Stay Tranquilo - Olympic Medalist Alex Deibold on Overcoming Adversity & Identity Loss | Life After Sports

Episode Date: August 5, 2025

“You don’t reach excellence by accident.”Olympic snowboarder Alex Deibold joins us to share the powerful journey behind his Olympic medal — and the challenges that came after it.From early sacrifices and heartbreak in Vancouver, to finally reaching the podium in Sochi, Alex takes us through the highs, the lows, and the deep identity crisis that comes after a sports career ends.Now, through community, mentorship, and rediscovering his purpose, Alex is learning how to translate athletic excellence into real-world success — and how to silence the inner critic that once fueled his performance but now threatens his peace.🎯 Topics we cover:The mindset behind Olympic-level performanceHow humility & failure shaped his comebackLosing his Olympic dream after a TBIThe mental health struggle of retiring athletesRebuilding identity, purpose, and passion through PACGolf, growth, and embracing life’s new chaptersThis episode is a must-watch for any athlete, entrepreneur, or high performer navigating transition and looking for what’s next.Subscribe for more powerful stories from the Life After Sports community.#LifeAfterSports #AlexDeibold #Olympics #OvercomingAdversity #AthleteMentalHealth #IdentityCrisis #Motivation #PACGlobal Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Yeah, you don't get to this level of excellence by mistake, right? It comes with, you know, dedication, grit, hard work. It also comes from criticism. In the sports world, right, you get coaching. Your coach's job is to critique you and help you get better. You also build this strong voice inside your head of a self-critic. You're always trying to improve yourself, but that self-critic can also slow you down. I'm not smart enough. I'm not good enough. I only played five years. Exactly. And that those limiting beliefs, can like really halt your progress. And again, when you have a community of people where you're like, you're sitting at these tables and someone's like, oh, this. And I'm like, can I tell you your story?

Can I tell you how inspiring that is? Someone did that to me. And it fires me up to like really buckle down and believe in myself to know that I'm going to because I didn't get to where I was without other people believing in me. Exactly. You know, and you do that through like youth and the development. All right. What's going on everybody? We are here with. Alex Dibald, pro-snowboarder, Olympian. We're going to get into a little bit about your story, talk a little bit about your journey into your career and where you are now. We're here with Pact in Nashville for their event out here. He are sharing a lot of insights with players, NFL players, people like yourself, that all have these kind of walks of lives. And I think

we really want to be able to amplify those stories. So thank you for taking the time today. Yeah, absolutely. Excited to be here. Excited to be here in Nashville, first time in the city. First time interacting with like this sort of caliber of athlete. I've met a lot of pro athletes in my life, but getting to interact with these guys from the NFL, a couple NHL guys here, a couple MLB guys, like so inspiring and rewarding. It is. I mean, the energy in like the rooms when you're walking around is unmatched.

Everyone's kind of bought into this same vision and everyone's here to get better, which I think that's extremely powerful in itself. and you come here you come out of these events and you're motivated and you're you're ready to tack on the next thing so it's awesome yeah it's exciting yeah so your first time in Nashville what what's your thoughts on Nashville a lot of energy in this city I live out in the mountains you know I've spent time in cities before but for the last few years I've been like up in the mountains and to come to Nashville like sort of what I've heard didn't know about hot chicken that's big thing here yeah had to go and check out how do these I think is like the big one down here so many there's so many options um But, you know, sort of one of the things you hear about was like bachelor parties, bachelor parties, bachelorette parties. And, you know, being so close, luckily not being right downtown, but being so close we can walk down there. The energy down there. Music City is insane. We went out one night, every single bar. One after the other had live music playing in it. It was just incredible. And like to go out with a new group of guys and experience that sort of thing was, it was a lot of fun. Yeah. Now that Broadway area is crazy because not only,

is every bar full of live music it's three stories and every story has its own band playing yeah it's it's a lot it's a lot to take it is it is no it's cool there's definitely a ton of energy out here but i want to talk about you talk about your story tell me a little bit about when you got on the board how you got into snowboarding and how that was introduced to you um i've been on a snowboard pretty much my entire life uh skiing snowboarding was very much like a family thing for us uh go up with my aunts, my uncles, my cousins. I started snowboarding at age four, fell into competition, totally on my own. One weekend came around. I was eight years old. I was like, hey, mom, can I do this? Did a local contest. Loved it. It set the hook. And from there on out, I was like really

bought in. I actually, my family moved so I could go to a specialized ski academy. Oh, wow. Yeah, I would snowboard in the morning and go to school in the afternoon. And so I started competing professionally when I was 15, graduated from high school. I had a college acceptance. letter and I got an invite onto the U.S. snowboard team. And so I compete in snowboard cross. You have four guys, four girls competing head to head, go through an obstacle course together, like real similar to motocross. It had just been put into the Olympics. And so they created the US snowboard team. I was on the inaugural border cross team. And so I just started like chasing that path. I decided to defer my enrollment in school, started competing internationally, X games,

those sort of events. 2010, Vancouver, Olympic. I was 23 years old. In my brain, my ego, I was like, I'm going to make it not quite there. It takes a while to develop and get there. I went to the Vancouver Games as a staff member. Like I was the equivalent of like a water boy. I was there to support my teammates, work on their equipment. But I was competing, right? It's not like I came out of nowhere. I was on the World Cup circuit. I was competing at the highest level. I just didn't quite make it onto the Olympic team. But I got to go. swallowed a ton of pride to be on the sideline, support them. But it gave me some really valuable insight in what it's like to be on the biggest field of play that we have. And it lit a fire under my ass, right? Like I really buckled back down, ground really hard. We got four years in between Olympics. It's not exactly like next season.

