Your daughter has talent in her sport. I'm sure you've seen it, you know it. Maybe coaches see it and have recognized it and reflected it back to her. But somewhere along the way, the joy has gone missing, and you're not really sure how to bring it back. And that's why I'm excited about today's episode because I got to sit down with two parents of athletes who are in this similar situation, a talented athlete who works hard, who loves her sport, and has every reason to feel confident out there, and yet in the moments that matter most, something blocks her from playing the game she's actually capable of playing. She tightens up, plays small, one mistake, and eventually she mentally checks out for the rest of the game. And that joy that used to be there on her face when she played, it's harder to find now. The story I'm referring to is that of Chris, who has watched her fifteen-year-old volleyball player spiral into tears almost at the end of every tournament, and Chris' pep talks were not working. The car rides home were tense, and she could feel her daughter kind of pulling away. Similarly, you're gonna hear from Carlos, who watched his level nine gymnast go from lighting up at practice to nearly quitting the sport that she's dedicated years of her life to. He tried everything he could think of, and then one day his daughter looked at him and said, "Dad, please stop. This is not working." So you get to hear from both of these parents. Both of them knew that their daughters had it in them. That was never the question. The question was how to actually help them access it again. And why I love this is that these parents are exactly where you are, and both of them actually went through our mental training program called the Elite Athlete Academy to give their daughters skills to help them access that joy again in their sport, but also skills that have served them outside of their sport as well. So I can't wait for you to listen to both of these stories. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed interviewing them. Welcome moms and dads to our panel. So if you are just wondering a little bit about like, you know, EMG sounds great. Maybe you've been hearing about it over this past week. You've been to a live training, but you're like, "I just want to hear it from somebody who has been through it." Well, this is for you. So let's get going. Chris, I will have you introduce yourself first. Tell us a little bit about your daughter, her age, sports that she plays. If you have more than one athlete, give us the deets Well, we actually have six kids. The one that I joined this for is our last one. All the rest have launched and they're out doing their own thing, one in college playing college baseball. But my daughter that I joined this for was, she's 15. She was just going into a new club season, and she's been playing volleyball for six or seven years, and I just felt like I needed to be proactive. I felt like this was going to be a tough mental season for her. Mm-hmm. Um, she was being pulled up. She had been playing in like 15s, 16s, and rumor was she was going to be pulled up to the 18s. Oh. Um, and we just were concerned that maybe there was just some personality challenges that she was gonna have in this coaching season. So we were trying to be proactive. And I also had recognized from past seasons that the more I'm like giving these pep talks and these encouragements and things, it seemed like it did the opposite of help. And so I was like, "Okay, I need some help here." I didn't know there was any program out there with the, helped with the mom, and so I was just starting to look for mental performance coaching for her. She'd done a short program in the past, and so when I came onto this one, I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is so good. I need help in how to communicate with my daughter," because I, I knew it just from past experience that whatever I was doing wasn't working. Mm-hmm. And so I stumbled onto this program. You had some, like, free information or free training that, that you had put out there, and we were just going into, I can't remember if it was just a tournament or a game, but we were going into something and I was like, "I'm gonna try these couple little tips you had." Yeah. And I noticed right off the bat that I had more peace and that she responded differently. Mm-hmm. And so then we, I took the next step to, to join. Yeah. Okay. That's great. Can't wait to hear, like, kind of how this story unfolds, but I love that you started from your side because that is a unique... We always talk about, like, our approach to mental training is a little bit different than what you would typically see in this, like, mental toughness, mental performance space. And one of the ways that it is different is that we include the parent, and because what you say and your body language and really, like, your support for your athlete impacts her confidence. And so I love that you started with yourself and, you know, just even those tweaks make a big difference for sure. Cool. All right, Carlos, you wanna drop in, like, how many kids do you have? What sports do they play? I love that we have a dad on as well, because that's one of the top questions that we get is, like, "How do I get my husband on board?" Or like, "I am totally in, but, like, I'm trying to kind of show the value to my partner or my spouse." So, so happy that you're here, Carlos. But yeah, we'll work with what we got. Cool. So Chris, you mentioned that you kind of stumbled across it. Your daughter was-- You were honestly being a little bit proactive. Can you explain a little bit more about what you were noticing in her that made you think like, "This might be good"? I know you shared a little bit already, but kind of paint us the picture again of like, where were you at? Yeah. So my daughter is really independent and like self-driven, and her attitude is always, "I got this. I got this." Um, but we've noticed just in past that she just takes a lot of the mental, the mental, um, um... Well, one, one person had recognized she has like endless grace for everybody else and zero for herself. Mm-hmm. And so in past seasons, we would see her like take any mistake of the team, like it was all on her and all her fault, and then she would spiral. And then pretty much every tournament would at some point she would be in tears and, and she's just very competitive and stuff. So when we started looking at this program, I was like, like she just really, she's really gonna be playing like at a higher level, and I wanted her to be supported in a way that I just felt like it wasn't, it wasn't gonna come from me. Mm-hmm. She needed some skills that she wasn't gonna hear from me. And so when she started listening to you a little bit, and she was hesitant, she was resistant. We'll probably get into it later of like just how I approached it with her. Yeah, that's why I was like, "Don't..." Yeah. So I noticed with her that she just seemed lighter, and she seemed more confident. She's not a real, you know, she doesn't communicate, she doesn't share her emotions, all these like, "I feel like this, I feel like that." You just have to like watch her body language, and she will share. But it will come at her own, you know, at her own pace, I guess. But, uh, she would just, she would share things about how she was applying the different things that she was learning on her own. And yeah, it was easy 'cause I felt like I didn't have to force it, and I had to take the things that you would talk about or in the Facebook, the group, um, or the text. I love the text, so text support that