Keller, Sirio Maccioni, and Drew Nieporent. After making his television debut on Bravo TV’s Top Chef, Spike went on to appear on several other cooking shows including Life After Top Chef, Iron Chef of America, Late Night Chef Fight, and Beat Bobby Flay. He also hosted Midnight Feast and Food Network’s Kitchen Sink. He has made a presence in the DC area where he opened up Good Stuff Eatery, and his since opened up a number of other restaurants including, We, The Pizza, Bearnaise, and Santa Rosa Taqueria. He has a presence not just because of his food, but he also works with several other brands as a consultant and works with a number of other people on policy. He has a passion for food, equity, and education so he began working with organizations like Care and DC Central Kitchen as a Chef Ambassador and Contributor. His work has landed him as the first chairman of DC’s Food Policy Council. He has used his voice to speak out about improving the quality of school lunches, equal access to whole and healthy foods, and he really wants to make a positive impact on our food system. In this episode, they discuss what life was like growing up (7:40), the restaurants his family had (10:10), his religious framework (12:10), what allowed his parents to make the move to Spain (14:10), how his siblings affected his upbringing (15:15) , what made his parents good at the restaurant industry (17:30), when he knew what he wanted to do as an adult (20:00), what military school gave him (21:50), his thoughts on the mindset in preparation vs. performance (24:30), how he shifts from perfectionism to adaptability (27:40), his main takeaway from his experience in France (33:30), Brian’s binaries (37:40), his approach to running a kitchen (41:40), what it’s like to be on television (44:40), what his parents would say when he’d make certain declarations (46:00), why he went toward fast casual (51:30), why he doesn’t want to be a celebrity chef (56:20), focusing on character instead of reputation (1:03:00), how he balances everything that he does (1:05:05), and his restaurant at the St. James (1:12:00) Thank you to Spike for coming on the podcast. We encourage you to check him out at http://www.chefspike.com/ and follow him on Instagram @spikethechef. 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

Megan Gebbia joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Coach Megan Gebbia is Head Coach of the Women’s Basketball team at American University. They have had amazing success since Coach Gebbia has been there, having gone to the NCAA tournament twice. Megan has helped the team to two conference championships, and they have been a very competitive team every year since she’s been there. They have created a culture that is selfless and specific in what they are trying to do and is system oriented.  They are a talented, smart, gritty group that I am lucky to get to work with. This conversation gets into her journey and will give you some insight into how she has come to be, and she will share some watershed moments that have shaped her life, and some people that have really influenced her. In this episode, they discuss what life was like for her as a kid (5:20), what it was like to win a championship her Junior year of High School (8:05), her parent’s reaction when she got involved in sports (9:15), if she looks for athletes that play multiple sports (10:00), what she got from other sports that assisted her in basketball (11:00), the values her parents passed down to her (15:30), why she thinks some of the better coaches are the negatives ones (17:40), how much of her coaching style is about believing and telling it straight (23:50), what she knows now about coaching that she didn’t know when she was 26 or 36 (25:50), the dynamic of being a Head Coach (31:00), how she thinks about building her system and culture (35:30), how she goes about finding the players she wants (40:00), when she started to get recruited for college basketball (42:40), what her experience was like at Towson (43:30) , what changed after her brother’s car accident (47:30), why things became serious for her (50:30), what drives her as a coach (51:10), when coaching came into the picture for her (51:50), what it was like to coach players she was just in the locker room with (53:00), what she does to make sure she’s showing up at her best (54:00), why she loves practices (55:00), her routines on game day (57:50), how her mindset on defense has changed (59:10), what she wants her legacy to be as a coach (1:01:05), and how she makes sure she’s passionate and excellent (1:05:40) Thank you to Megan for coming on the podcast. You can find her on twitter at  @CoachMegGebbia and the AU Women’s Basketball team on twitter @AU_WBasketball. You can also follow the team at http://www.aueagles.com/sports/w-baskbl/index. 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