But going into the 2014 Olympics, I was the first athlete to punch my ticket. You have to finish on the podium in a qualifying event. I punched my ticket to go to the Sochi Games in 2014. And I think because of that experience, when I went as a staff member, I got to, I got to see behind the curtain, right? Like, they are bright lights. It's not what we're used to. And I was able to block all that out, really fortunate to come home with a metal. And I, like, the value in that was because of the experience I had when I was, you know, on my way up, able to, like, take a step back, be like, my coach offer, he's like, hey, we want you to come be to wax tech.

I was a wax technician. And it sucked. And I'm super grateful that I swallowed my pride and said yes to that because it helped me succeed later in life. 100%. And I think there's something interesting there. You look at, it doesn't matter what industry it is, right? Business, sports, right? When you kind of walk every path along the way, you have a different level of appreciation for when you do, in your case, metal.

Like you're going to appreciate the wax technician. you're going to appreciate the water boy. You're going to appreciate them that much more because you did that because you said, I want to bite my pride and I'm going to do whatever I got to do to get into it. And I think there's a level of motivation there where it's not linear, right? You had your path to be able to get there. Someone else may have qualified a different way, but you had a very unique experience in that approach. Anytime you see an elite athlete like at the top of their field,

it's really easy to focus on in on that one person that's achieving. there is a team of people behind that person in every walk of life. And if you can really have an appreciation for that, I call it. It's the team behind the team, right? I was part of the team behind the team. So when I did go to the Olympics, I was always thanking the cooks. I was thanking the staff that was helping us get our equipment. And it gave me this appreciation for that other aspect of life.

But I think athletically, it gave me insight into how to block out all the bright lights, the noise, the media, all that sort of stuff, and focus on my craft. For sure. I want to go back a little bit, right? You talked about that time when you were 15 years old and you got your, or a little bit older at that point, but you got your acceptance letter into college and then, you know, had to make that decision. Talk a little bit about like your thought process, like your family and involvement at that time as to saying, hey, you know what?

I'm going to decide not to go to college and I'm going to go pursue this dream of playing in the USA? It was a tough choice. I got accepted University of Vermont. They have a limited deferment so I could defer my acceptance for a couple years. And I was like, you know what? I'm going to go see what this pathway looks like. I'm going to take, I have a really unique opportunity to like be on this team. I'm going to try it out and see how it goes. And if it doesn't work out, like I can go back to school. And it's a slow grind. Like it's not for me. For me, It was a slow grind for me. I wasn't one of those athletic talents that, like, stepped onto the field and sort of had it.

Yeah. And I, those, you know, first few years, I was, like, really bought in, but gaining experience. And I got a little bit better every year. And so I just sort of kind of kept pushing that, you know, option down the road, down the road. And it, you know, if I could go back, I might do it differently. Hindsight's 2020. Yeah. But I think my family.

never pushed me into anything. They never said, you have to go to college, you have to snowboard, you have to compete any of this. But they did say, if you're going to do something, you have to be all in on it, right? Like that was the only rule was like, if you're going to do something, we want to see you commit. And so when I accepted my nomination onto the national team, I was bought all in. And I looked at that in the long term.

And I was like, I'm going to do this. I had the support of my family emotionally, right? financially I was on my own. My parents are like, you're going to go do this? It's on you to pay your rent. You're doing that. You're paying your own bills. But I had that like emotionally.

I had that support from home and I was like, I got to try. I had wanted to be an Olympian from the time I was 10 years old. 1996, Atlanta Games. I remember like Michael Johnson in his golden shoes. They had the carry strug in the magnificent seven. I remember like seeing that and being like, oh my God. I want that. And so, you know, a few years later, I had the,

opportunity to like take that pathway and I was like this this is what I want like I felt it and so it was it was challenging to to step away from the college route but like I knew in my my heart my soul like that's that's what I wanted to do yeah that's incredible I mean everyone's got the big dreams but you know you put in the time and the effort and the belief yeah to be able to make that happen so talk to me a little bit about you know when you were going through that qualifying time of your life to get into the Olympics. Like what was the thought process? What was kind of like the work ethic that you were putting in?

You saw obviously the opportunity to be able to do it. But it's obviously a grind. You're talking about the elite of the elite in that space. Right. Like it's not just like, hey, you got a bid. Congratulations. Like no, like you're proven that you deserve that spot. So what was that process?

Like what were you doing? Training wise mentally. How did that all look for you? I mean, that experience in 2010, like I got to feel. it and me there and it reminded me like how badly I wanted that. So I buckled back down and I started I got back in the gym. I started working with my trainers. I like really took my commitment and training to like the next level. Four dudes. That's all they take. They take four guys or girls per discipline. That's it. And so it's it is a small small crew. And I just yeah, I buckled back

down. For me, what I figured out, I got, I got strong in the gym, but I also explored other pathways of like, how can I get strong mentally? And I found for me, the method was I found success through focusing in on the things that I can control, a hundred percent control, right? Like, if you put that goal out there, like, I want to win, you don't have control over that. I'm on the field of play with other competitors. I don't control what line they take or where they're going or any, the weather, you know, we compete outside. We don't have any control over that sort of stuff. And so I narrowed my focus in on like the things that I had 100% control of.

