Why Female Athletes Make Resilient Business Leaders

What do 94% of female C-suite executives have in common? They played sports. On Leadership Lab, host Jamie McKinney talks with Bonnie Bernstein, founder and CEO of Walk Swiftly Productions. Bonnie spent three decades as an Emmy Award-winning journalist covering the NFL, NBA, MLB, and college sports for ESPN, ABC, and CBS. She created ABC's The Champion's Edge, a series that follows women athletes turned business leaders across law, medicine, and the C-suite.

Bonnie tells Jamie about the moment the idea for the show hit her, 10 years before it aired. She talks about the years of “no” she heard while building a database of more than 250 women, and the two questions she asks herself every time a pitch falls flat.

The conversation turns personal too. Bonnie describes a health scare that landed her in a hospital bed alone, and what it taught her about burnout and self-care. She and Jamie talk through resilience, career confidence, and why so many women in leadership trace their instincts back to a locker room instead of a boardroom.

Press play to hear the weekly practice Bonnie uses to find her own North Star, and the sports lessons for career success she has picked up from hundreds of female athletes turned business leaders who made the same leap she did. New episodes of Leadership Lab drop every week.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 The 94% Statistic Behind Women Athletes and the C-Suite

03:58 Breaking Ground as Reno's First Female Sports Anchor

06:33 The 10 Year Origin Story Behind The Champion's Edge

08:19 Turning Rejection Into Fuel While Building a Platform

09:19 Reframing No as Another Opportunity

10:43 Why Relationships Drive Career Breakthroughs

11:32 Leadership Lessons for Women Who Never Played Sports

16:42 Leadership Shows Up Far Beyond the Boardroom

19:36 Why Failure Is Part of the Path to Success

21:38 Rejection as an Invitation to Reevaluate Your Circle

23:36 Staying Grounded While Breaking New Ground

24:43 When Ambition Turns Into Endurance Instead of Fun

27:49 A Health Scare That Changed How Bonnie Works

28:23 Learning to Say No Without Fear

30:54 Meditation as a Foundation for Resilience

33:23 Building Community Through The Athlete Effect

35:47 A Weekly Experiment to Reclaim Your Purpose

37:54 Why Coaches Matter for Women in Leadership

Link: Listen to the previous episode

Connect with Bonnie Bernstein:

Know more about Bonnie 

Connect with Bonnie on LinkedIn

Subscribe to The Champion’s Edge's Youtube channel 

Listen to the The Athlete Effect on Spotify 

Listen to the The Athlete Effect on Apple Podcast 

Listen to the The Athlete Effect on Audible

Connect with Jamie McKinney:

jamiemckinney.com/lab 

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm