The Standard

Erin Sarles
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  • Arts

This isn't motivation. This is a movement. The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. Hosts Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe brings raw, truth-packed conversations with athletes, coaches, and leaders about identity beyond performance, discipline that lasts, and legacy that matters. 20-25 minutes of hard-hitting truth you won't hear anywhere else. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

  1. 1d ago

    Beyond the NFL — Career-Ending Injuries, Proactive Wellness, and the Discipline to Rebuild Your Life | Mike Hollis

    What happens when the sport you've dedicated your life to ends, but the physical toll stays with you? In this episode of The Standard Podcast, hosts Thomas Roe and Erin Sarles sit down with Mike Hollis, former NFL Pro Bowl kicker and 1997 NFL scoring leader, to discuss the realities of life after professional football, the long-term impact of injuries, and why taking care of your body shouldn't stop when your athletic career ends. After nine seasons in the NFL, primarily with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Mike's career came to an end following years of chronic back pain and multiple surgeries. But transitioning away from football brought a new set of challenges, from rebuilding healthy habits to finding purpose and maintaining his physical well-being beyond the game. Today, Mike is a certified holistic health coach and the founder of Zealous Wellness, where he shares his personal approach to proactive health, nutrition, and long-term wellness. In this episode, we discuss: The physical demands of an NFL career and the injuries that ultimately led Mike to retire.Why professional athletes often struggle to maintain their health after leaving competition.The importance of nutrition, exercise, and consistent habits for long-term wellness.Mike's personal journey from chronic pain to exploring proactive and holistic approaches to health.His perspectives on supplements, peptides, fasting, and alternative wellness practices.Why discipline and consistency matter just as much after sports as they do during competition.What current athletes can start doing today to prepare for life beyond the game.Mike also reflects on his time in the NFL, the players who left him starstruck, and the lessons he's carried from professional football into his work today. The biggest takeaway? Your athletic career may be temporary, but your health is something you'll carry for the rest of your life. Whether you're a current athlete, former competitor, coach, or parent, this conversation is a reminder that building a legacy means taking care of the person behind the performance. Learn more: Zealous Wellness: https://zealouswellness.com ProForm Kicking: https://proformkicking.com Blueprint to Bluechip: https://blueprintbluechip.com The Standard Podcast — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Disclaimer: This episode features the guest's personal experiences and perspectives on health and wellness. The discussion is for informational purposes and should not be considered medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to medications, supplements, fasting, or treatment plans. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyShare this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leaderFollow us on social media and join the conversationBOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

  2. Oct 29

    The Truth Behind the Numbers — NFL Combine Testing, Athletic Potential, and What Coaches Are Missing | Mike Weinstein

    What if the numbers you've been using to measure athletic performance aren't telling you the full story? In this episode of The Standard Podcast, hosts Thomas Roe and Erin Sarles sit down with Mike Weinstein, Founder and CEO of Zybek Sports, the company behind the precision timing technology used at the NFL Scouting Combine for more than a decade. Mike shares how his engineering background led him to revolutionize athletic performance testing and why accurate, repeatable measurements are essential for athletes looking to improve, compete, and pursue opportunities at the next level. In this episode, we discuss: Why traditional stopwatch times can mislead athletes, parents, and coaches.How Zybek's Standardized Athlete Test (SAT) provides objective, nationally benchmarked performance data.What the NFL Combine reveals about speed, explosive power, and athletic potential.How small, measurable improvements can create significant long-term results.Why athletic testing should be a starting point for development, not a judgment of an athlete's potential.How athletes can use verified results to guide training and strengthen their recruiting credibility.From NFL prospects to young athletes just beginning their journeys, Mike reinforces one powerful message: You can't improve what you don't accurately measure. Discover how objective data, consistent effort, and a commitment to improvement can help athletes understand where they stand and what comes next. It's on you. Check out the upcoming Performance Series: https://blueprintbluechip.com/colorado-blueprint-performance-series Learn more about Blueprint to Bluechip: https://blueprintbluechip.com Learn more about Zybek Sports: https://zybeksports.com The Standard Podcast — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyShare this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leaderFollow us on social media and join the conversationBOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

  3. Oct 22

    The Road Most People in Sports Never Take — Ph.D., the NFL, the Classroom, and What the Industry Isn't Telling You | Ep. 78 Robert Wright