What was my breathing like? You know, where was my vision? Was I going to be aggressive or was I going to be tactical? And when I narrowed my focus way down in just onto those things that I could control, it allowed me to block out a lot of distractions. and I could see events that I went and competed in as a success, even when I didn't stand on the podium. And so by knocking out a lot of those other distractions and really bringing my focus into this narrow point, it allowed me to find success because I wasn't thinking about like I want to win. I was thinking about what are the things that I can do that will help me win.

Right. Put yourself in the best position possible to be able to win. Yeah, exactly. The people you're competing against are also doing their processes and their things to be able to put themselves in the best position to succeed. All you can control is really what I'm going to do to put myself in that spot. Yeah, absolutely. And it worked out. It panned out for me. I'm really grateful.

Yeah. It's interesting. I think one of the challenges, like I was very fortunate to have a long career. I knew I wanted to be an Olympian from the time I was 10. Start competing when I was eight, professional at 15. I'm 39 now. Like I did that for 19 years. That's a long time.

Sports, they have a finite timeline on them. You're an athlete, like, you're never going to do it forever. I was an outlier in how long I got to do it. But by doing it for a long time, it was like, what's next? Right. I started asking that question years ago, like, what am I going to do after that? And the transition out is hard. Yeah.

Like that's what this PAC community is about. That transition out is hard. How can I take all those things that I've learned as an athlete that help me be one of the best in the world and apply that to other areas of my life? And I'm grateful to be part of this PAC community now because we have mentors and people here that can help us translate those skills into other areas of my life so I can find success off the field of play. No, yeah, that's for sure. I think you hit something that's extremely prominent in all of sports, right? It's that shift in identity when the sports taken away from you, right? Yeah. It's like, who am I?

Like, I just devoted my whole life to this. Now it's gone. It's gone in an external way. It's always going to be a part of you. Yes. But it's who am I now in this world? And there's so many athletes that struggle with that. And it doesn't even have to be at the pro level, right?

You have these high school athletes, right, that they're playing. playing sports from the moment they're five years old, they're trying their best to maybe make it to college. And then if you make it to college, you know, then it's like that percentage shrinks that much more, right? But the devotion of time and energy and resources, family, right, money, all these things that go into it. And then all of a sudden it's like, well, I didn't make it to college now. Or I didn't, I got hurt, you know, whatever that situation may be. And then you don't know what to do with your life after that. And I think that is such a big struggle in the sports world where your identity is just stripped from you and then you have nothing.

Yeah. And I think the thing about the pro athlete community that I love and appreciate is that I didn't play a single down in NFL. I didn't play P&A football. I'm surrounded in this room with a bunch of NFL guys, immediate connection. I can talk to these guys across the table and be like, oh, you did this, you ground this way. Like, you know, what are the challenges that you dealt with? And as someone outside that field, I'm like, oh, you're in the NFL, you made it. You guys are superheroes. You have a quick conversation with them, and they are all dealing with the same shit that I'm dealing with. Right.

Right. Like identity crisis. I wasn't that good. You know, like, oh, I only played five years. I got, like, dude, you were in the NFL. I know. And so that commonality, like, it creates this immediate bond. And for me, dealing with, like, you know, getting.

to interact with athletes outside of my own like Olympic bubble, man, has it been like enlightening, motivating, inspiring, like, hey, you know, people from a lot of areas walk to life that I didn't grow up around that have insight into other areas that I want to explore. And there are people here to help support you in that journey. And I think that there is so much power in coming together. It's hard, right? You got to be vulnerable. Like, it's a little bit scary to put, you know, especially like being an athlete, being a man, like being strong, you got to drop the guard down and the amount of people that are there to help you succeed in that next realm. I mentioned before, like the team behind the team, like we are now building that next team behind

the team. Yeah. It's true. I think for me that's something that's always, I think, helped me is just like that commonality when you hear other people's stories and their struggles that they're dealing with being like, okay, I'm not the only one dealing with this, right? It gives you such a peace of mind because you think it's a you problem when it's really like a we problem. Yes.

It's we're all dealing with this struggle. We're all dealing with this identity crisis like you mentioned because you go through your whole life. You're this person and then all of a sudden you're not. And then you're like, okay, this is a this is there's something wrong with me. Yes. Which it's it's so far from the truth. And when you're here around all these other people that are kind of dealing with it and like how you mentioned, right? Oh, I only played five years in the NFL.