Eric Carcich joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Eric was previously the Head Women’s Rowing Coach at George Washington University and is now the Head Women’s Rowing Coach at Cornell University. Eric has always been passionate about the mental side of rowing. Eric will talk about his journey, how he first found rowing at UMass, and how he’s worked with elite rowers in men’s and women’s rowing. He is very intentional when he thinks about the culture and vision for the program that he’s running, and he cares deeply about his relationships in general, and about his relationships with the athletes that he serves. In this episode, they discuss what his childhood was like (7:20), the values his parents passed down to him (11:30), what he loved about soccer (12:40), when rowing came into his life (14:00), what it felt like when his friend asked if he was in (19:10), what about his childhood allowed him to go down his path (20:30), what he liked about rowing as a player (22:40), how he got better at rowing (24:20), what came after graduation (25:50), his first-year coaching (29:10), how he reacted to a yelling style of coaching (32:00), when he found his coaching voice (33:20), when he started coaching females (34:30), what made the coach at Yale a great leader (37:00), his experience at Penn and what makes a city special (40:00), what it was like to be the head coach of GW Women’s Rowing (50:30), his vision when he took over (52:00), what sparked his notion of thinking more holistically (54:50), what he does in his other 22 (55:50), how important it is to coach the whole person (1:02:30), how he thinks about balance and integration (1:06:00), his vision for Cornell (1:07:10), and what he’s doing to make sure he’s showing up on a regular basis (1:10:00) Thank you to Eric for coming on the podcast. You can reach out to Eric via email at ec862@cornell.edu and you can find Cornell Women’s Rowing at https://cornellbigred.com/index.aspx?path=wrow. 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

Cody Royle joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Cody is passionate about coaching coaches. Cody is an author, keynote speaker, podcast host, and an Australian Rules Football Coach. He is the head coach for AFL Team Canada which is the men’s national program for Aussie Rules Football. Cody is a big voice in the crossover between leadership principles in sports and business. His first book, “Where Others Won’t,” proposed that businesses should look at how pro sports teams look at team dynamic and talent optimization in order to innovate. In this conversation, we also talk about how the sport’s world now needs to leverage some of business’ best practices when it comes to human development and what that might look like going forward. His podcast, “Where Other’s Won’t,” is a great listen and we highly recommend following Cody on twitter @codyroyle. In this episode, they discuss what life was like as a little kid (5:05), Aussie Rules Football and Cricket (7:30), what he likes about Aussie rules football (9:40), what his childhood was like (11:30), the values his mom passed down to him (12:35), what he thought his future would look like (14:20), how he felt when he couldn’t play at the level he wanted to (16:20), what an emotional wreck meant for him (17:20), why he got involved in coaching (18:10), the steps he took to become a coach (19:40), how he makes sense of the binary of I can do this better, but I still have a lot to learn (21:05), what he likes about coaching (22:30), his thoughts on the CEO mindset vs. a sports coach (25:05), the importance of flipping mindsets (28:40), what he likes about watching coaches (33:00), how he thinks about coaching coaches (39:10), the biggest challenge to people who want to coach coaches (42:40), the difference in being a team coach vs. a coach of coaches (48:10), how he ended up in Canada and why explore this space outside of just being a coach (53:10), what would happen if we used high-performance techniques from athletes to our coaches/front office (1:00:10), information about his podcast and book (1:03:00), why he thinks people were interested in being on his podcast (1:07:00), how he answers what he does (1:09:40), what makes a great writer and where he learned to write (1:10:40), where the idea of nuance and context came from for him (1:14:05), and what he’ll be doing 10 years from now (1:16:00). Thank you to Cody for coming on the podcast. His book and podcast are both called, “Where Others Won’t,” and you can find those on Amazon, iTunes, etc. You can find Cody on social media on Instagram and Twitter @codyroyle and https://www.codyroyle.com/ houses everything he does. 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

