Mindset Stories

Mindset Stories
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  • Health & Fitness

Mindset Stories exists to explore the real human side of performance. Through honest conversations and personal stories, we show how a robust mindset is built through experience, rather than clichés, theory, or quick fixes. Our mission is to help athletes, coaches, parents, leaders, and anyone interested in growth and personal insight deepen their understanding of themselves and others through story and connection, empowering them to cultivate inner harmony by integrating self-compassion and acceptance into their own stories.

  1. 37m ago

    Brad MacKenzie: Stop Making The Right Decisions

    Three or four coaches he trusted told him not to do it. All but one said moving down to Junior A was a road you don't come back from.Brad McKenzie is the head coach of the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL. He was an instructor at 13, co-wrote a book on the psychology of hockey at 18, went to Finland at 19 as the youngest student in his class, and was coaching university players who were older than he was. Then, newly married and a month after buying a house in his hometown, he left a good QMJHL job to go be a head coach in a town of 5,000 people where nobody knew who he was. Two years later he was back, and he would not have the job he has now without it.His 20/20 hindsight: "We're all so worried about making the right decision. Make the decision right." If you've ever been stuck on a decision because you were waiting to be sure, this one is for you.

    Brad MacKenzie: Stop Making The Right Decisions

  2. Sep 15

    Gina Kingsbury: Nice People Tell You What You Want To Hear

    Two Olympic golds. Six world championships. General manager of the Toronto Sceptres, and eight years running Canada's national women's program. Gina Kingsbury has been the player fighting for a roster spot and the person deciding who gets one, and in this episode she talks honestly about both. Getting cut in 2002 and what the hardest part actually was, which wasn't the doubt. It was the phone call to her parents. Why she still feels behind after all of it. And the difference she's built her life around: "Nice people tell you what you want to hear. Kind people tell you what you need to hear." Plus why saying your goal out loud matters more than protecting yourself from missing it.

    Gina Kingsbury: Nice People Tell You What You Want To Hear

  3. Sep 8

    Nico Somerville: Everything Is Going To Be Ok

    Nico Somerville was named a team captain in his third year of college. It turned out to be the year he got scratched the most. Nico is going into his third season of being pro hockey player in the ECHL. This season he will be playing with Greenville after spending the past two in Wichita, and prior to that four years in the NCAA and four in the BCHL. He left home at 14. For years he handled not playing the way most athletes do, by grinding harder physically, two-a-days, first guy on and last guy off, until he admitted the part he was avoiding was the mental side. Nothing was wrong with him physically. He calls that a tough pill to swallow. The conversation that changed it was with his older brother Luc, who is sitting across from him in this episode. Nico talks about separating who he is on the ice from who he is off it, and what he would tell the version of himself who went quiet and pulled into a shell: everything is going to be okay.

    Nico Somerville: Everything Is Going To Be Ok

  4. Sep 1

    Janine Charron: Just Keep Showing Up

    Janine "Tiger" Charron looked like the most positive person in any room. Behind closed doors, there were mornings she physically couldn't get out of bed. A former NCAA Division I hockey player at UNH and assistant captain, Janine went on to play pro, run marathons, and win a fitness competition, all fueled by achievement and external validation. Then came the decade she never saw coming: divorce, bankruptcy, and breast cancer. Sunny on the outside, silent on the inside. In this episode, Janine opens up about the identity crisis of losing "the athlete," the season of silence after her diagnosis, and how she slowly rebuilt from the ground up. She shares her Tiger Method for closing the gap between where you are and where you want to be, why she's grateful for the dark years, and the four words that carried her through it all: just keep showing up. If you've ever smiled on the outside while struggling on the inside, this one's for you.

    Janine Charron: Just Keep Showing Up

  5. Aug 25

    Charley Healey: I Won't Let All The Loss In My Story Define Me

    Charley Healey committed to play college hockey in Ottawa, then her mom was diagnosed with stage four cancer. A physical in her first year turned up Wolff-Parkinson-White, a rare heart condition sending her rate to 275 on the ice. She thought that was just working hard. Then came pneumonia, thirty pounds lost, heart surgery, and a transfer home to Calgary. In this episode Charley talks openly for the first time about grief, about the relief she felt when a season finally ended, and about what she found on the other side. "For a really long time I thought my story was about everything I had lost."