comes out, which is little nuggets, and it was just little things that I would, um, use and I would apply. Mm-hmm. And I would notice her also, she would relax like, "Oh, good. Mom's not giving me a lecture." Or everything is not a lesson, or everything is just be confident or you, you know? Like, all the things I would say and you would say like in your self tape to shake it off. I was like, "Oh my gosh, I say that all the time." Which is not necessarily bad, but it's just not really like to roll. Yeah. And that's exactly what I thought. I was like, "What?" She knows what it is. You know, like, why is she not even receiving my encouragement well? And, um, and when I stopped doing it, it was like she just, she applied the tools you were giving her, like the self-talk routine. I would hear her say these things to her coach, like, "You see, one of my goals is, you know, for this tournament is to really apply my self-talk routine." And like, I would just overhear like her thoughts and her comments. Mm-hmm. And we would see it. We're almost at the end of club season. She hasn't had one meltdown. She's- Wow. And she's had some really tough situations. Mm-hmm. And she just, it's like it just rolls, like she's shaking it off. Yeah. That's- We harped, you know, on her about it, like, but she's using the tools. She's referenced the breathing technique. She's mentioned the visualization. Like I've seen her doing the things all the way through tournaments. Mm-hmm. I give her space afterwards because I'm like, I don't need to fill all the space with all the questions afterwards. Like she needs to just be able to process when she wants to talk. So, and I could probably go on for hours. I love this program so much. I know. Like, I feel like this is probably like her toughest season of volleyball, and she's had, you know, like you said, she's had some tough stuff in the past, but this has been definitely a tough season in different areas. But I feel like in a lot of ways this has been our most peaceful season- Mm. Because she has some tools. I have some tools going into it, so. Yeah. Oh my gosh. And that feels my thing, like just that feeling of peace that no, you can't control the challenges, you know, the coaches, the teammates, the situation she's gonna be in. But to be able to a- be at peace knowing that she's got the tools to handle it, like that's where it's at. Okay, let's see. We've got a couple of things, but to ask you, but first, Carlos, any, anyone? Can, can you hear me now? Oh my gosh, yes. Sorry about this. I know that I T expert, so sorry about this. It's okay. You don't need to be. Well, I'm so happy that we can hear your voice. So yeah, Carlos, will you please introduce yourself, how many kiddos you have, what sports they play? Yeah. So thank you. Thanks for being patient with me. Yeah. So, uh, my name's Carlos. I'm originally from Mexico. I got three kids, three daughters. Two of them are gymnasts- The other one is practicing volleyball. The reason that I learned and tried to join this program is try to be some kind of support to my oldest daughter. She's a gymnast, level nine. Mm. And she was struggling with confidence. Yeah. So that's the main reason. Mm-hmm. Trying to help a little bit with something, and improve her confidence. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's a perfect representation of where most parents are right now. And it's interesting because your athlete themselves probably wouldn't articulate it that way, they would be like, "I'm struggling with confidence." But like as a parent, you're like- No "Yeah, that's what it is." Yeah. At the time we, we were noticing something, something was not okay. One of the puzzle was not matching. Mm-hmm. She went from being an amazing level six, level seven, level eight, suddenly when she jumped to level nine in gymnastics, something happened. Mm-hmm. And she was disconnected. She was a totally different athlete. So we try, I tried to give her some advice, tried to work with some, uh, quotes, some, uh- Mm phrases, some pep talk. Nothing works. Nothing. Mm-hmm. The reason to start digging about different programs, about this program was when she asked me to stop doing whatever work I was doing. Said, "Dad, I'm a junior. Whatever you're doing is not working. Please stop. Don't do it anymore." Mm-hmm. So it was like a big red flag for me. Yeah. It's okay. What- whatever I'm doing is not working. Mm-hmm. It's actually worsening everything. So I need to try a different strategy. Yeah. Okay. That's great. I mean, I'm glad she felt comfortable articulating and telling you that. And I'm excited to get into your story because we've gotten some awesome texts from your daughter as she's going through the program. So yeah. But I do want to ask both of you, so you're both like in the spot where you're recognizing we need to do something different. She needs tools, you know, whether it's confidence, getting over a mental block, like what we're doing is not actually helping. So you're there, but now you're kind of faced with this, how do I present it to her? And I know a lot of parents are in this situation too. They're like, I know that this is the missing piece, but you know, I've got a teen or I've got a tween, and while I'll say most athletes like take well to the program and do awesome, you know, we also are like, how do I present it to her in a way that makes it not seem like something's wrong with her? So Chris, I'll start with you. I just want to ask like, how did you present the program? Did you just have her jump in? Did you talk to her about it before? And then Carlos, I'll hear from you. Yeah. So I also love that too, because so much of what Carlos said really resonated with me too about seeing the differences. And I didn't want it to present it to her, like just like you said about like some- I think something's wrong with you, this is gonna fix you or something. Yeah. I was really concerned about that. So the way I approached it with her is, so we actually homeschool. Mm-hmm. And so I presented it to her as just something I wanted to explore and add into our curriculum for the year regarding mental health. Mm-hmm. That I felt like it may have some mental health tools and for the sports season. And so I presented it to her that we were gonna both explore this for like two weeks, check it out, see if we felt like it added value, and then go from there. I gave her an out. I was like, "You know what? If we don't really feel like it's working," and I was already like, "I'm doing it." Like for me- Right even if you are like, "I don't want it." Yeah. But she did. So at first she was kind of hesitant. She did a couple of the lessons that were in there. She kinda did it. And then next thing I know, we were like in, we're driving and she had brought her laptop with us and I could hear one of your, I think it was a podcast or something, but she jumped on and she was just doing it herself. Mm-hmm. And then I think I have never actually had to say, "Hey, are you doing that?" I will see her or see her at the Zooms on Sundays. Like, she just jumped in and I just presented it like a two week, let's give this a two week run. Mm-hmm. Explore it, see if you get some value out of it. If not, we won't continue. Yeah. And, and she, like I said, she was hesitant at first, but then she has been running with it. Mm-hmm. Okay. That's great. I love that, that how, how you presented it. And we do have a 14-day money back guarantee on the program. So it's how you're like, "Okay, we got this window of time that we can try it out." And then Chrissy also mentioned the, the live calls. So included in