    Most people who want a career in sports pick one lane and chase it. Robert Wright built his career by mastering several — and doing it all at once. Today on The Standard Podcast™, Thomas Roe and Erin Sarles, Founder and CEO of Blueprint to Bluechip™, sit down with Robert Wright — Ph.D. candidate in Sport Administration at the University of New Mexico, Assistant Professor of Sport Management at Lander University, Hampton University alum, and someone who has built his career at the intersection of professional sports, college athletics, and academia. Robert grew up in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, earned his Bachelor's in Sport Management at Hampton University, completed his Master's in Sport Administration with a concentration in Intercollegiate Athletics, and is now finishing his Ph.D. — with a minor in Marketing and Communications — while actively working in the field. His professional experience spans the Washington Commanders in Public Relations, Temple Athletics Communication, golf operations at Cobbs Creek Golf Course, and the classroom at two universities. This is not the sports career path most people picture. It's the one they need to hear about. In this conversation, we get into: The biggest lie the sports industry sells young people about what the path actually looks likeWhat Hampton University built in Robert that shaped everything that came afterWhy the Ph.D. mattered — and what that level of academic investment costs and builds simultaneouslyWhat the practitioner brings to the classroom that pure academic training never couldWhat's missing from the conversation about HBCUs and the professionals they produceWhat actually opens doors for the next generation of sport management professionalsThis episode is for the student trying to break into the industry. The professional stuck in the middle. The student-athlete about to transition out of competition and into the next chapter. Talent fades. But truth endures. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyShare this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leaderFollow us on social media and join the conversationBOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

    The Road Most People in Sports Never Take — Ph.D., the NFL, the Classroom, and What the Industry Isn't Telling You | Ep. 78 Robert Wright

  4. Oct 14

    BE YOU — Mental Development, Athlete Representation, and the Identity Athletes Are Missing | Ep. 77 Kaz Langness

    bad coach or a bad contract — but the pressure to become someone you're not? Today on The Standard Podcast™, Thomas Roe and Erin Sarles, Founder and CEO of Blueprint to Bluechip™, sit down with Kaz Langness — Mental Development and Leadership Consultant, athlete representative, speed and agility coach, and keynote speaker whose entire mission is built on two words: BE YOU. Kaz partners with athletic programs to develop resilient athletes, strengthen team culture, and cultivate impactful leaders. As founder of BÉ ŸÕÚ Athletics, he represents top athletes across the nation — helping them build brands rooted in who they actually are, not just what's marketable. Through BÉ ŸÕÚ Training Club, he coaches speed and agility, proving that confidence built in the body directly shapes how athletes perform and carry themselves in every arena. In this conversation, we get into: The biggest lie sports culture sells athletes about who they need to be — and what it costs themWhat mental development looks like as a daily practice inside athletic programsHow to build an athlete brand rooted in identity when NIL has every athlete chasing trendsThe overlap between physical training and mental development — and how confidence transfersWhat it really means to BE YOU when everything in sport is telling you to be someone elseThis episode is for the athlete who has lost themselves in the sport. The coach trying to build something real inside their program. The parent who wants to support without projecting. Talent fades. But truth endures. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyShare this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leaderFollow us on social media and join the conversationBOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

    BE YOU — Mental Development, Athlete Representation, and the Identity Athletes Are Missing | Ep. 77 Kaz Langness

  5. Oct 7

    Team USA Paralympic Guide Runner, DOD Warrior Games Coach — What Running for Someone Else Built in Him | Ep. 76

    Most athletes run to win. Je'von Hutchison runs so someone else can. Je'von Hutchison is a Team USA Paralympic guide runner, performance coach, speaker, and Hampton University MBA graduate whose 12-year elite athletic career is one of the most distinctive stories in American track and field. He competed at the Penn Relays and the 2019 World Relays in Japan. He is a bronze medalist at USA Indoor Nationals. And then — at a point in his athletic career when most competitors are entirely focused on their own results — he tethered himself to a visually impaired athlete and began running races for someone else. As a Paralympic guide runner, Je'von has helped guide visually impaired athletes to US Para National Championships and a Parapan American Games bronze medal. The role requires everything great competition requires — speed, conditioning, tactical awareness, mental toughness — and adds something most athletic roles never demand: complete subordination of your own outcome to someone else's. He has also served as a performance coach for Team SOCOM at the Department of Defense Warrior Games — coaching some of the most resilient human beings on the planet, veterans and warriors competing in adaptive sports after giving everything for this country. Blueprint to Bluechip™ is built on four pillars: Character Over Clout, Accountability Over Excuses, Discipline Over Motivation, and Integrity Over Image. Je'von Hutchison's career is a case study in what all four look like when applied not to winning your own race but to making sure someone else can run theirs. In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Je'von to talk about what the guide runner role demands of a competitor, what coaching at the Warrior Games revealed about real resilience, and what 12 years as an elite athlete taught him about the difference between performing for results and performing for something larger than yourself. In this episode: — What a Paralympic guide runner actually is and what the role demands physically, mentally, and relationally — What made Je'von choose a role where someone else crosses the finish line — and what that choice built in him that competing for himself never had — What building trust with a visually impaired athlete at full competitive speed actually requires — What guiding athletes to a Parapan American Games bronze medal felt like from his side of the tether — What coaching Team SOCOM at the DOD Warrior Games revealed about resilience that elite athletics alone could never have shown him — What every athlete who is entirely focused on their own results needs to understand about what performing for someone else builds in a competitor This one is for every athlete who has ever been asked to put the team ahead of their individual outcome — and wondered what that actually costs and what it builds. Every coach who wants to develop the kind of character that shows up in the hardest moments. Every person who believes the highest standard of competition is one that serves something beyond yourself. Connect with Je'von: Instagram: @jvonjamal The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyShare this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leaderFollow us on social media and join the conversationBOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

