We’re thrilled to introduce Sideline Sessions, a new original series on the Be Podcast Network. Designed for coaches, parents and other stakeholders in the world of youth, scholastic, and amateur sports, this show brings you interviews with leaders at the highest levels of their respective sports. Hear about their motivations, philosophies, and strategies for success, and take away actionable insights to support the athletes in your life.

The guest for this episode is Samantha Arsenault Livingstone, an Olympic gold medalist swimmer, high-performance consultant, speaker and mental health activist. Samantha is an active supporter of the #SameHere Global movement.

If you’d like to subscribe to Sideline Sessions, use this link to find it on your preferred platform: https://sidelinesessions.transistor.fm/subscribe

This episode features a discussion of Samantha’s positive and negative experiences with coaching beginning at a young age — including how it contributed to her complicated feelings toward the sport for many years after earning Olympic gold — as well as mental fitness for coaches and athletes, and much more:

• When Samantha got interested in coaching
• Her personal definition of what it means to be a coach
• The challenges of coaching a sport at which she was a world-class athlete
• The WHOLE Athlete Initiative and what motivated her to start it
• The pillars of the Initiative and what they’re built around
• Vulnerability in coaching

Subscribe to Sideline Sessions to hear the rest of our fall-winter season. We’ll continue to bring you insights from diverse coaches across the sporting landscape. Subscribe here: https://sidelinesessions.transistor.fm/subscribe

About today’s guest

Samantha Arsenault Livingstone is an Olympic gold medalist, high-performance consultant, speaker and mental health activist. At home in the classroom, Samantha spent six years teaching high school science and coaching swimming. After a near-death experience with her then 12-month-old daughter, Samantha knew it was time to pay forward all she'd learned about achievement, emotional agility, rising through hard things and finding fulfillment in the striving.

In 2016, Samantha founded Livingstone High Performance and the Whole Athlete Initiative (the WAI) in response to the mental health crisis impacting young people across the globe. LHP provides pillars of support to organizations, teams, and individuals to elevate mental health and improve performance - disrupting the old-school model of mental toughness as the path to high achievement. Samantha holds a master's in education and is a certified instructor of Mental Health First Aid and facilitator of Mindful Sports Performance Enhancement. She resides in Berkshire County, Massachusetts with her husband and four daughters.

About the host

Ross Romano is co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and also hosts The Authority Podcast. He began his career in the pro sports industry before becoming a leading communications, marketing, and management expert working with education companies. He is founder and CEO of September Strategies, a coaching and consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. He also works directly with professionals at all levels, in all industries, coaching them in their pursuit of success.

Connect on Twitter @RossBRomano or LinkedIn. Listen to The Authority: https://authoritypodcast.net.