the program, your first three months of live support are free. So that includes coach on call texting, which I know we're, we're gonna talk about in a little bit too, and then access to the two times a month live calls. So which are great. So it sounds like she's taking advantage of those, and it's just a good way... Like, they're totally optional. Like, athletes don't have to go to them, but they're a good way just for some accountability, kinda see other athletes who are also doing it. They get to interact with me and the other coaches and our guest speakers. So they're a fun way to be able to, like, have a live component to the program too, so. I think that that was actually something, the first one I actually made her. I was like, "No, you need to join this. This is a, like, important that I want you to check it out." And ever since then, the same thing, like she, she actually was gone and she was like, "I'm gonna be home by whatever the time was." I can't remember what time it was started. It was like, "What's the, what the heck?" And she goes, "I, I forgot the plans too. I wanna be on live. I think it's better live." And I think the biggest thing that I have not really think about it, 'cause I'll listen in while she's on it, and she has mentioned it. She's like, "It's the questions that others asked." Asked, can't speak. But it, it helped to see like, hey, I'm not the only one going through these struggles. There's not something like wrong with me. This is like a common thing. Mm-hmm. And then the, the tools that are given even in that, those conversations, I've noticed a big difference with her. When she gets on, she comes off like pumped up. She's excited. Like she's like I don't know. I notice a difference in that little 45 minute from when she jumps on to when she jumps off. She's like, "Yeah." So that's so great. Awesome. Okay. Well, Carlos, tell us about how you introduced it. Were you like, "You're doing this," or was it more of an open situation? No. So after, after she told me, "Okay, that whatever you're doing is not working-" Mm-hmm. I asked her, "Okay, just get with me. This date, we want to watch a presentation." Mm-hmm. "This, uh, coach, Coach Reese, offering a free presentation. Just, just watch it. Watch it with me. Give me your thoughts. Give me your opinions. Let's give it a try." Mm-hmm. "If whatever I'm doing is not working, let's try a different method. Give it a try for two weeks." Mm-hmm. "If it is not working, you can stop. If you think that you can get something, a little something, some benefits, let's keep digging, let's keep working, and we'll see." Mm-hmm. So after watching that free presentation, she thought, "Okay, Dad, you know what? Yes, let's give it a try. I think that this, this is a different strategy, different method, different technique, some tools for the parents and also for the athletes. Let's try it. So you can work on your own stuff, and I can work with on my own. Let's give it a try." Mm-hmm. So yes, after watching this presentation, we decided to let's go, go for it. Mm-hmm. We bought the program, and after three, four days, after watching and seeing her doing her, her homework, her, her stuff, we noticed that we, um- We have a different daughter. Believe it or not, a different daughter. Yeah. Not only in sports- Yeah at school- No yeah, within home, she seemed happier. Mm-hmm. A little bit happier. Mm-hmm. She started talking about the lessons. She started talking about some tools, the things that she has been learning, so she was kind of different. Yeah. So I think if you had the opportunity to watch this presentation with you, Coach Bre, it was a big, big deal. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yes. Carlos, that makes me really happy that you mentioned that. Yeah, and the presentation you're probably talking about is the one that many were on this week. It was probably the live presentation, mostly for sport. It- Yes is geared towards sports parents, so we don't always recommend that, that the athletes watch that because we talk a lot about confidence and stuff. Yeah. But it's a, it's an option. The other options that we have are the what's your competitor style quiz. Christina, maybe you can drop that in the chat. We have a little conversation guide with some podcast episodes that athletes can listen to. We also take care of a lot of, a lot of the buy-in once athletes are in the program. So once they get going with the warmup, like both Chris and Carlos said, like they see like, "Oh, okay, this is cool." Like top athletes are doing this. This isn't like something's wrong with me. They get to hear from alumni from the program. Like I said, they get to take that little quiz. That's like the first thing that they do, so they learn about themselves, like what competitor style they have. They learn about mental training. So we take care of a lot of the buy-in. If athletes are super hesitant, we also offer for them to jump on a call with Coach Saylor, who is, um, one of our awesome athlete coaches that texts with them, and she's on the live calls. And even just connecting with Saylor for like five minutes is a great way too to get them like, "Okay, this is not just like my parents think something's wrong with me." So, okay. If I can, can I add something else? Oh, yeah. Even though it's not recommended that the athletes, uh, watch and, and see the presentation or the live calls- Mm-hmm I decided to do it because She was so persistent- Yeah persistent about, about trying something. Yeah. So I saw some testimonials- Mm-hmm from parents, from athletes. So that's why I decided, okay, just, just watch it. Yeah. It's, it's not because dad is saying it, just, just watch and give me your, your opinion. Mm-hmm. It, it helped a lot. Yeah. Even though, like you said, it's not recommended- Mm-hmm it helped a lot. Yeah. So yes. That's great. And honestly, you know your kid the best, so you're like, "This is what she needs to hear." So, and you, you nailed it, so. The other thing that I think it was, uh, Chris... Well, actually both of you. Like, I love that you're also leading with, "This isn't just for you, it's for me. Like, clearly what I'm doing is not really helping. And so this is also for me to be a better sports parent for you, and really a better parent for you." And I think when athletes see that, that it's not, like, all on them, you're like, "Yeah, I'm in it with you. Like, I'm learning. I have n-" I love the... I mean, Chris, you have six kids, so you're, you're very, you're a very seasoned parent. But I always say, like, "This is the first time I have been a parent of a 15-year-old or a 16-year-old," you know? And so I'm, I'm learning too, and this is a resource for me to be better for you. So that sometimes is also a good approach. Okay, I wanna get into the juicy parts. Like, what did you start to notice? So we kind of have led up to what the situation was, how it was presented. I also see a question in the chat from Ashley that I'm gonna get into in a second around, like, time commitment. Like, even the logistics of, like, how it worked for your schedules. So I will an- Ashley, I'll answer that as well, and kinda hear from both of the parents here. But, Chris, what did you start to notice in your daughter? When she started doing the training, she started to kinda, like, sink her teeth in. What were the changes that you started to notice? I noticed definitely confidence- Mm-hmm because one of the things Carlos had said had resonated with me, too. Like, uh, there was a shift at her, in her at one point where she just seemed different, like she was a different kid. Mm-hmm. Like, she