Lee Sommers joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Lee is a strength and conditioning coach that does amazing work and truly cares about his clients. He is somebody who is a servant leader, somebody who wants to make his athletes and clients as strong as they possibly can be, and he has worked with the tip of the arrow athletes, most notably Katie Ledecky. Lee started working with Katie when she was 15 years old. Lee has carved out a niche for himself in the Washington, DC area working with elite swimmers. He will share his journey and how he became a strength coach at a really young age and helped build Sport and Health’s Sport and Performance Program that works with elite athletes. In this episode, they discuss what life was like as a kid (4:20), the values his parents passed down to him (6:50), his transition from New York City to Maryland (11:20), his relationship with his Dad (14:05), his experience trying to play college basketball (17:30), what it was like leaving Temple to go to Towson (19:20), how he got into personal training (21:00), how he thinks about his relationship with money (23:30), his first job out of college and experience managing people (31:00), what he did to try to help his employees sell themselves (38:20), how much of his work is modeling vs. explaining how something should be done (39:50), what he does to make sure he’s a conscience coach (41:05), the habits he does to make sure he’s mentally at his best (42:05), his nutrition and strength and conditioning habits (44:50), his thoughts on grit and grind (50:00), his experience working with Katie Ledecky (52:05), where Katie Ledecky’s confidence comes from (56:50), why he believes Katie hasn’t experienced burnout (1:00:30), and his business now (1:01:10) Thank you to Lee for coming on the podcast. He has started his own business called Purpose Personal Fitness https://ppf-fitness.com/ and he is also a part of Healthy Baller https://www.healthyballer.com/aboutus. He works with all types of athletes and all types of cliental. He is also currently working with swimming teams including both nation capital swim clubs out of Georgetown Prep and RMSC swim club out of the Rockville area. You can find him on social media at @leesommerspt on Instagram, and you can find him on Facebook at Lee Sommers. 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. Norman Rosenthal joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Dr. Norman Rosenthal is a world-renowned psychiatrist, researcher, and author who first described seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD. He pioneered the use of light therapy as a treatment during his 20 years at the National Institute of Mental Health. He is a highly cited researcher and best-selling author, and he has written over 200 scholarly articles and authored or co-authored 8 popular books. Dr. Rosenthal has worked in the weeds with patients and had a private practice while also going deep into the research. He has written books including “The Winter Blues,” and he also has New York Times bestsellers list called “Transcendence” and “The Gift of Adversity.” He has practiced psychiatry for over three decades, coached, and conducted numerous clinical trials of medications and alternative treatments such as transcendental meditation for psychiatric disorders. He and his work have been featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show, NPR, and other national media outlets. In this episode, they discuss what life was like for him as a kid (4:20), what guilt felt like for him (6:05), what it was like to be stabbed (6:40), how he thinks about gratitude (8:30), his experience with Viktor Frankl (13:50), the distinction between gratitude and forgiveness (16:40), his thoughts on grievances (19:10), if he’d do our jails/criminal system any differently (21:30), when he became a researcher and scientist (23:00), how his parents reacted to his career choice (24:30), the values his parents passed down to him (25:20), how he handles privilege while understanding how quickly things can change (28:30), how life is so multi-faceted (33:00), how he first thought of SAD (35:30), how the community first responded to SAD (38:15), why he didn’t stay on the path of research (40:00), what light therapy is (41:20), about transcendental meditation (43:30), how he thinks about spirituality (45:00), his thoughts on death (47:40), his writing process (51:30), his thoughts on the mindset in preparation vs. performance (55:30), what he does to make sure he’s mentally where he needs to be (59:20), what about his framework allows him to be open to other possibilities (1:01:30), how he navigates when to be open and when to be contrarian (1:05:30), the letter his mom wrote he and his siblings (1:09:50). Thank you to Dr. Norman Rosenthal for coming on the podcast. You can find more information about Norman at his website at https://www.normanrosenthal.com/ which lists his books and blogs he’s written. You can also find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/PoetryRx/. 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

