Imperfectly Human™ | Athlete Identity & Life After Sport

Rachel Blogg | Athlete Identity Coach
  • 5.0 (17)
  • Sports
  • Updated Semiweekly

Imperfectly Human™ is the podcast that explores the human being behind the athlete. Hosted by athlete identity coach, performance coach, and therapist Rachel Blogg, this podcast helps current and former athletes navigate the mental side of sport—from performance pressure and confidence to injury, retirement, identity, and life after sport. Each episode features honest conversations with athletes, coaches, sports professionals, and experts about the challenges that don't show up on the highlight reel. Together, we explore athlete identity, mental performance, sports psychology, resilience, confidence, and the transition beyond competition. Whether you're competing at a high level, recovering from an injury, adjusting to retirement, or trying to rediscover your purpose after sport, you'll gain practical tools and real conversations to help you move forward with confidence. Because your performance is something you do, not who you are. Welcome to Imperfectly Human™.

  1. 6d ago

    Confidence Is Knowing You Can Handle It

    What if confidence isn’t believing everything will work out, but trusting yourself when it doesn’t? Rachel Blogg sits down with adventurer, executive coach, author, and keynote speaker Lei Wang, the first Asian woman to complete the Explorer’s Grand Slam by climbing the highest peak on every continent and skiing to both the North and South Poles. Her journey began not as a lifelong athlete, but as a self-described former book nerd wondering what might happen if she challenged the story she had always told herself about who she was. Lei shares what climbing Mount Everest taught her about fear, risk, mental strength, and the difference between pushing through discomfort and knowing when stopping is the right decision. She and Rachel explore how real confidence is built through experience, why reaching the summit is only halfway, and how learning to trust yourself can change what you believe you're capable of. It’s a conversation about courage, identity, and realizing that who you’ve been doesn’t have to determine who you become next. Connect with Lei: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JourneyWithLei LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leiwang/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/journeywithlei/ Stay connected with Rachel: LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok ℹ️ The podcast content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice.

    Confidence Is Knowing You Can Handle It

  2. Sep 22

    Who Are You When Your Body Changes?

    What happens when the body you’ve spent decades training suddenly doesn’t work the way it did before? Rachel Blogg sits down with IFBB Pro wheelchair bodybuilder Sharla Peterson to talk about the catastrophic spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down and forced her to confront a life she never expected. Sharla shares what happened when her L1 vertebrae burst during a squat, the uncertainty that followed, and the moment she realized her wheelchair might be a permanent part of her life. She opens up about finding purpose again through adaptive bodybuilding, eventually returning to the stage and earning her IFBB Pro card. Rachel and Sharla also explore athlete identity, independence, accepting a new reality, finding progress without perfection, and learning that rebuilding your life doesn’t always mean becoming the person you were before. Sometimes it means discovering what you’re capable of now. Connect with Sharla: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ifbbpro_fit_chick_onwheelz/?hl=en Stay connected with Rachel: LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok ℹ️ The podcast content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice.

    Who Are You When Your Body Changes?

  3. Sep 15

    Why Failure Is Part of Growth

    What if failure isn’t the thing holding you back, but the thing teaching you how to move forward? Rachel Blogg sits down with entrepreneur, mentor, and House of Bricks founder Adam House Sr. for a candid conversation about entrepreneurship, resilience, identity, and learning to keep moving when life and business don’t go according to plan. Adam shares lessons from building multiple companies, returning to basketball in his 30s to pursue his dream of playing professionally, and learning to see failure as information rather than an ending. He explains his approach of testing, failing, learning, and growing, why asking for help is a strength, and the importance of surrounding yourself with trusted advisors. Rachel and Adam also explore the identity shifts that come with leaving a business or sport behind, adapting when the original plan changes, and why meaningful progress often requires being willing to get things wrong along the way. Connect with Adam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamhousesr/ Stay connected with Rachel: LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok ℹ️ The podcast content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice.

    Why Failure Is Part of Growth

  4. Sep 8

    When Healthy Habits Become an Obsession

    When does discipline stop being healthy and start taking over your life? Rachel Blogg sits down with adaptive performance advisor Alyssa Spaw for an honest conversation about bodybuilding, body image, disordered eating, perfectionism, and the complicated relationship high performers can develop with exercise, nutrition, and their own expectations. Alyssa opens up about how fitness initially made her feel strong and empowered before competitive bodybuilding became tied to restriction, bingeing, over-exercising, and an identity she eventually knew she needed to leave behind. She and Rachel share their own experiences with extreme exercise and disordered eating while exploring what sustainable wellness actually looks like. They also talk about adapting health habits during difficult seasons, letting go of all-or-nothing thinking, and why sometimes five minutes of movement is exactly what your mind and body need. Connect with Alyssa: LinkedIn, Instagram, Website Stay connected with Rachel: LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok ℹ️ The podcast content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice.