    Team USA Paralympic Guide Runner, DOD Warrior Games Coach — What Running for Someone Else Built in Him | Ep. 76

  6. Sep 30

    You're Not Starting Over — You're Translating Everything You've Already Built | Ep. 75 Dr. Jill Muhe

    The first question most athletes ask when their sport ends is: will I have a job? Dr. Jill Muhe says that's the wrong question. The right question is: where will I thrive next? Dr. Jill Muhe holds a PhD and an MBA and has spent her career at the intersection of athlete identity, career systems, and what she calls the translation problem: the challenge most athletes face when they try to move from sport into the next arena. Not because they lack skills. Not because they lack discipline. But because nobody has ever taught them how to articulate who they are and what they bring — in language that the world beyond the locker room actually understands. Through her coaching practice and the Life After the Locker Room webinar series she co-developed with Blueprint to Bluechip™, Jill has helped athletes at every level move from the paralysis of transition to clarity about what comes next. Her framework is built around four driver types — Builder, Competitor, Challenger, Teammate — and her conviction is one Blueprint to Bluechip™ is built on: the truth of who you are doesn't change when the sport ends. The Builder was a Builder before the first practice. The Competitor doesn't stop competing when the career does. The job isn't to become someone new. It's to find the next arena where who you already are can thrive. She also pushes back on one of the most repeated pieces of advice in the career transition space: follow your passion. In her work with athletes, she has found that passion is rarely the starting point for a sustainable career. What matters is where your driver type and your skills intersect the demands of an environment — and that's a systems problem, not a feelings problem. In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Jill to talk about what the athlete career transition actually demands — and what athletes, coaches, and institutions can do to make it less of a crisis and more of a continuation. In this episode: — Why "will I have a job?" is the wrong first question — and what to ask instead — What the four driver types are and what they reveal about where an athlete will actually thrive after sport — Why "follow your passion" is the worst advice for transitioning athletes — and what the research says actually works — What the translation problem is and why most athletes are struggling to communicate skills they absolutely have — What Life After the Locker Room is and what athletes consistently discover in that framework that changes how they approach the transition — What Blueprint to Bluechip™ and Dr. Jill Muhe's work address at different layers of the same identity architecture This one is for every athlete approaching the end of their sport who doesn't know how to think about what comes next. Every coach or athletic department that wants to better prepare athletes for the transition before it arrives. Every parent raising a competitor who will eventually need to compete somewhere else. Connect with Jill: Website: jillmuhe.com Instagram: @beyondthegame.co The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyShare this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leaderFollow us on social media and join the conversationBOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

    You're Not Starting Over — You're Translating Everything You've Already Built | Ep. 75 Dr. Jill Muhe

  7. Sep 23

    Neuro Skills Coach — What Daily Brain Training Does for Athletes and Executives That Nothing Else Can | Ep. 74 Nathan Biddulph