was shutting down, she was withdrawing, she was... And I, I knew it was this, the pressure. She was, you know, struggling with this pressure. So that- Mm-hmm was probably the first thing that I noticed with her in how she responded to some tough situations. I'm trying to craft my words well. Yeah. She didn't take it on like, "I'm a complete failure. I, I, I'm terrible," you know, whatever, all the things. She just, she didn't sit there and just beat herself up. She took the correction, like she took out of the correction what she needed to take, and she took, and she let go of how it was delivered. Mm, mm-hmm. Which was something that she had struggled with in the past, of like separating the two- Yeah if that makes sense. Yeah. But, and so she, she didn't let it just completely derail her. Mm-hmm. That was one, a big win for her, I felt like, I saw with her. And then when she would make an error, that was one of the things, if she would mess up, it was like, it was almost like, "Okay, everything I've done has been a mess-up." And she didn't. She would just shake it off, and she would go right on to the next one, and, and she would succeed. She was able to mentally, like, throw away that error and nail it the next time. Mm-hmm. That was something we saw in her, a big shift, instead of spiraling downward. But she also shared, you know, she was using the tools in different things. She would have a debate competition, and we never even talked about it. Like, we never discussed using your tools or- Mm-hmm are you gonna use your tools? Like, it was never a conversation. It wasn't even on my radar. But later afterwards she said, "Man, I was so nervous for that, you know, for that, for the debate." And she goes, "But then I started using the breathing techniques that I learned," and she was like, "Used it the whole, all the way through." And I was like, "Oh wow, what?" Yeah. Like that just never crossed my mind, but thankfully she knew that was a tool she could use in another situation. Wow. And she nailed it. She handled it. You know, you could never tell that she was nervous at all through the whole thing. Wow. So those, I guess are a couple things. I think I mentioned earlier, you know, last season she just put so much pressure on herself that it was like by the end of every tournament she was, she was crying. She was trying, struggling to keep herself composed and she, you know, doesn't ever wanna see anyb- anybody to see her melt down. Yeah. So you could see by the end of it she was just, she was spent, like she was just couldn't hand, you know, couldn't keep up anymore. Mm-hmm. And that has not happened once this season at all. She hasn't even Like she, it just hasn't even happened. Wow. She's just, and she's been playing at, at a top level so- Yeah those are a couple things, I guess. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Those are, those are awesome. And I wanna hear, like, as much as you wanna share a- after I hear from Carlos, if you can, 'cause you said like it's been a tough season, the competition's been tough, I know there's some tough challenges. Obviously, whatever you feel comfortable sharing, but I'd love to hear like what have the challenges, what have some of the challenges been that like normally this would've gone kinda sideways, but now she's overcoming it. So I'll give you a second to think about this. But Carlos, how about you? What did you start to see? What changes did you start to notice? So yes, it started, like I said, with, um, her attitude towards life- Yeah more the competition, on the meet. And, and we have seen her body language, more relaxed, more confident, having a smile. Mm. I- i- simple as having a smile on her face. Yeah. That's, that's, that was the world for us, having, having again that smile on her face. Mm-hmm. So from body language to the words that she's using, from about to quit the sport- Mm-hmm to say, "You know that? I love my sport. I love my sport again." Mm. So tho- those kind of changes we, we were able to see. Mm-hmm. Um, she started saying that she loves gymnastics, that she loves being there, practicing, having fun with the coach, with her teammates, and not thinking about quitting. So- Yeah it was 180, 180 degrees of difference. Wow. Yeah, that's awesome. And I just pulled up a text that we got from her looking kind of a little bit into her, and she said she overcame a mental block too, so. Yes, yes. That's huge. I, I, I didn't know how to help her about dealing with the mental blocks. Mm-hmm. Uh, I made a mistake of telling her, "Well, you know what? Confidence is just like a superpower that you press one button, and boom, it's there." Right. And no, it's, it's not, it's not that. Yeah, where's my button? I don't know. She's like, "I don't have the button." Say, "Okay, just, just be confident." But how? How? I don't know how. I don't know. Just press the button and be confident. Yeah. Nothing like that. So she learned that, and she told me that, you know, that- I'm not confident, but I trust, I'm trusting me. I- I'm trusting myself. Mm-hmm. I'm trusting my progress. I'm on the way. I, I believe in myself. I know myself. Yeah. It's not about being confident, but trusting in yourself. Yeah. That was like a big- Mm-hmm big, big, big situation for me. Yeah. So noticing this kind of growth in a short period of time, it is, it's amazing. Yeah. It's amazing. Yeah. And only I'm learning on my own, but I'm learning from my athlete. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So that, that's a, a another thing, a good thing. I'm learning what she's learning. She's teaching me some stuff. She's practicing some tools every day. I can resonate with the snapback routine. At first- Mm-hmm I didn't know what was it, what she was talking about. But now that I am learning and doing the program and watching her, now I can relate and resonate what is the famous snapback routine. Yeah. Visualization, she's using the visualization. In the past, she didn't, she didn't know how to do it, what to do, and she's doing the visualizations every day. Wow. Uh, yes, yes. It's, it's, it's amazing, all the progress in, in a short, short time. Yeah. No, that's so awesome to hear. Okay, Chris, I'll circle back to you. Anything come to mind on, like, just what you noticed this season that you're like, "Wow, typically that would've gone different"? Yeah. It's something Carlos said, I just have to say the same thing with my daughter with the confidence. You know, some of the tough situations is the same thing, being told to just choose confidence. And it's the same thing, like, okay, well, I'm trying, you know? Like, I'm trying to choose confidence, and but once you realize, you know, I have the tools, and I can rely on the tools and the training that I'm, you know, I've got here, that, that was the magic button- Yeah that she needed. Not just being told, "Just be confident," coming from the co- you know, coaching communication was that was what was being told, just be confident. Yeah. And you could see that she was like, "I'm trying, you know, I'm trying to be, I'm trying to be confident." Mm-hmm. And I thought I was confident. Right. But, so being able to go back to, and that's what I'll remind her, "You've got the tools. Just go play, go do what you know, go do what you know you know how to do." Mm-hmm. And then that's, and that's what she focuses on, like, "Okay, I'm trying to muster up this confidence. I'm gonna use my tools and just go do what I know how to do, what I've been trained to do." Yeah. And that's, that was a big shift for her. Some of the challenges for her this year or what, why we knew it was just mainly because she was going into a, a higher division. That we had some, you know, concern that wasn't, like, allowing for the time for natural progression to work up to that. But then also it was a very young team, just in general, a very young and inexperienced team- Mm-hmm that was all going up into this division that, you know, we were just concerned they hadn't really played for. And then, um, also very new coaching. It was coaches that hadn't had the experience in the levels as well. So we were just like, "This could be a really rough season- Mm-hmm as everybody tries to figure this out." Um, and so that, that was, you know, without digging in deeper, I guess- Yeah but that was some of our concerns. We were like, it's gonna be a tough season just for a lot of reasons, and- Mm-hmm she just needs some different equipping. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So. Yeah. I don't know if that actually, if I answered it or- Oh, totally. Like, I think that's a concern for, I mean, all parents, honestly, sh- I don't want to say should, but should be concerned about that. Like, you're, you're kind of seeing it play like she's... I shared on the webinar this week too, like I played at a high level in college, and like every single season got harder and harder and harder. Like the coaching got harder, the expectations got more, the pressure got more intense. And then especially as a parent, you're kind of seeing like, well, if it's young and inexperienced coaching and she's playing at a level that's higher, like you're just connecting the dots that like, okay, this is gonna be much more than physical that she's gonna be challenged with. So yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Okay, let's talk logistics. I, the question I get a lot is like, how do you fit this in? Like, my athlete's training a lot, she's going to school. I know, Chris, for you, like the homeschool situation maybe lends itself a little bit easier to just like pocketing it in, but I'm curious, like how, how did your athletes do it? We have a 30-minute a week training plan that we recommend they go through. It's also self-paced, they can go faster, they can go slower, they can do it on the way to the, their tournament or whatever. Like even just a little bit goes a long way. But I'm curious like how it actually looked in your athlete's actual schedule. So Carlos, let's start with you. How did that all look? Hey, guys. Yes, um, but she goes to school, and then after school she goes directly to practice- Mm-hmm from 3:00 to 8:00 every day. So she has just a few minutes, uh, every day to do something. So she uses the method and, and the tools and the lessons from 15 to 30 minutes a day. Mm-hmm. And so a little slow progress, but, uh, huge improvement. So she's all in every day. She has been practicing, she has been learning, reading- Mm-hmm uh, discussing what she's learning with her sisters and mom and dad. Yeah. Um, but just, just a little steps, like 15 days, minutes a day, for her has been enough. Mm-hmm. Sometimes when she has more availability, she do around 30, 35, 40 minutes a day, or as, as little as 15 minutes a day. It's a lot for my athlete. Yeah. Um, yes. That's actually more than we recommend, so she's doing, she's doing a lot. So good on her, but yeah. Yeah, she's, she's all in. Mm-hmm. Um, she's thoroughly concerned, uh, all in, committed- Mm-hmm uh, since probably day two. First, the first day was kind of easy for her. Mm-hmm. But after day two, day three, she was all in. Yeah. Okay. That's great. Okay, Chris, how did it look for you all? Yeah, for us, so my daughter typically, she likes to organize her time- On her own. She'll do it on her own. Okay, yeah. And so she-- What-- Usually I hear her doing it the most is when we're in the car going to... She has a pretty heavy schedule with different classes- Mm-hmm and training and things. And she'll do it, like I said earlier, I think that she'll have her laptop on and she'll connect to the hotspot, and I'll hear her going through it in the car usually when we're going. And I would say she probably does in total maybe an hour a week- Mm-hmm you know, all together. But I also printed out, there's, I don't know if it's what we call the workbook, but all the- Yeah. Okay. So I printed that form and put it in a binder for her. Mm-hmm. And she'll have that out, you know, throughout the week and making notes in there or working on the different, um- Mm-hmm different modules, whatever, and then she'll do-- go through it there. She just works it in, I feel like as, like as she knows she's coming into something or go- going into a tournament or something, she'll dig it out and do a little extra time. Mm-hmm. But in general, she'll probably maybe an hour a week. The week that she does the live Zoom, you know, that's another like forty-five minutes or so, but she tries to catch those live. She isn't always able to, so she'll do the replay on her own, but- Yeah she really likes that live Zoom. Mm-hmm. Yeah. We're gonna talk about that in a second. Yeah, that's great. I mean, you guys, you both have kiddos that are pretty responsible with their time management, sounds like. That's great. For those that aren't, you know, for probably the seventy-five percent that aren't, we actually just recommend that they print out the thirty-minute a week training plan. So that helps them stay on track. They can just like check off the lessons as they go. Yeah, there is a workbook, like Chris said, so some parents choose to print that off. They can also, it's all, it's fillable PDF, so if they wanna do it electronically, they can totally do that too. But for a lot of people, they like the pen and paper. And so at 30 minutes a week, that gets athletes through the program about three months or so. It gets them through, like, the core content, but it is designed for them to come back to. It's designed for them to continue to utilize the skills. Maybe there's not something that applies to them right now, like, you know, I'm not really dealing with comparison right now, but next season, all of a sudden I got this girl on my team and I'm constantly, like, measuring myself against her, and that section is now applicable. So we also recommend that athletes go back through phase two at the start of their reading season. So club season, sport two to high school season, or switching sports or when they level up, because that is going to help reset their goals. That's where they set their daily mindset routine, their three, two, one brave. So yeah, I love it. Your, your athletes seem very responsible. Um, but if you're a mom that's like, "Well, I don't know if she's gonna fit this in," use the 30-minute week training plan. For our younger athletes, one thing that has been working well from some parents is they, like, actually just carve out a day of the week that they go to Starbucks and mom or dad works on their side, and then athlete works on their side. So they're like, "This is when we do it." And then they do their three, two, one brave, which is the daily mindset routine. It takes about, like, five minutes. They're like, "Well, I'll just do that before practice." And it's a good way to keep it top of mind. But yeah, let's talk about the live aspect. Kim, good question. How many girls are on a live call? We split the first call of the month by age, so the middle school and younger are together. They're typically, like, between 20 and 30 girls. There's been a little bit more recently, but we also have two to three coaches on the call. So we go into breakout rooms and depend on how many girls are on the call, and