Miranda Holder joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Miranda is an Executive Coach that has a background in sport. She was a three-sport athlete in High School and then she found Rowing in College where she competed at an elite, high level. She then became a Rowing Coach and ended up becoming the Head Rowing Coach at Georgetown University. That journey of becoming a Rowing Coach ended up leading her to become an Executive Coach. Today, she spends a lot of time working with people in all walks of life in the corporate space, and she considers herself to be an insight wizard and she will give insight into how she came to develop her eye for coaching. She helps people see themselves in their situation more clearly, and for the people brave enough to do the work, there’s an incredible leader, person, and idea ready to surface. She loves to work with people on being the best leader or CEO that they can be while also taking risk to start a company or refusing to settle into a career path that doesn’t elicit joy and excitement. She loves helping people unlock their potential and at her core, she loves coaching. In this episode, they discuss when rowing first came into her life (5:40), what her childhood was like (8:40), the values her parents instilled in her (9:35), her academic experience (11:30), where her “if it’s meant to be, it’ll be” mindset is rooted in (14:40), what her spiritual lens is (16:40), what her rowing experience was like (19:20), what was exciting about getting up at 4:40 am to row (23:00), the amount of time it took her to get good at rowing (26:20), how she managed what she was doing individually with it being a team sport (28:40), what she would do mentally to prepare for a race (30:30), when she started to pursue the national team (32:10), how it felt when she stopped rowing (35:00), how her rowing coaching experience began (41:00), what she thought her career path was going to be (42:20), if she would’ve had a similar path without the heart condition (43:40), her sport coaching journey (44:40), what she noticed in elite rowers (47:30), how to instill persistence in kids (49:00), what it was like managing a rowing program (53:15), what led to her burnout (56:20), when executive coaching came into her life (58:50), what in her allows her to go get help (1:00:00), what makes her feel alive about executive coaching (1:01:50), how she got interested in yoga (1:06:20), and what she does to make sure she’s mentally, emotionally, and physically strong (1:08:20) Thank you to Miranda for coming on the podcast. You can email her at Miranda@Mirandaholder.com, and we encourage you to check out her website https://www.mirandaholder.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

David Vobora joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Since 2014, David has painstakingly built a business and a dream around training elite and adaptive athletes. Many of the athletes are wounded warriors, and his adaptive training environment gym provides free 9-week bootcamps to people with amputations, spinal cord injuries, and other disabilities. He’ll say in this conversation a lot of those people are veterans, but not all of them are. He has a ton of respect for veterans, and his foundation is about serving those who are adaptive athletes. David has appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show, he’s been to the White House where he shook hands with President Obama, he has had President Bush accompany him, House Speaker Paul Ryan visited the foundation, and they presented him with a set of cuff links with the Presidential seal. Also, when David was 10 years old, a teenage neighbor sexually abused him, and we jump into this in the conversation. He will talk about how that shaped his life and his career. He played professional football for 4.5 years, and he had concussions, a major shoulder injury that ended his career, and he has been through a lot including getting addicted to opioids and his experience with suicide. David will share his journey, his mindset, and what he’s learned about emotion and building emotional strength in this deep conversation. In this episode, they discuss what his childhood was like (6:00), the tools he used to get him in the space to be a linebacker (9:20), how being sexually assaulted drove him on the football (11:30), what allowed him to be successful when the lights came on in college (14:00), if we’re better served focusing on the becoming or the being (17:00), the earning of wisdom (22:30), what his football career would’ve looked like if he had the emotional strength he has now (24:30), the inner work he did emotionally (26:05), where his mental capacity came from (30:00), how his mental models have changed (32:00), how he dealt with his suicidal thoughts (37:20), if he had family members that dealt with similar addictive issues (43:10), if there’s someone that is doing an amazing job of becoming and being (45:10), the habits/tools he does to optimize his human experience (48:20), when he feels most alive (51:00), a word he would use to describe himself (54:10), if he has a religious or spiritual framework (55:20), why he’s going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (58:30), the qualities super heroes have (1:00:00), what he does to make sure he’s becoming his own super hero (1:01:00), what he’s up to now (1:02:20), and where he hopes he is in ten years (1:08:20) Thank you to David for coming on the podcast. We encourage you to follow the Adaptive Training Foundation on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Go to http://adaptivetrainingfoundation.org/ to check out their site that shows the rosters of the people that are training, and we encourage you to help this incredible mission. 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