    Most performance coaches train the body. Nathan Biddulph trains the brain — and he has the results to prove the difference. Nathan Biddulph is the Owner and Head Coach of Neuro Skills Coach, LLC, a performance coaching practice built around proprietary daily neuroscience-based drills that rewire how athletes and executives think, decide, and perform under pressure. His clients include high-profile athletes, executives, and actors who have reached the top of their fields — and hit a ceiling they couldn't break through by working harder on what they were already doing. What they needed wasn't more reps. It was a fundamentally different relationship with how their brain operates under the demands of elite performance. MLB All-Star Josh Bell has credited Neuro Skills Coach's methodology with improving his focus and accuracy by 1,000 percent. One CEO client went from an idea to a $20 million building in six months. Clients consistently report the same shift: the work they were already doing started producing exponentially different results — not because the work changed, but because the operating system running it did. Nathan's approach is individual, proprietary, and built around one conviction: every performance plateau is ultimately a brain problem. The athletes and executives who break through are not more talented or more disciplined than the ones who don't. They are thinking differently — and that difference is trainable. Blueprint to Bluechip™ is built on the conviction that who an athlete is internally — their character, identity, and decision-making pattern — determines what their talent can do. Nathan Biddulph has built the methodology to train that internal operating system directly. These two approaches are not parallel. They are layers of the same architecture. In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Nathan to talk about what Neuro Skills Coach has discovered about elite performance that traditional coaching has been systematically missing — and what becomes possible for athletes and leaders when the brain itself becomes a daily training priority. In this episode: — What the brain actually has to do with athletic and executive performance — and why most performance coaching is operating one level above the real problem — What Nathan's proprietary daily neuroscience drills train and what changes when an athlete or executive commits to them consistently — What MLB All-Star Josh Bell experienced through Neuro Skills Coach that produced a 1,000 percent improvement in focus and accuracy — What the difference is between a talent problem, a work ethic problem, and a brain problem — and why most coaches are solving for the wrong one — What the Blueprint to Bluechip™ identity-first approach and the Neuro Skills Coach methodology address at different layers of the same performance architecture — What every athlete and executive needs to understand about why the ceiling they keep hitting is almost never where they think it is This one is for every athlete who has the talent and the work ethic and still can't break through. Every executive who has built to a level they can't seem to get past. Every coach or parent who has watched someone with everything it takes keep getting the same result — and wondered why. Connect with Nathan: Neuro Skills Coach, LLC LinkedIn: Nathan Biddulph The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyShare this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leaderFollow us on social media and join the conversationBOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

    Neuro Skills Coach — What Daily Brain Training Does for Athletes and Executives That Nothing Else Can | Ep. 74 Nathan Biddulph

  8. Sep 16

    From Co-Founding Sohoodie to Legacy NIL — What Building Athlete Brands From the Inside Actually Requires | Ep. 73 Michael Baruch

    Most NIL conversations are about the deal. Michael Baruch is focused on the athlete behind it. Michael Baruch has spent his career at the intersection of athlete partnerships, brand marketing, and NIL strategy — building from the ground up, not from a boardroom. He co-founded Sohoodie and led strategic growth through NFL licensing and athlete collaborations, including partnerships with AJ Green and Travis Hunter. At The Game Caps, he drove collegiate product marketing while managing warehouse operations and inventory systems. Now at Legacy NIL — LeSean McCoy's agency — he handles marketing and outreach for a roster of highly recruited athletes, working at the most active edge of the NIL landscape. Michael's background isn't the typical agency path. He grew up on Long Island, played college basketball at Dean College and Towson, and built his way into the sports industry by doing the work — co-founding a brand, figuring out licensing, learning what athlete relationships actually require to hold, and understanding what the athlete needs from a brand partner that most brands never stop long enough to ask. Blueprint to Bluechip™ is built on the conviction that who an athlete is internally is the most valuable asset they carry into any commercial relationship. Michael Baruch has been building his career around the same truth from the brand side: the partnerships that last are the ones built around something real. In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Michael to talk about what the NIL era actually looks like from inside an agency working with highly recruited athletes — and what athletes, brands, and parents need to understand about the difference between visibility and value. In this episode: — What co-founding Sohoodie and navigating NFL licensing taught him about what athlete brand partnerships actually require to work — What his time at The Game Caps revealed about the operational side of athlete-driven consumer products that most NIL conversations never address — What it looks like to work inside Legacy NIL with LeSean McCoy's agency handling marketing and outreach for highly recruited athletes — What brands consistently get wrong when they approach NIL partnerships — and what the athletes who build durable commercial careers do differently — What the Blueprint to Bluechip™ identity-first approach means from the brand partner's perspective — why who an athlete is matters more than their follower count — What every athlete, parent, and athletic department needs to understand about the difference between an NIL deal and an NIL strategy This one is for every athlete generating NIL income who hasn't thought about what they're actually building. Every parent trying to understand what makes some athlete-brand relationships compound and others collapse. Every brand or program looking to invest in athlete partnerships that actually produce something real. Connect with Michael: LinkedIn: Michael Baruch Legacy NIL / LeSean McCoy's agency The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: 🌐 Website: blueprintbluechip.com 📸 Instagram: @blueprintbluechip 💼 LinkedIn: Erin Sarles 📧 Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. 👉 blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyShare this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leaderFollow us on social media and join the conversationBOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. 📩 erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

    From Co-Founding Sohoodie to Legacy NIL — What Building Athlete Brands From the Inside Actually Requires | Ep. 73 Michael Baruch
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About

This isn't motivation. This is a movement. The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. Hosts Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe brings raw, truth-packed conversations with athletes, coaches, and leaders about identity beyond performance, discipline that lasts, and legacy that matters. 20-25 minutes of hard-hitting truth you won't hear anywhere else. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Information

  • Creator
    Erin Sarles
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    81
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Standard
  • Show Website
    The Standard