then we a- answer their questions there. And then the high school and college calls, there's been about 15 to 20 on there. So the coaches, there's three of us. So there's me, there's Coach Saylor, and then there's Coach Rachel. Rachel is also a parent coach, so her daughter-- She has two kiddos that are playing division one sports right now. Her daughter was, like, McDonald's All-American. She's played-- She's a freshman at Michigan, freshman of the year. Yeah, she's a basketball player. Amazing. So anyway, she has just such good, like, perspective as a sports mom, but then also she's a certified mental performance coach for us. So she does both athlete and parent. And then Saylor is, like, I think I mentioned already, but she's a former dual sport college athlete. She's in her 20s, so she connects really well with the girls. She is on the other end of most of the coach on-call texting aspect, so she's coaching the girls via text. So yeah. And then Let's see. How long do we have access to the program once we sign up? Yeah, you have lifetime access to all the content, so that never goes away. And any updates we make to the program as well. The only thing that's like time, you know, bound is the live support, which I'm gonna talk about in a second. So the first three months are free for live support. So you get the texting, you get the live calls. If you wanna continue after those three months, then we do offer that at $79 a month, but you don't have to. So that's the only thing that's there. And then one-on-ones, yes, we do. Saylor is doing... Saylor has one-on-ones. We sell one-on-one packages in packages of three, so you can always add that on. But it's not in the program. The coach on call texting is their individual access to coaches. Okay. Sorry, that was a lot. Um, Chris, can you talk about the-- you talked about the live calls and things like that, but did you ever use the coach on call texting? Can you talk about that aspect to it? So I know she has actually used it as far as responding. Mm-hmm. I know she likes the encouragement and the tips that come out regularly, 'cause she'll mention those. Yeah. Or how, "Oh, you know, this was talking about this, and I was just thinking about this, this." You know- Yeah she'll bring up those talks on her phone. Mm-hmm. Um, I've used the texting. Yes. I- we had a really rough situation that I was like, "Boy, I really don't know what to do with this," but I was a little fired up about it. Yeah. Like, I'm not sure. I'm not usually one that needs to make a deal out of stuff, but it was one of those things. I was like, "No." And I texted back, or I texted in the text chat- Mm-hmm and I asked. I was like, "Hey, this is the situation. Like, do you have some feedback or do you have some insight on this?" And I did. I got really great perspective- Mm-hmm tipped back from it that just really helped me kind of process through and how to, how to manage it differently. So I'm super grateful for having that piece of it, so. Yeah. I'm glad you mentioned that because yes, parents have access to Coach on Call texting too. So you text in, and Coach Rachel is on the other end of that. I am too, but I mean, she's honestly, like, has the most parent experience out of all of us. Like, so she's like, we call her the GOAT of sports moms. So, just to get her perspective on all the things that you face as a sports mom, it's, it's great, so. Carlos, how about Natalia? I know that she has been texting us, and does she come to the live calls? Yes. She's so diligent with this. She's been using these live texts and calls. Mm-hmm. I haven't done it li- like her, but she's kind of, uh, uh, consistent with this. Mm-hmm. She got a lot of good advice, guidance when, when she's, uh, texting back and forth. Mm-hmm. Every time that she has a doubt or when she's learning something and she's not quite sure about how to use it, how, what to do, she immediately do the texting. Mm-hmm. She got some good responses. And, um, she's been using it a lot. Mm-hmm. A lot, especially, uh, uh, when she's trying to do something different at practice- Mm-hmm based on what she's learning, uh, using some tools. "Okay, let me go back with my, my coach. Let me ask her something." She got the response, and she started using it, uh, right away. Mm-hmm. She's using a calendar. She's using cell phone to join the live calls. Mm-hmm. And she's just sharing with me and her sisters all the experiences that she's, uh, feeling, all the knowledge that she's getting with the live calls. Yes, yes, it's impressive how diligent and, and, uh, persistent she is She's, uh, well, she's a different, different, different girl Yeah. Oh, that's so great to hear. Um, and we love having your kiddos on the calls too. It's so fun to just also hear their questions. And Chris, I think you said too, like, even having athletes on the calls just listening to the questions that other people are asking is really useful. Yeah. Because you're like, "Oh, I never thought to ask that." Or like, "I actually had that thought in the back of my head, but I'm glad somebody else asked it." Um, and if they miss a live call, it's totally fine. We actually have a private athlete podcast that we pop those replays on. We also give extra tips on those private podcast episodes, so they can always catch that there. If your daughters don't have a phone, we also, like you heard, we text you, the parent, and so y- your daughter can also always access us via your parent, yourself, so. Okay, let's see. Question in the Q&A. Thanks for popping these in here, 'cause I can't see the Q&A right now with this, like, double screen situation I've got going on. Okay. "I know this is centered around athletes. How do you, how do the one-on-one go towards other subjects?" Okay, wait. "My daughter is in very competitive singing." Oh, yeah, yeah, competitive singing. "I don't want her to get discouraged we can't apply to her, our area." I mean, it very much applies to performance-based activities, so singing would be one of those. We've had kiddos join that are, like, not athletes, but they're in mock trial or they do theater, arts, you know, so that would apply to there. We do mostly give metaphors and examples related to sports, so she'd just have to kind of be able to recognize like, "Okay, if they're talking about, like, sports performance, I'm translating this to singing performance." But all of the strategies would apply as well Okay. And then I see some great questions. Jessica, do the tools help with jealousy and dealing with difficult teammates or peers? Yeah, like in the program itself, we find that like once our athletes start to like look inside themselves and realize like what they want, what their goals are, like once their confidence gets strengthened, they're less likely to look around and like be jealous of other people. Like they're just more focused on like what they want. But we do have some specific modules in the training material around comparison and jealousy. We have that bonus ditch the drama training bundle that everyone gets when you join as a part of this enrollment special. So that's specifically like how do you deal with, with challenging teammates. That's also a thing that we coach athletes on. That's probably the number one thing that we coach athletes on via coach on call texting. They ask-- The common questions are like, "I'm nervous. I got a mental block. What do I do?" And also, "I have this teammate that is like super, whatever, like rude or challenging. Like how do I navigate this?" So also your daughter can get some like personalized support around that too. Okay. All right. Keep