Right. like look at the from so the common man right yeah it's like no you you did it yeah you made it happen and you got to i think acknowledge what you've been able to achieve i don't know about you but i struggle with this too like i don't think we give ourselves enough credit for the things that we've been able to accomplish right and there's something that always kind of sticks with me and helps me with that is like look back at your life five years from before right and see like the progression that you've actually made we're so focused on tomorrow and that's the future. Right? And and and I think that just comes from the ambition as being motivated people,

right? Like there's nothing wrong with that. But during that journey of life, you have to give yourself those pads in the back and acknowledge what you've been able to accomplish. Yeah, you don't get to this level of excellence by mistake. Right. It comes with, you know, dedication, grit, hard work. It also comes from criticism. In the sports world, right, you get coaching. Your coach's job is to, is to critique you and help you get better. You also build this strong. voice inside your head of self-critic. You're always trying to improve yourself, but that self-critic can also slow you down. I'm not smart enough. I'm not good enough. I only played five years. Exactly. And that those limiting beliefs can like really halt your progress. And again, when you have

a community of people where you're like, you're sitting at these tables and someone like, oh, this. And I'm like, can I tell you your story? Can I tell you how inspiring that is? Someone did that to me and it fires me up to to like really buckle down and believe in myself to know that I'm gonna because I didn't get to where I was without other people believing in me exactly you know and you do that through like youth and the development but you know like I'm a grown ass man now I got I got a family I got responsibilities and so now doing that with a peer group it feels it feels more it feels more special right feels more rewarding and so I do think that a A piece that you touched on there is like the isolation too.

This is, you know, there's something wrong with me. Right. I'm the only one. You feel alone. You're used to being in the locker room having teammates, right? Like you have this group of people that you're moving through life with. You retire. They're gone?

Yeah, the team's gone. Yeah. And so it feels so painful and isolating. And you step into these rooms. And there are so many people that are feeling the exact same way that you are. Like first and foremost, you're like, there's not something wrong with me. I'm not the only one feeling this way. And now I have a group of people that understand my experience and can help me move through that.

You know, you talk to people outside the sports world that have been at that level. And they're like, yeah, but you did that. So you're great. And it's like, yes, and now I have to figure out what to do next. Just because I was great at one thing doesn't mean I don't feel alone and messed up. And so I can talk to these guys and be like, what are you doing? Oh, you did this? How did you do that?

Right. And you can see, you meet guys in this space that are through different parts of that journey, right? Like, I feel like I've made some progress through. And I see guys that are farther behind than me. And I see guys that are farther in front than me. And I can help the guys that are farther behind and lean on the guys that are farther in front of me. And it's, it's inspiring.

It's filling me with a lot of motivation. I'm going to need that in those times when I start to feel alone again. But damn, it feels good. 100%. You brought up the self-critic. How do you process that self-critic? How do you work through that guy? It feels like it's very easy to try to just shift those thoughts and say, well, no, I can do it.

But it's not really sustainable, right? Because those self-critic thoughts get louder and louder sometimes. I think PAC has equipped me with a process to build a system, right? In sports, you build a system to get better. I know about how that works. I can look at progression. They're helping me build a system. When that inner critic shows up, this is what I can do.

Take note of it. Look at it. Talk to your peers, right? Setting us up for long-term support. But like building a system, when that inner critic, gets, you know, really loud. All right, these are the steps I'm going to take. What can I do?

Okay, next time, maybe it's not quite as loud. Like, I'm going to take these few steps, right? When I was an athlete, I'm like, oh, I have this problem. I got to do X, Y, and Z. Now when that inner critic shows up, like, I have these tools in place to look at, okay, this is what's happening. This is what I need to do, X, Y, and Z. Yeah.

There's been a common theme amongst all the pods that we've done this week, and it's processes. Yes. Without processes, you're not going to be. able to achieve anything right you need a process for everything and when you go to the gym you have a process and you're taking care of your mental you need a process right everything entails some sort of process and then comes the execution on that process but even to execute right like you got to not only build the process but it's got to be a process that's sustainable and doable right because you could put all these things in place but if it's just that hard to achieve the steps in those

processes you're going to be burnt out you're going to you're going to be like this isn't worth it, right? But you got to put these processes in place that are also attainable to achieve. Yeah. It's also like being around people that remind you that you've done that before and remind like, you know, I've moved into careers and I'm going from being the best in the world at something to being a beginner. Yeah. I'm used to humbling. Yeah. It's humbling as hell, but you're used to excellence and you get far enough in life and you expect excellence out of yourself. And when you don't achieve that, you're like, I must not be good at this. When I started my sport when I started snowboarding I wasn't good at it you have to remind yourself like it takes time and

having people to remind you of that and help you learn how to navigate those systems like one of the other things is like it's easy the inner critic thinking this beat myself up I'm not good enough I'm not smart enough whatever the first thing is you have to take action you have to do something exactly and they're helping us like build these systems that help you take the first step it doesn't have to run. You got to learn how to, you know, you got to learn how to crawl to walk and building those like smaller steps when life, when life keeps knocking us down to like take a step. And whether that's looking in your journal or talking with, you know, one of your coaches or leaning on your community, one of my new teammates.

Like those things will help me move forward. Because I know like right now, like I am as fired up as it's going to be in six months from now, that might be different. And I got to be able to have a community of people to lean on to help me take the, you know, start back over. Right. Take the next step. Mm-hmm. No, 100%.

It's not a linear, you know, progression. It's a very up and down ride in life in general, right? Like there's days where you're going to be super motivated. There's days where you're not going to be motivated. As an Olympian, though, right? You've meddled, like you accomplish it. How has that part of your life? taking you to where you are today mentally and what have you learned from from that um that's a good

question um i mean i believe that you know i got to where i'm at today because of humility sometimes that humility can be a disservice an olympic medal is a key right that's a key that unlocks a lot of doors and understanding how to utilize those doors that you're opening or walking through is is really challenging. It's really scary. But at the same time, being able to remind myself when I walk into a new meeting or a new room or I'm thinking about another opportunity, it scares the shit out of me. Yeah. Like, do I really want to be an entrepreneur?