    Charley Healey: I Won't Let All The Loss In My Story Define Me

  6. Aug 18

    Nobody Is Coming To Save You

    Six guests in, and we're taking a week off from interviews to talk about what we've actually learned. Eric, CJ, Finley, Ben, Marcus, and Steve have almost nothing in common on paper. Different sports, different generations, different levels. But every single story has a struggle in it, and almost every one turned on the same moment: when they stopped explaining it away and looked at themselves instead. In this episode we get into why saying something out loud is the scary part, because that's the moment it becomes real. Why acceptance gets mistaken for quitting when it's the opposite. The difference between fault and responsibility. And why we're all convinced everyone is judging us as harshly as we judge ourselves, when we'd never do that to anyone we love. Luc shares the three-step process he uses with clients for working through emotions, and we come back to CJ looking at herself in a mirror three hours before a playoff start and deciding no one was coming to save her. No guest. Just the two of us, and everything the first six taught us.

    Nobody Is Coming To Save You

  7. Aug 11

    Steve Trimper: I Would Celebrate Those 20 Wins Like They Were The World Series

    Steve Trimper spent 28 years as a Division I head baseball coach at Manhattan, Maine, and Stetson, winning more than 780 games along the way. In this episode he tells us how sitting in donor meetings early in his career completely changed what he believed about coaching, and why he came to see the relationship piece as more important than the talent piece. He opens up about the parts that cost him too: lying awake after losses, feeling like he let everyone down, and writing a book about values while quietly asking himself whether he was actually living them. He also shares the story of a waitress named Shonda at the Atlanta airport who ended up becoming an entire chapter.Update: since this episode recording Steve has stepped down as the Head Coach at Stetson

    Steve Trimper: I Would Celebrate Those 20 Wins Like They Were The World Series

  8. Aug 4

    Marcus Harper II: Bet on Yourself and Celebrate the Wins

    In this episode of Mindset Stories, the hosts welcome one of their own clients: Marcus Harper II (known on the field as "Big Mark"). Marcus is a former Toronto Argonauts offensive lineman who achieved a legendary collegiate milestone at Oregon State: never allowing a single sack in over three consecutive years of college football. But behind this jaw-dropping statistic lies a profound story about the extreme psychological cost of greatness. Marcus pulls back the curtain on the intense pressure, the dangerous trap of "potential," and the moment he realized he had sacrificed his own humanity to become bulletproof on the field. Marcus takes the hosts through the rapid, whirlwind trajectory of his football career and the mental challenges that came with it: The Late Bloomer: Growing up in the South Suburbs of Chicago, Marcus was an active kid who did everything except football. From soccer and swimming to chess and a brief stint as a middle school basketball team manager. It wasn't until his freshman year of high school that his dad finally let him don a helmet and pads. The "Spider-Man" Moment: After a coach threatened to demote him to the "B-Team" freshman squad, a switch flipped. During a rainy game, Marcus levelled an opposing defensive end so hard the player's helmet flew off. From that single moment, the "Hulk" was born, paving the way for a dominant high school career. The Two-Year Whirlwind: In a staggering two-year window from the time he seriously committed to the sport, Marcus went from a raw sophomore to receiving phone calls from powerhouse college programs, eventually committing to Oregon State. The Dark Side of the Grind: While his freshman year brought immediate success (breaking into the starting rotation and winning a Pac-12 Championship), his sophomore year brought a steep, confidence-crushing demotion. The setback sparked an obsessive, two-year binge for answers. Sacrificing the Human for the Athlete: Marcus opens up about the extreme coping mechanisms he developed during his junior year, sitting in the dark alone after games and refusing to eat. In a ruthless quest to unlock his potential, he consciously chose to sacrifice relationships, family time, and his own personal life to devote every waking hour to the gridiron. Marcus’s journey highlights a critical crossroads that almost every elite performer eventually faces: the separation of the human from the athlete. While his obsessive focus earned him historical success on the field and an undeniable streak of zero sacks allowed, it also robbed him of connection and joy. This episode is a powerful exploration of what happens when your identity becomes entirely consumed by your performance, and what it truly takes to face the "thought loops" when the lights go down.

    Marcus Harper II: Bet on Yourself and Celebrate the Wins
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About

Mindset Stories exists to explore the real human side of performance. Through honest conversations and personal stories, we show how a robust mindset is built through experience, rather than clichés, theory, or quick fixes. Our mission is to help athletes, coaches, parents, leaders, and anyone interested in growth and personal insight deepen their understanding of themselves and others through story and connection, empowering them to cultivate inner harmony by integrating self-compassion and acceptance into their own stories.

Information

  • Creator
    Mindset Stories
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    17
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Mindset Stories
  • Show Website
    Mindset Stories

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