those questions coming, moms. I have just a couple more questions for Carlos, for Chris. Um, Chris, what would you say is your like favorite tool in the program? So aspect of the program tool. You mentioned a lot, but like if you were to narrow it down, what would you say that it is? I think one on her side and one on my side that has been a, a really helpful tool or just awareness actually maybe is, so in the Facebook chat or the Facebook group where parents can ask questions and the coaches respond and things, that one's been really helpful for me. Yeah. And like I said, we have six kids, and most of them did some pretty competitive sports. But you-- every kid is different. Yeah. Every situation is new. And in this particular, for my daughter, I was really feeling like, man, I am really failing as a mom. Like I can't figure this out. And especially after having multiple kids in sports and different things, like, why can't I figure this out? Like, why am I not able to help her? And it must just be me. So- Yeah similarly how, you know, I feel like that they sometimes think that like there's something wrong with me, I need to fix this or whatever. I was struggling with some of that too, and so hearing the parents' questions and their scenarios, and even though they weren't exactly the same as my situation or the things we were dealing with, it kind of made that connection like, oh, this is similar to what I'm going. And the feedback was so helpful- Mm-hmm hearing their questions in those conversations and how that was worked through. So I'd say that was probably one for me that I have, I have really appreciated. And the regular tips and things that you drop in there about, you know, the- Uh, March today, I think it was about the labels. Like, that was just a really good, like, self-reflection, um, thing. So that's from-- on my side of things I like. And for my daughter, um, I think the live calls actually and the questions and from the same thing, but on the her side, the athlete side, is hearing the other athletes or the other people that are on there asking their questions and her realizing like, "Damn All these people have these same questions and these same challenges and these same struggles, and to be able to work through them together. Mm-hmm. Um, 'cause she's not one who is, like I said, she won't just like talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. She really, like listens and absorbs and receives the information well, and then shifts and adjusts and applies. And so I, there's been so many tools, like there's so many things I love about the program. I think those two are just really stand out aspects. She has done performance coaching programs in the past, and they've been good and they were helpful, but there, there's just aspects of this that are just set it apart. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay. That's great. And yeah, on the, the Facebook thing, you mentioning that made me think parents actually have lifetime access to that. It's not, that one isn't bound by any time or, you know, 'cause we know there's things that are gonna happen as your daughter goes through her sport. And so we actually give you lifetime access to our Facebook community and our private podcast. So yeah, that's, you're, you're with us for life. I do... Okay. I thought of another question, Chris, if you feel comfortable answering after I hear from Carlos. Like, were you considering other things or like maybe you've done other programs or, 'cause I know some parents are like, "Well, I'm considering maybe like a sports psychologist or something like that," which is, we're not saying that that's a bad thing at all, but just curious, like what else were you maybe considering? So, Carlos, from you, favorite tool in the program or aspect of the program? For me as a parent, same as Chris, the awareness. Mm-hmm. Uh, knowing my, my role as a parent. I'm not the athlete, I'm not the coach. Yeah. I, I don't need to act like, like I'm athlete. Mm-hmm. So actually my daughter told me like, "Dad, I'm not you." Mm-hmm. So a- awareness, awareness. That verbal and non-verbal communication about what to say, what not to say as a parent- Mm-hmm either before or during the competition. But that, that awareness of, as a parent, the role as a parent. Yeah. Um, you need to be just a support, help, a guidance i- in her journey, but that's it. Mm-hmm. You're not the athlete. Mm-hmm. In my case, I'm not the athlete, I'm not the coach. So learn about my boundaries. For her, like Chris said, the live calls. Mm-hmm. She's amazed me with the live calls, knowing that there are some other athletes struggling with the same situations, with the same mental blocks, with the same lack of confidence or lack of something. Mm-hmm. Uh, learning that there are some athletes that they, they were able to overcome all the negative stuff and being a different athlete, that it is possible, that is doable. Somebody has done it before, I can do it too. So that's, uh- Probably the whistle that she's using right now Yeah. Okay. That's, that's amazing. Okay. Chris, any other things that you were considering? You touched on that. Yeah. I actually was-- my daughter had done some mental performance programs in the past, uh, two different seasons, but they were very short, and they were probably the right thing at the right time- Mm-hmm for what she needed in that moment. And I was-- when I was looking for a different one this time, and I, I guess I didn't really know exactly what I was looking for, but I was looking for something different. Yeah. And when I stumbled on this one, the parent piece of it is really what drove it home for me. And then the live-- all the-- there's just a lot of extra pieces that came with this program that we didn't have with the other one. The lifetime access, that was a big one for me. I was like, "Oh, wow," 'cause we had spent a considerable amount of money on the previous, uh, coaching programs, but they were like, one was like eight week, and one was like a 12 week, and it was, it set content. Once you went through it, like that was it. Mm-hmm. And again, there was value, like it helped her in the time, um, but that, the lifetime access, the direct support was huge, and the parent side of it. Uh, there's just been so much value to the parent side of it- Wow that that is one piece I haven't seen anywhere else. Yeah. Okay. Thanks for sharing that. Carlos, for you, I don't, I don't know if that applies to you. Any other-- you were considering other things? Well, before trying this mental coach- Mm-hmm which I would, uh- Not a sports psychologist, but a therapist psychologist and a coach, uh, it didn't work. Uh, my, my athlete felt like she was in a police interrogation- Mm. Yeah in this back and forth, uh, answers and questions. She felt not okay with that, um, uh, sessions or those sessions, and we, we stopped doing it. Mm-hmm. We tried with a different therapist with the same, same result. We tried with articles, with some, watching some videos- Mm-hmm and it, it didn't work. Uh, I tried, I'm not a psychologist, but I tried doing my own method. Again, it didn't work. Yeah. Uh, that's why I convinced my daughter, not convinced, but I asked her to, to at least try this Elite program. We're not trying to do or try a different method right now. Like I said, we are totally, uh, hands-on on this one. Yeah. She's enjoying it. Um, yes, it's No, no, no. Uh, uh, so right now we're not trying to do something different 'cause this one is working. Yeah. Okay. That's great to hear. Yeah, and I think some I'm glad you said that, Carlos, because a lot of times