Don Yaeger joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Don is an award-winning keynote speaker, business leadership coach, 11-time New York Times best selling author and a long-time associate editor for Sports Illustrated. Don is a writer, but what has made him a great writer over the years is his thirst for curiosity on how people compete at their highest level. As a speaker, he has worked with audiences as diverse as Fortune 500 companies and Cancer Survivor groups, where he shares his personal stories. In this episode, you will hear how Don is a story-teller and many of the stories he tells involve elite competitors. He loves to share the human side of those elite performers in these stories. In this episode, they discuss when writing first came into his life (4:00), what life was like for him as a kid (6:40), how faith was a big part of his upbringing (8:50), the values his parents passed down to him (9:40), when sports came into his life (11:20), what he loves about sports (12:10), what inspired him to pursue a career in sports journalism (13:35), the similarities he observes in different environments that he’s involved in (16:20), if curiosity and/or competition can be developed (18:40), David Ross story about how he developed his leadership (21:05), what allowed David Ross to interpret something as feedback as opposed to criticism (25:20), what David Ross learned that makes a great teammate (27:20), how he saw people mentally prepare and then shift when they got between the lines (31:30), why he pivoted to do other things in his career besides journalism (35:40), when he feels most alive (39:50), his biggest fear (42:10), what he intentionally does to make sure his greatest fear doesn’t happen (42:40), if you can be great in your career while being great in your home life (43:50), what he does to be present (45:30), how he writes a book a year (46:40), and what he learned from himself from this conversation that he’ll take with him (51:30). Thank you to Don for coming on the podcast. You can follow him on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter @DonYaeger and he shares a quote a day with a group of about 50,000 people at 8 am ET. He has also built an online learning class that has a meaningful purpose and takes them from point a to point b. Their first course just went live a few weeks ago, and it’s called Journey to Greatness, and they go through the elements of what he’s learned from the greatest winners he’s had a chance to work with. 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

Bram Weinstein joins us on this week’s episode of the podcast. Bram covered the Washington Redskins for a number of years, worked on sports talk radio, and eventually became an anchor on ESPN’s SportsCenter. When he finished up at ESPN, he came back to the DC area in sports talk radio, and now he has decided that he wants to go into the world of podcast production. He brings a great perspective on performing under the pressure. He also shares his thoughts on media, and specifically sports talk media in this conversation. In this episode, they discuss the crazy story when Bram and Brian first met (4:10), what life was like for him as a kid (12:10), if his parents wanted him to go into broadcast journalism (14:10), the dynamic with his siblings (16:30), the values his parents passed down to him (17:30), where creativity comes from for him and his brother (19:30), where he saw himself while in high school (22:10), what covering the Redskins involved (23:05), how much ESPN was around during his childhood (25:00), his interview process with ESPN (27:10), his thoughts on the mindset in preparation vs. performance (29:30), how he listens during interviews (35:30), the people he emulated (38:00), how much of broadcasting is writing (39:40), the difference between print and broadcast (43:00), when he has felt most alive in his career (44:30), what lead writing is (46:00), how gratitude has helped or hurt him (47:30), what it’s like to be on sports talk radio (53:40), what his authentic self looks like (56:20), the biggest mistake he’s made on air (57:40), how he balances fandom and doing what he loves (58:40), the routines/habits he does to make sure he’s ready to perform (1:00:20), if he ever gets nervous (1:02:30), his thoughts on preparation before performance (1:08:30), what he’s up to now (1:10:30), his biggest fear (1:12:30), what the media landscape will look like in 2030 (1:14:30), and how he makes sense of the AAF ratings being so high (1:16:15) Thank you to Bram for coming on the podcast. You can find him @RealBramW on Twitter and Instagram. AmpireMedia.com will be coming out shortly, and it will coincide with the studio getting up and running. Bram is open for business and has a long history of performing so he brings a unique view point of how things should be put together. At the same time, he is looking forward to collaborating with people on ideas and stories and is open to all ideas. 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