Like, I don't know. I don't know if I, like, I know that I am capable of greatness. But like, what do I do with that? Yeah. And being able to remind myself that I have achieved something at the highest level, I am capable. It reminds me that, like, I am capable and it is possible. Some of the work we're doing here is reminding ourselves of the character traits that got us to that position, writing them down, and then being like, yo, this is hard. Like, I don't know how I'm going to do this.

Look at all these hard things that I did. I can do that. reminders like tactile visual things that will help progress me forward because it's it's really easy to forget yeah right like i talked to one of the guys here rookie year caught a game winning interception i'm like where's that ball at he's like that's in storage i'm like what i'm like you don't have that thing out like you don't have to put it on your mantle for everyone to see but like you know maybe it's a you thing yeah yeah yeah maybe in your room as like because i could see him struggling. My Olympic medal lives in a bedside drawer. I don't look at it. It's not out all the time.

But it's close enough where I can take it out and I can, the best part about it is sharing it with people. Yeah. But it's a reminder of like what I'm capable of. And so I'm chatting with this guy and he's like, oh, that's in storage. I'm like, dude, get that thing out. He's struggling right now. Remind yourself of the greatness that you are capable of and use that. You don't, if you want to, you can, you can advertise that. You don't have to put it on the mantle. It doesn't have to. to be out front and define you, but it's such a powerful reminder of what you are capable of. And so being in pack and reminding myself of what I'm capable of and using that energy to move forward into the next chapter of my life is, is powerful.

It's interesting because there's like this, it's a tough balance, right? Really hard. It's like this concept of humility, right? What you talk about and confidence, right? You know, the people that are Uber confident are like, oh, this guy's cocky and arrogant, right? But the guy that's very humble lacks confidence, right? He's just kind of like to himself and just not out there, right? But there's a need for both, right?

Like you can't be the super arrogant, cocky guy because people are not going to resonate with you, right? You've got to have that humility to create that sort of connection. Whereas you want to be humble and you want to have that humility, but you need that confidence to be able to to understand. what you can achieve. Yeah, absolutely. Do you have any sort of thoughts on like how you balance that kind of comfort? It's not easy. I personally struggle with that a lot too, right? It's like, when I'm here, it feels like, oh, maybe, maybe I'm too high. I need to bring myself down. Well, now I'm like, well, now I'm too low. Like, I need to get here. It's like, it's a back and forth

kind of like tug of war battle. I think workshopping it through with your peers, like the people that, you know, I've been fortunate to be through programs similar to this, not as powerful in the past. And the people that I connected with from that, like I check in with all the time. I did it years ago, right? Before I retired. And some of those people that I did it with, I'm still in touch with every once in a while, like a couple weeks, I haven't heard from this personal while. I'll shoot him a quick tech, how things going.

People are succeeding. Hiked them up. That's awesome. Some people are not doing well. I'm available, like text message because I built a connection with them through sport. And so that's what I'm taking away from PAC. the amount of phone numbers I've got where I'm going to check in with guys. How's things going?

Oh, you're creating this new brand. It's not going well. I'm struggling with this. Have you talked to these people? Hey, remember what you're capable of. And so the same thing goes both ways of like, dude, I'm struggling. I don't know how to do this shit and someone will hype me up. And at the same time, like, oh, things are going really well.

I'm firing on all cylinders. Let me check in with somebody that's better than me at this so they can keep. me humble, yo, don't make these mistakes. I wouldn't do that if I, this is why I've been here. And connecting with people in different areas that are, again, at different processes in that journey, whether that's through retirement in their career, there's real value in being able to hype yourself up and keep yourself humble at the same time. Yeah, that's a great way to put it.

It's also like the willingness to help people, but also the willingness to accept the help when you need it. Yeah, it's hard. That's, that's a hard thing to do. It's your ego coming in. It's like, oh, you don't need the help. You don't need the help. You don't need the help.

Like you, you, it's like, you know you need the help, but you don't want to accept it because it's like you're giving someone else power. You don't want to ask for it. Yeah. You don't want to ask for it because it feels weak. Right. And there's a lot of strength and power and be able to say, hey, I need help. Exactly. Yeah.

Exactly. So I want to talk about the injury that you had late in your career. Yeah. Obviously, that was devastating considering the timing. had already qualified for the Olympics at that point. Talk about like where you were mentally when all that happened. So qualified in 2014, won a medal. Next four years, 2018, going into that season as elite as I have ever been. The season before those Olympics was the best season I ever had in my career. Going to those games, don't qualify. I was the alternate. Like I was so

close that I got brought over to Korea to sit on the sidelines. Sport we do is dangerous. And in case someone got hurt and like that crushed me. And that was the first time in my life where I sitting on the sidelines. I'm like, what am I doing after this? Like this pain, this hurts. And so I sort of started to veer away from sports a little bit and think about what's next. I got my first corporate job.

But that fire like still burned within me. And I recommit it. I was like, I tried this how I learned. I stepped into the workplace and I was like, okay, learn these things. I struggled because I was like fresh into it. And step back into sport, I was like, I still got it, right? I still have it and qualified for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, China. And like they named the team like two, less than two weeks before we go to the field of play.