athletes are like, "Okay, when I'm sitting down..." And again, sports psychology or sports psychologist, therapist, like, there's definitely a great place for that. And, but what we've heard from some athletes is like, "This just seems really intense." You know, like, "I gotta sit down with somebody, like, and we gotta talk about our feelings and all this." And like, the program more gives like very tangible tools and, you know, presents it like, "Okay, here's a tool. Use it right now, and here's tool, use it." So yeah, we get that question a lot too, like what about therapy? And sometimes this can, um, work concurrently with that because it's more sports performance based. Um, so yeah, just mentioning that if that's helpful to anybody. Okay. Um, I think we've answered all the questions in the chat or Christina has grabbed them. But, um, parents who are listening, if you have any other last-minute questions, go ahead and pop those in. I'll wrap up now just with any last, any last things, any last things you wanna say, anything that we didn't cover, and then we'll wrap it up. So Chris, I'll, I'll start with you. There we go. Um, I guess, but I just feel like there's really no risk- Mm-hmm because you do offer that 14-day, um, trial. It's not really a trial, but yeah. I feel like there's no risk. Like, there's only opportunity to benefit from it. Um, if anybody just, even just jumps in there for two weeks and gives it a try, um, I would imagine you probably don't get too many, many people needing that. Right. Yeah. But it's so good. It's just, um, it's been such a rich program. But, um, there really is no risk. Um, there really is only the opportunity for reward from it. So that's what I like leave people with, like you can't- Mm-hmm it's, you offer a no risk opportunity with just checking it out. Yeah. Well, thanks for saying that. Yeah. That's awesome. Carlos, any last thing from you that you wanna mention? Yes, um, same as Chris. The reason we decided to go for this method, this program is the free risk. Mm-hmm. Is this, uh, two, two weeks of trial that you offer. Mm-hmm. You think that your athlete is not getting any benefits, you can cancel it and you can get your refund. Mm-hmm. Um, that's a huge deal for us or for us as a family. Yeah. And that's the reason why my athlete actually decided to jo- to join. Mm-hmm. Okay, let's give it a try. After trying it and after these two weeks, nah, you know what? This is the best gift that I, I can ever get. So thank you for that. Thank you for encouraging me to do the trial, two weeks trial, and thank you for that. Yeah. So no, no risks, no nothing. Yeah. Um, my last comment, uh, my, my athlete has learned that it's, it's all about trusting in yourself, enjoying the ride, and just have fun. She, she, she learned this, she's using it, she's practicing. Mm-hmm. And it, it has stick on her mind, and she's using it every day. Mm-hmm. Trusting, having fun, and just enjoying the progress, enjoying the ride. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's great. So can I just really quick, you put a-- there, I saw there was a question in the chat about how they get started. Yeah. That was another thing that I was so impressed with, the modules and how simple you had it laid out to go through everything. Like, it made it so, I think, just user-friendly, and, and that was another... Like, the whole program, I can literally talk about for so long because there's just so many things in there. Thank you. There's... Okay. But yeah. Yeah. Thanks for mentioning that, because we do put a lot of intentionality and thought behind it, you know, and like get a lot of feedback on like, okay, what's the simplest, you know, like low, low barrier to entry to just get going. So yeah, Ashley, what does day one look like? Yeah, she, when you enroll her, she gets a login, so she logs into her training portal, and then literally just starts with the warm-up. And the warm-up takes it from there. She does her quiz first. She learns about herself if she hasn't already done that, and then she just goes through. So yeah, it's pretty, pretty simple. You get a click like onboarding as well, and we break it up into, you know, manageable bite-sized pieces so that you kinda know what's going on, what's included in the program, and how to go about it. So yeah, Ashley, you can literally sign up today and get her started today, so. And I have one last question on here. Can you speak to how this works with college athletes? I've heard a lot about high school and, and middle school and college. And then, well, one thing that both of you, I mean, you both have multiple athletes, and so although we talked specifically about like one of your kiddos, I mean, you c- every athlete in your household gets their own login if you want, want them to. So there's that. But yeah, college, these skills apply to college athletes as well. We've had, I would say about like 10 to 15% of our athletes in the program are college-aged. And so they go through it like any other athlete, and that's the beauty of like the content itself is that they're going through kind of at their own pace, applying the skills, learning them. And then as a parent of a college athlete, like yeah, you've been through a lot already, but there probably are some things on the parent side that you could benefit from as well. So you go through your side and learn those things as well. On the calls, the college athletes are grouped with the high school. It's like high school and college are grouped together. So yeah, they're different, right? Like what a middle school athlete is going through and what a, like a high school and college athlete, like the questions are very different. So, um, we wanna make sure that they feel their group as well if you have. Yeah, but this still applies to those kids as well. In fact, we had a runner from Clemson who was going through the program recently, and we don't condone this, but she actually got her reset word tattooed on her body. She sent me a text and was like, "Look at the tattoo I got." And I was like, "Oh my gosh." And it was her, 'cause in the program they learn like a reset word, and she had, she had it on her. And it was like unstoppable, I think is what it was. I'm like, "Oh, well, okay. That's great." I mean, she is, she's in college, so, you know. Yeah, and then Catherine, program recommended for a nine-year-old. That's on the young end. We've had as young as nine, but we recommend you do the program more with her. So I would like kind of, you know, sit by her, do the athlete side, make sure she's tracking. I don't think you can teach these skills to kids, you know, young enough. Like she's gonna learn breathwork, visualization, her thoughts about herself. Like all of that is impressionable right now. Like I'm talking to my seven-year-old about all those things right now. So, but then you also having the parent side that young is great because now you're not going and waiting years and years and being like, "Oh shoot, I wish I wouldn't have like said all of that. Like I would've done it differently." So yeah, lifetime access means that you can also just pop around when she's ready. So, okay. I think we've got it all, but if you have any other questions, you can reach out to us at hello@elitecompetitor.com. Thank you, Chris. Thank you, Carlos, for being here. I really appreciate you sharing your time so generously with us. Well, thank you for doing this program. Like you don't charge enough. Oh, God. Like it's worth so much more. It's worth so much more. Yeah. Oh, thank you. All right. Have a great weekend everybody. We'll see you later.