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Winter Olympian James Matheson OLY is the first athlete I have interviewed who is still competing at the elite level, as a world class Mogul skier. And what a conversation we had! James has a podcast called The Athlete Collective that explores how leaders, visionaries and friends from the athlete community found their mojo off the field of play. Very similar to The Wide Open Road. During our conversation James flipped the script and asked me a few questions about my own experiences and what I have learnt over my 30 plus years of corporate life which has included a couple of transitions of my own. As James embarks on the 2022 Winter Olympics in China this coming February he had the time to share his experiences on life as an elite athlete, the importance of a long term mindset, coping with ‘failure’ and preparing himself for retirement at the ripe old age of 26. As the first athlete to still be competing this is an enlightening and uplifting conversation which we intend to pick up on The Athlete Collective Podcast in the second quarter of next year.

Brisbane Lions Personal Excellence and Wellbeing Coordinator Marianna Crow has spent a significant amount of her career in education. The perfect preparation for assisting AFL players be the best they can be on and off the field of play. Part of Marianna’s role is to work with players as they start the process towards exiting the game with purpose and intent. In this conversation Marianna explains the importance of starting the transition process by learning about yourself and setting aside time for self-reflection long the journey. Understanding your likes and dislikes, what interests you and ensuring AFL players leverage the resources they have to help them prepare for the day when their careers come to an end. Marianna explains the anxiety players can feel if they’re not prepared and provides a terrific, step by step guide on a process all athletes can follow to ensure they give themselves the best opportunity of successfully transitioning to the next phase of their lives.

Olympian, dual Commonwealth Games and triple World Championship cycling representative Gracie Elvin OLY enjoyed a long and successful career in elite road cycling - one of the world’s most physically and mentally demanding sports. Having started her career mountain biking Gracie progressed to become a mainstay of the elite Mitchelton Scott team for eight years. Whilst competing at the elite level Gracie all but completed her Bachelor of Applied Science Degree and co-founded The Cyclists Alliance, a foundation that provides holistic support to professional female cyclists during and after their careers. With COVID-19 severely disrupting Gracie’s 2020 cycling season, this enforced break provided her the time and space to think about life after sport and led to 2021 being Gracie’s ‘gap’ year. Gracie shares her thoughts on having distractions away from elite sport, the enjoyment she derived meeting and learning from successful people not involved in professional cycling and the importance the support of family and friends has been on her elite sporting journey.

Dual Winter Olympic medallist and aerial skier Lydia Lassila is an Australian sporting icon having won Gold at the Vancouver 2010 Games. Lydia’s sport of choice was a brutal test of physical and mental courage where a small mistake could lead to drastic consequences. A big believer in having distractions outside of sport Lydia was recovering from a ‘blown out knee’ when she started sketching the first designs of what became BodyIce (https://bodyice.com/)– a range of joint specific ice and heat packs developed to help her own recovery from injury. As she evolved as an athlete Lydia had to find new ways to stay at the top of her game physically and mentally which led her to Yoga and ultimately the creation of Zone by Lydia (https://www.zonebylydia.com/). Lydia’s story is a wonderful example of learning to compartmentalise, finding passions outside of sport, having a lifelong learning mindset, not identifying herself an ‘just’ an athlete and simply “getting on with it”. Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Newly appointed Hawthorn Football Club coach Sam Mitchell had a storied playing career and was relentless in his pursuit of on field success, for him and his team. Sam’s approach to getting the best out of himself on the field lead to winning four AFL premierships, five best and fairests and the 2012 Brownlow Medal. The hard work he put in well and truly paid off. After finishing playing he transitioned into coaching, firstly as an assistant at the West Coast Eagles, then the Box Hill Hawks and now the Hawthorn Football Club as senior coach. In this wide ranging conversation Sam shares his stories about the peer pressure inside the changerooms to have something to “fall back on”, the small number of mentors that helped him balance the on and off field, being self sufficent when it comes to getting the best out of himself, the selfish life of an AFL footballer, how fatherhood changed the way he thought about AFL football and remaining curious. Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Four time Olympic middle distance star Craig Mottram OLY didn’t grow up dreaming of running at the Olympics and this fact set him up for success on and off the track. Australian middle distance runners are not supported to compete in the same league as their more favoured African nations competitors, yet Craig bucked this trend. His fearlessness and ability to push through pain helped him to incredible success. His on track deeds led to opportunities to meet people and do lots of different things, all whilst completing a degree in marketing by distance education online. Craig’s story highlights the importance of education, singlemindedness and taking opportunities that are afforded to you because you are able to run faster than most people on the planet.Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Former Matilda’s Captain, and one of Australian Football’s most capped female players, Melissa Barbieri’s journey is a lesson in how being self sufficient and never taking no for an answer can take you to the very top of your chosen profession. Melissa was told early in her career a back injury was going to stop her playing. She did not stop. She simply switched positions. And she succeeded, becoming Captain of the Matilda’s and an on field leader which has helped Melissa’s transition to coaching and mentoring players. In this conversation Melissa reveals how her family and close friends supported and encouraged her through a playing career that included competing at multiple Women’s World Cup’s, the Olympic Games and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Retired Hawthorn premiership player Clinton Young experienced the highs and lows of one of the most physically demanding sports on the planet. From being the Hawk’s leading possession getter in the first half of the 2008 Grand Final to suffering a serious ankle injury early in the third quarter, which was the start of a wretched run of injuries. Clinton transferred to Collingwood for the 2013 season and ended up retiring in 2015, at the age of 29. During his career Clinton did a range of short courses to build his off field skills but could never settle into anything long term until an opportunity to coach presented itself.Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Former professional basketballer Alex Opacic literally had the world at his feet. At an early age he was identified as one of Australia’s top underage players, was selected to spend time at the Australian Institute of Sport and ended up playing four years of College Basketball in the United States. After finishing his College experience with a degree in communications, and competing against some of today’s NBA superstars, Alex played professionally in Europe when injury struck. What happened next changed his life and helped his successful transition to life after sport. Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Olympic cyclist Rob Crowe’s story is unique and centres around the lessons he learnt in the gruelling world of cycling at the highest level. Rob shares with us the disappointment of not performing to expectations at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and how that drove his passion in health and fitness. Since his cycling career retirement, Rob has pursued a career vision in psychology for health and fitness, studying psychology and physiology before working in the mental health field and as an athlete advisor role for the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. He currently runs Ridewiser Mind-fitness in Melbourne which has evolved from the journey in finding a better lifestyle with balance for mind and body.Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Former test opening batsman Ed Cowan has a unique story about his own career transition. He studied at university and got a ‘real job’ before his cricketing talents provided the opportunity to turn professional. With the support of his family, friends and employer he embarked on a 16-year journey in one of the most mentally demanding sporting jobs on the planet – an opening batsman. His passion for learning and blending sport with outside interests provides a great lesson for all professional athletes. Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