Right? Like it's right before. Punch my ticket, right? Like, here's your golden ticket. You're going to the Olympics. That, like, that career journey of, like, making it failing again. And then back up. I was over.

We had one more event right before the Olympics. And I believe that I had the success I did going to those games because I didn't put myself on ice. It's not like I, you know, like, oh, you know, we won the, you know, we fit in the NFL. felt like, you know, we're going to the playoffs. We're just not going to play anymore. You might rest a little bit in between there and go throughout strategically, but like, you got to be firing on all cylinders if you want to succeed at the end. And so we had one event before the games. And I was like, I got it. I got to be firing on all cylinders. I got to sharpen the tip of that spear before I

go over to this biggest event. And yeah, just made like a small mistake. Like, seen the crash. doesn't look like that much. And yeah, I got a TBI, a traumatic brain injury. I was in a medically induced coma for 36 hours. Wow. And I woke up in the hospital and my wife was, I was in Italy, woke up in the hospital. My wife is sitting at the foot of my bed seven months pregnant. And I'm like, what are you doing here?

And she's like, you had a bad crash. I'm like, I can see that. I'm like, what day is it? And she's like, it's Monday. Monday was the day that I was getting on a plane to fly over to the Olympics. And so I looked at her and I was like, man, I was like, I'm probably not going to the games, huh? And she's like, no, like you're not. Close my eyes, went back to sleep.

It hurt in that moment. Like it was, there was so much pain. Like I had broken over that threshold. I had punched my golden ticket and I didn't get to go over there and compete. And it really, it. God, it hurt. I think with time, you can look back. And I'm grateful.

I've been in my career for a long time. I walked out of the hospital on my own two feet. And that's not true of everyone that I grew up competing with. And so I was able to shift into this mindset of gratitude. You know, like my wife is healthy. My soon-to-be child is healthy. And I used that experience to be like, it's time. Like, it's time to think about what's next.

And it forced the timeline up a little bit faster than I was ready for, which is part of the pain of this transition. Yeah, right? It's not like you think about- You didn't make that personal choice. Yeah, exactly. I feel like I had that choice taken away from me a little bit. And you think about people who transitioning their careers, like people are working for a while and like, yo, I'm ready for a change. They make that choice and say, I'm going to go try something else. Yeah.

I had been thinking about it, but the universe was like, nope, it's time. Exactly. And so that transition out was hard, but it takes time. And I wish that I had people like, you know, pack around me then because that's like, hindsight is 2020. Yeah. But having that community around you to like support you in that process is super important. And so, yeah, I didn't get. to I didn't get to necessarily write the end of my story the way that I wanted, but I just,

I feel gratitude that I got to do something that I loved for as long as I did, and I got to move on with my mind and body, because that's not the way it works for everybody. And so it hurt. It taught me a lot, you know, like you want to talk about overcoming adversity, be able to share your story and it's just a good reminder of like practicing gratitude for what you have now instead of thinking what could have been or what needs to be next right and so just being in that moment and just being appreciative of what you have where you've been and the potential that you have in front of you exactly it's a it's another page in your chapter of life yeah like you talked about things that you can and can't control unfortunately that's one of those things that

that you just couldn't control. And the universe had a plan for you. And in that moment, it was an unfortunate event. Yeah. But to your point, it turned, it made you stronger. It brought, it brought you so much perspective on things, right? Your family's healthy. You now have a story to tell that in that moment,

you're like, this is not the story I wanted, but it is my story. And through that story, I'm now able to help maybe people that are dealing with certain situations, adversity, right? Like now you can now provide a level, of perspective to other people that are also going through the same thing, which is extremely powerful. And relatable too, right? Like, not everyone can relate to winning a medal at the Olympics or playing in the NFL or making it to the big on the baseball field. But everyone has had to

overcome some sort of adversity. They've had to face challenges. Whether or not you play sports or not, you've had to deal with injuries, right? And so it makes, I can share that story in a way that is relatable and connect with more people. Yeah. Right? Connect with more people. people. Exactly. Do you know Inky Johnson? I don't. Okay.

You got to look up Inky Johnson. Okay. So Inkey Johnson, I believe, played for Tennessee in college football player. Yep. He was projected to be a first round pick, maybe even a top 10 pick. Like, you know, life about to change. Yep. Going to be one of the best DBs in the NFL, like high high prospect.

And one of his last games of the season, right before the draft, he's ready to roll, getting in. He goes in for a hit. And when he hits, right, he kind of like, leads with his shoulder and he hit something here in the nerves of his neck completely lost complete control of his right arm ended up having to amputate his arm and now kind of has like just up to here of his arm yep and of course football career over forever yep done and he now is like one of the biggest motivational speakers he goes to every NFL game or every NFL team he's

talking to the large corporations and it's all about that. He's like, my path, my whole life thought was, I'm going to be an NFL player and I'm going to be a good one at it. Right. Like, everything was pointing that way, but something said, no, it's not. Like, you did this to this point and now on, you're actually going in a completely different direction. It's going to be very dark in that moment, but here you are using that pain for power. And you turn to be one of the most motivational people now that exists because of what you went through. your life was stripped from you, your identity was stripped from you, everything was taken away from you. But that's where that personal choice comes in to say, hey, I'm not going to let this ruin me, right?