    When Healthy Habits Become an Obsession

  5. Sep 1

    Who Are You When the Sport Ends?

    What happens when the sport that shaped so much of your life is no longer the center of it? Rachel Blogg sits down with her son, Cole Whipple, for a personal conversation about growing up as an athlete, playing college basketball, and realizing that walking away from competition didn’t mean losing who he was. Instead, Cole found relief, rediscovered his love for basketball, and learned that the sport could remain part of his life without defining his identity. Now 22 and preparing to move across the country to begin a career working with UFC athletes, Cole reflects on transitioning from college basketball player to team manager, building meaningful relationships, and learning to embrace change without obsessing over the outcome. Rachel and Cole also get candid about what it was like growing up with a therapist and performance coach as a mom, what parents of athletes sometimes get wrong, and why moving forward doesn’t require having your entire future figured out. Connect with Cole: LinkedIn, Instagram Stay connected with Rachel: LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok ℹ️ The podcast content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice.

    Who Are You When the Sport Ends?

  6. Aug 25

    When Making the NFL Is Just the Beginning

    What happens when you finally reach the level you worked so hard for, only to realize the pressure is just beginning? Rachel Blogg sits down with NFL player Tyron Herring for an honest conversation about chasing a professional football career, getting cut, changing teams, managing expectations, and learning to separate who you are from how you perform. Tyron shares the mental pressure of knowing every practice could affect your future, the sacrifices people never see, and how faith, mantras, and a commitment to the process have helped him navigate the uncertainty of professional sports. He also opens up about writing his book after being cut, finding value beyond football, and why athletes need interests, relationships, and purpose outside their sport. Together, Rachel and Tyron explore an important truth for athletes at every level: you can want the dream with everything you have while still knowing you'll be okay if the dream changes. Connect with Tyron: Instagram, Tiktok Stay connected with Rachel: LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok ℹ️ The podcast content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice.

    When Making the NFL Is Just the Beginning

  7. Aug 18

    When Being a Fighter Becomes Who You Are

    What happens when the thing you love most becomes inseparable from who you are? Rachel Blogg sits down with professional MMA fighter and former UFC fighter Charles Rosa for an honest conversation about athlete identity, pressure, mental health, trauma, and the complicated reality of imagining life after fighting. Charles opens up about losing his two older brothers, finding an outlet through MMA, battling depression when fighting is absent, and the devastating neck injury that doctors said gave him less than a 1% chance of returning to the cage. He shares how he fought his way back, what losses have taught him about separating performance from self-worth, and how becoming a father is changing the way he thinks about risk, family, and his future. As he prepares for his first bare-knuckle boxing fight at Fenway Park, Charles reflects on a question many athletes eventually face: Who am I when I can no longer do the thing that has defined me? Connect with Charles: https://www.instagram.com/charlesrosamma Stay connected with Rachel: LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok ℹ️ The podcast content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice.

    When Being a Fighter Becomes Who You Are

  8. Aug 11

    Who Are You When Your Athletic Career Ends?

    What happens when the sport that shaped your identity is suddenly gone? In this deeply personal episode, Rachel Blogg shares why Imperfectly Human is entering a new chapter with a focused mission: helping athletes navigate life after sports. Drawing from her work as a therapist and mental performance coach, as well as her own experience recovering from a life-changing injury, Rachel opens up about the emotional challenges that come when competition ends and the next chapter begins. She explores the identity loss that can follow retirement, injury, graduation, being cut from a team, or simply aging out of a sport. Rachel reflects on her own journey through depression after an injury forced her away from endurance racing, and how she slowly rebuilt her life by redefining movement, purpose, and self-worth. She also shares what listeners can expect moving forward, including conversations with current and former athletes, coaches, sports psychologists, and other professionals who help athletes thrive beyond competition. This episode is a reminder that your greatest strength was never your sport—it has always been the person underneath the uniform. Stay connected with Rachel: LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok ℹ️ The podcast content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice.

    Who Are You When Your Athletic Career Ends?
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About

Imperfectly Human™ is the podcast that explores the human being behind the athlete. Hosted by athlete identity coach, performance coach, and therapist Rachel Blogg, this podcast helps current and former athletes navigate the mental side of sport—from performance pressure and confidence to injury, retirement, identity, and life after sport. Each episode features honest conversations with athletes, coaches, sports professionals, and experts about the challenges that don't show up on the highlight reel. Together, we explore athlete identity, mental performance, sports psychology, resilience, confidence, and the transition beyond competition. Whether you're competing at a high level, recovering from an injury, adjusting to retirement, or trying to rediscover your purpose after sport, you'll gain practical tools and real conversations to help you move forward with confidence. Because your performance is something you do, not who you are. Welcome to Imperfectly Human™.

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