AFL superstar Brad Johnson used one disappointing junior season as a spur to ensure he was prepared for life after sport before his AFL journey even began. As his AFL career took off Brad always had one eye on preparing for what’s next. An incredibly durable and universally loved player Brad’s story is a great lesson in persistence, passion and performance as he took many of his on-field skills to off-field success.Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Rugby League legend Steve Menzies had a relatively smooth transition to life after sport but after three years realised he was just drifting. A conversation arranged through one of his contacts ignited another passion in his life and he hasn’t looked back. Steve is a former professional rugby league footballer best known for his career with the Manly Sea Eagles. He also played in the UK and France amassing an incredible 477 games in one of the most physically demanding of contact sports. Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Three time Olympian Sally Kehoe shares her competitive journey in a sport where financial rewards are non-existent and planning for life after sport is critical. Growing up in Toowoomba, Sally was a sports mad child who loved to compete. This competitive mindset saw her excel in the male dominated sport of rugby where she had to stop playing at 12 years of age. Boarding school ignited a passion for rowing and Sally excelled on and off the water. She is now enjoying corporate life and playing rugby again. Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Retired SAS Soldier and registered psychologist Harry Moffitt discusses the transition parallels the military and elite sports men and women share in an enlightening start to series two of the Wide Open Road. Having spent almost 30 years with the Australian Defence Force, most of which was spent with the elite Special Air Service (SAS). He completed 11 active service deployments amassing nearly 1,000 days on Special Operations globally, included being wounded in action in 2008. Since leaving the SAS Harry founded the Stotan Group, a human performance consultancy. Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Olympic Gold Medallist Michelle Mitchell OAM OLY brings her unique perspectives of athlete transition to life after sport. In the final episode of series one Michelle shares her experiences from inside one of the winningest teams in history to coaching around the world to working with athletes to help them be the best performer and the best person, all at the same time. A fitting conclusion to what has been a terrific series.Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Former Richmond Tigers AFL star Daniel Jackson shares his post football journey which epitomises what The Wide Open Road podcast series is all about. Daniel talks about how travel, immersing himself in different cultures and experiencing a variety of career environments has helped shape his journey in life after sportPresented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

Retired Brisbane Lions and Essendon AFL footballer Matthew Leuenberger discusses his strategic approach to preparing for life after sport, initially inspired by a conversation with two of his coaches. Matthew also shares important life lessons from his childhood and professional sport.Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp

We are taking a short break from the podcast! Here's what to expect next...Presented by Edward Kemp. To contact Ed, email edward_kemp@bigpond.com or connect with him on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/edwardgkemp