Because you could fall into that dark place and say, you know, screw the world, like I had everything and now it's gone and you have all this anger and all this just frustration now. And all of a sudden it's like, no, you know what? I'm not going to let that happen, right? Because I'm still here, right? I'm alive. I'm well. I can now use this story as motivation. And he has done a phenomenal job of kind of shifting that narrative, which I think, you know, very relatable to you. He's probably, and this is the thing, like you get so focused on a singular thing. It's hard. Sometimes you can lose the

forest in the trees. And I bet that he has gone farther in life because of that than even if he had gone to play in the NFL, now he's, I mean, timeline in the NFL is like two years. You know, talking to some of these guys that have played longer than that is incredible. How long, you know, he can tell that story forever. He's got a long runway. And so. And the level of impact now that he's been able to make compared to, let's say he played an NFL career, he's changed lives over the course of his lifetime that he may be never changed,

which at the end of the day, we're all here for a purpose. and I think it's all for a purpose of good, right? So why, you know, unfortunately things happen, but at the end of the day, we're here to help people through the adversities that we face. Yeah, and how can you translate your experience to have a meaningful impact on the people that you meet and the people around you?

Yeah, 100%. So now, right, your lifestyle now, talk to me about what that is. I know we were kind of talking offline, a lot of hobbies now into golf, right? kind of letting yourself kind of open up into, you know, new things and, and finding your new identity today. I think for me, I was very fortunate to have some success in my career. The field of play that I'm on, like, there's not a lot of money there. When I decided to retire, like, it was, it was time to get a job right away. Yeah. And so I dove into that. I am the

snowboard program director for a youth sports organization, right? Staying close to my field of play. I'm an expert in that, but there is, there feels like a piece that is missing, right? Like being a professional athlete, when you leave that, like there's a hole that is created that feels really hard to fill. I am really grateful that I had an opportunity. I'm learning and I'm growing. I struggle with it. Having conversations while I've been here at Pax and I was like, you know, how do you feel about it?

I'm like, I don't really like my job. I kind of hate my job. Why do you hate your job? I'm like, because I'm not good at it, right? I'm used to excellence. And so going through some of the work here has been like, you know, actually this, the job that I have right now may align with my values a little bit more than I can see. I'm in that like dark place where I'm used to excellence and I'm learning and growing

and taking those steps. PAC has like provided some tools that like I cannot wait to implement because it will help me professionally develop faster by translating my athletic skills into workplace tools that help, you know, they help me as an athlete. They will now help me in the workplace. So it's helped me like reframe maybe my perspective. It's given me some new tools to move forward. And also I'm scared, right?

Like I'm scared to try other things. And I've been exposed to some opportunities of other options that I could go and do after that with a group of peers that are going to go through the same thing. And so like feeling definitely like more motivated and inspired to like maybe put myself in that uncomfortable zone a little bit farther out from where I've been. And so I want to take the tools that I'm learning. I want to implement them right now. I want to be exposed to these other career path opportunities and say like, yeah, maybe I do want to go into tech or maybe I do want to think about real estate. And those opportunities are scary when there are pros around and now,

you know, like, hey, how did you do this? What are the biggest mistakes I need to look out for? Exactly. Can you support me in building a system or a process that will help me get through this in a way that is a little bit easier. Right. Because we're all going to fail, right? If you can learn from people to avoid their failures first, you're going to get there faster, which is what as an athlete we want. Exactly.

And so, yeah, like, I'm grateful. I am struggling. I'm in a good spot, but I am in a place now where I'm like more motivated to go back to what I'm doing right now. And I'm also motivated to like explore other opportunities and options. that are around me with a group of people that understand that whole that I feel that I'm trying to fill. Yeah.

No, there's excitement in new, right? There's fear in new. Definitely fear. But there's also a high level of new. It's like when you open up that book for the first time or you try that first food for the first time, right? Like it's like, I don't know if I'm going to like this, but I'm excited to try it. And then all of a sudden you're like, damn, I like this.

Yeah. So there's there's a give and take with it, but there's that other side of it that when you do do it and you realize is that you do it, you're like, damn, this is pretty cool. Like yesterday with the curling. Yes, I was just about to know that with the curling. I'm watching these guys current. I'm like, dude, I don't know if I want to do this, you know?

Like, I'm scared I'm going to mess up and look dumb out there. You know, like, there's fear getting in your head. It's like, when are you going to be able to do this again? Right? Like, go out there. The moment I get on the ice, I'm like, ooh, this feels cool. It is nice. Then you do that first push off the block and you're like,

damn, that was pretty cool. And I'm like, I want to do that again. Yeah, dude. You had a team, right? Like we had a little mini locker room. Like we came up with the team name. We fired up. Like people came up to me like, man, you were really into that.

I'm like, yeah, I got to like have a new team. We motivated. We tried something new. It was fun. It was silly. Like, when am I going to go curling? Right. Exactly.

It's not like, oh, hey, let's go try this out. Oh, by the way, this guy over here, he played 14 years in the NHL. Like, I'm like, oh, he's like, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how to do this. But man, it was. It was so fun. And it's like such a good reminder of like the new can be really fun. It can be intimidating and scary.

Oh, I'm going to walk into this office space and this guy over here has been here for 14 years. He walked through this door for the first time at some point or another life. And so if you can like do that with a cohort, right, whether or not you're going into the same job or not, but you're like going into this new experience like, oh, man, I don't, I don't know how to do this. Oh, you got your first sale. Oh, you just opened up your first property or whatever it is. Like that is, it's for sure, it's anxiety in producing. I'm anxious, but it's also exciting.

And I feel like being able to do it with a group of good humans that sort of understand your user experience makes it a little bit more, a little bit less scary. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Before we wrap it up, I got a big golf guys. Yeah. I got to talk to you about your golf game. I saw that you actually played with Wyndham Clark.

I did. How was that? Intimidating. A ton of fun. You know, like in this, you know, as I, for me, as I transitioned through sport, like I realized I love competing. Like in curling last night. Like I'm not competitive, you know. I'm just competitive in life.

And so when I was getting ready to transition out of sport, I'm like, yo, I need a competitive outlet. Like, this is something that's important to me. And things that I'd done growing up, I raced bikes. I did some other things. Like, they beat up on your body. It gets hard. And I was like, yo, I love golf. You know, I, like, found that niche.

And I didn't realize, I'm like, I'm going to go out. I can go out and compete against myself every single time I play. Or I can go out and compete against my buddies, which is like getting those competitive juices flowing. And so, yeah, like, you know, through, you know, through my success, I've been able to build some relationships. I had some introductions for this event in Colorado. And Wyndham is from Colorado as well. And I got to meet him. You're a fan.

I'm like a fan of Wyndham, right? The dude won the U.S. Open. I'm like, this guy is elite. started chatting and immediately we can build a connection right away of like oh you're an athlete I'm an athlete these are things and like yeah like you get on the T-box like I'm on his field of play right like you got to check your ego he plays with beginners all the time yeah like man it was it was so fun like golf golf to me is is important and like coming from snowboarding right extreme sports counterculture punk rock yeah you know why are you playing golf like yo because I love it

yeah found my community there too. Being here back talking to these players like, oh, you play golf? Yeah, I'm like a 14. I remember when I was a 14. Like we should tee it up sometime. Yeah. Yeah, golf has been like a really important avenue for me to like stay connected with the important part part of me while continuing forward building new relationships, going to see cool things, being able to compete against myself, against others. It's, uh, yeah, man, golf is like, that's an important, that's an important itch for me. I'm obsessed. Me too. And I think as athletes, kind of, kind of what you were talking about, like the competitive component, right?

Like you can compete against others, but really the game of golf is you versus you, right? And it's the time that you devote into improving your swing and improving the style of play. And it's just a constant evolution because even the best of the best, like you don't make it, right? It's like it's always this and always figuring out the putter may not be working or the driver may not be working. It's like, what do I got to do? Right. And it's like putting all these pieces together. And I think golf is such like a symbolic avenue for life or it's like you just you versus you out there.

And it's based off with a time and effort and energy that you put in there. But it's also a great way to just disconnect. Like when you're on the course, the only thing on your mind is golf. Right. It's like what's the next shot? Next shot. What's the next shot? And it's so much fun to like progress and get better.

It is. And the connections that you build out there. Oh my God. Like the people that I've met on the golf course. Like going out as a single, getting paired up with randoms, like getting to interact with other athletes, like wind him. Like asking him questions. Like, yo, he is one of the best in the world. And I watched him mess it up.

I'm like, wait, you make mistakes. Like, come on. You're supposed to be the best at this. And it reminds you like, yeah, like when I was competing and snowboarding, like, I was the best in the world. I made a lot of mistakes, right? And you can translate that into everything. And so like getting out to go and play golf and being like, yo, Today wasn't my day.

Right. Tomorrow might be. Exactly. And just it's, it's so much fun. You can build relationships and like connect with people from all different walks of life. And it's, dude, it's, and I'm grateful. It's something I'm going to do for the rest of my life. For sure.

For sure. Yeah. It's addicting. But I appreciate you for taking the time. Really, really enjoyed the conversation. Excited to see you and your progression in your life and just exactly what Pax's all about, right? Like, what's next for everybody. Yeah.

And being a part of this, having conversations like this are always insightful for me. You know, I always like love hearing people's stories. So to being able to share this moment with you is awesome. Yeah. So much gratitude for PAC and what they've created here in this experience. And conversations like this, being able to share my story, hear other people's stories, connect with people and feel like I'm not alone. Right.

Right. Because I know I'm coming off a high right now, right? Like when you're coming off a high, there's only. only one place to go and that's down. And now I have a group of people that can help me. Exactly. We have a backbone of all of this now. Exactly.

To correct that and like continue that motivation. We're all moving through this together. The accountability is immediate, right? Like we're downstairs like, hey, group meeting next week, what time of day works for you? All right. Be there. Absolutely. Someone's not there.

Someone in my group. Shoot him a text. Accountability. You coming? I want to see you there. And so that accountability like starts with those connection points. but also in like what are you doing yeah oh you know you're going into franchising like have you opened anything up have you talked to anybody and uh i'm excited to to like you know take the energy

that i've i've gotten here and apply it to other areas in my life absolutely it's awesome it's always a powerful week so thank you guys for for tuning in thank you again and we'll see what's next in the chapter of life exactly let's see what's next awesome cool