6 | How To Go From A ‘Fat’ Kid To An Olympian with Carlos Eduardo Schwanke

Ep 6 How To Go From A ‘Fat’ Kid To An Olympian with Carlos Eduardo SCHWANKE

Hear the Interview NOW: (48m:58s)

Rewind back to 2005. I joined the 18 man roster after being on a tryout a month and a half earlier. Before that USA Volleyball had no idea who, Ryan Jay Owens, was as a volleyball player. I didn’t even exist to them… Well, it doesn’t matter, I made the decision to follow my heart which was dreaming of the Olympics and I made it on the team with current and former Olympians under the direction of Hugh McCutcheon.

Well Hugh and Ron Larson decided I was a good fit only in a different position and that promised to teach me everything I needed to know to become the player I dreamt of becoming… at the end of that first summer Hugh came to me with a deal in Puerto Rico and after playing there for a couple weeks he recommended I take a deal down in one of the best leagues in the World, Brazil (BRASIL).

I am not a crazy person. I accepted. First day on the job I was meeting and greeting my teammates at the court in San Leopoldo, Brazil in the south which is cowboy territory. Well like they say cowboys are friendly and sure enough after all the guys were met Carlos Schwanke asked me to go with him and another guy, Kid Teixeira for food. These are two Olympians from the Atlanta Olympics!

I said as cool and calmly as possible, “sure,” while grinning like a school kid with a box of candies.

Over the next months I would spend time with him and his family at their summer home and just get to know this amazing volleyball player, athlete, husband, father and future (now) coach. Listen for the his story and some fun stuff about us both.

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Hear the Interview NOW: (48m:58s)

About Carlos Eduardo SCHWANKE

Born in 1974 in Santa Catalina, Brazil.

Grew up in small city near Santa Catalina with his German father & Italian mother.

Started with volleyball because of health at age 12.

He played in 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and is a World League medalist.  

(Brazil is the MOST WINNINGEST national team for volleyball in history)

He had a decorated pro career entirely in Brazil.

He now is a head coach and when he started as an assistant he immediately won three Super League (Top pro) in Brazil with a men’s team.

Hear the Interview NOW: (48m:58s)

Key Discussion Points:

  • What’s his story?
  • What his inspirational quote?
  • What was his biggest obstacle?
  • Who influenced him the most?
  • what separates elite players from rest of the pack?
  • How does he control his mind while playing?
  • What is he most proud of?
  • What has his life so far taught him?
  • Who he would interview and why?
  • Why adding value is important?

Key Lessons:

  • How mentors play an extremely important role in our lives…
  • How being rejected is not a bad thing…

“I was big and a little bit fat… So i had to start playing something.”

"When i went to tryout for one team when i was kid, I was rejected. I was disappointed and i wanted to do something other.”

  • Why being injured and not having options to recover is false…

“Doctors told me that i will not be able to play volleyball again,but with believe and faith i recovered."

  • Some people are important to keep close throughout life…
  • What could make him the best player possible…

“..Trying to find something outside from sport: religion, faith, your goals… If you surround yourself with positive things and keep being better & better then you are in front of your opponents."

  • What to do to make his mind his tool during sports & life…
  • What’s most important in life to be successful…

"Most important thing is to have __(listen to find out…)___ in your life."

  • How what you are most proud of can turn out not to be a goal…
  • That accomplishing goals can be incredible…

“... and I said ‘We did it!’ and I turned to the stage and I saw __(listen to find out… It’s a HUGE name!)__ with the Olympic torch & I started crying…All the moments… All the preparations...All the hard days of trainings...In that moment all of those things were (listen to find out…)!”

  • The reason why adding value to other people is so important...

INFO

Charity/Organizations They Add Value to: None

Business/Work: Head Coach Volleyball

Past Teams:

Past Schools:

Recommended Guest:

5 | From Working At McDonalds to Russian Superleague Champion with Justin DUFF

From Working At McDonalds to Russian Superleague Champion with Justin Duff

Hear the Interview NOW: (51m:29s)

I met Justin this year after my team in Indonesia was looking for a replacement for our team. His agent, Steve Welch of SIM GRATTON in Canada sent me his info. Long story short he got the job and I was so relieved that when we ran into each other the first time he was:

  1. Tall as hell. I FELT NORMAL!

  2. He spoke perfect English. LIFE SAVER.

  3. He was obviously mixed ethnically. BONUS.

Well Justin turned out to be more than just a few specs. This guy is truly one of the kindest hearted, competitive, focused and hungry to succeed in life athletes that I have EVER met.

We hit it off instantly… (Disclaimer: Longest run-on thought/sentence EVER!) From 'inhaling' (AKA eating so fast you cannot breath) designer hamburgers from street vendors to becoming Asian archery competitors to coaching our own team to learning much more Indonesian than I wanted to learn because of his nerdiness to beating down Indonesian pro teams together except in the final (my bad Duff)... to business start-up planning to psycho-like mirror scribbling to geeking out over robotics/RC’s to inhaling mango sticky rice, downing liters of beer in an hour in a while river boat taxi hopping & then sneaking into the private pool of the tallest building in Singapore to alternating in an ice bath while eating the biggest pizza in Indonesia

We had some good times.

Whew. Yes, that was a lot. It was a tiny bit of our 2 months playing for a team in Indonesia while we stayed in shape for real volleyball elsewhere around the world.

I’ve got tremendous respect for this guy who realizes his athletic prowess cannot get him everywhere in life but it can get him far enough to make leaps to other things during and after sport to be a great son, brother, friend and someday father. Total respect!

Where’s Justin now? Well in one of the best leagues in the world. Get the details by listening…

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Hear the Interview NOW: (51m:29s)

About Justin DUFF

24 yr old pro and Canadian national team indoor volleyball player.

Strong & a huge vertical leap… but only a few more centimeters than me ;P

Son to a single mom.

Got cut from volleyball team initially during tryouts.

2004 started playing volleyball. National team in 2009 & senior national team in 2010. Pro in 2011.  

5th Place in World League 2013. 7th in World Championships 2014. Champion of Russian Superleague 2013.

Hear the Interview NOW: (51m:29s)

Key Discussion Points:
 

  • What’s his story?
  • What are his goals in sport & life?
  • What does he think of getting a high education?
  • What mistakes/obstacles has he faced in volleyball?
  • What lessons did he learn from those?
  • What was a defining moment in his life?

Key Lessons:

  • How being cut & denied at first is no reason to give up.

“Don’t be afraid to fail. Because you need to, you need that to grow. Things aren’t always going to go your way… and that’s ok... You should expect that and you should try and use it as a way to make yourself better. To rebuild.”

  • Where he keeps his goals to stay on track.
  • Why he worked through high school…
  • Why he is not keen on focusing on sports long term…

“I am not so keen on making it the focus of my life. Although we are becoming experts in it, since we put a lot of time in it, there are other things that I want to do.”

  • How starting a business & writing a book are big options…
  • Why others/adults can be inspirational…

“Just to be told I was talented in some way that other ppl weren’t kind of made me say, ‘alright well now I want to try and use this!’”

  • His biggest AHA moment that came to him in college…
  • How he responds to psychological challenges in sports…

“In the really tight moments you need to be really focused on ‘what is happening right now?’…”

INFO

Charity/Organizations They Add Value to:

Business/Work: Had a job @ 15Yrs Old... Current pro volleyballer

Past Teams:
Team CANADA
Transfer Bydgoszcz (POL)
Izmir Spor Klubu (TUR)
VC Belogorie Belgorod (RUS)

Past Schools:
University of Winnipeg

Recommended Guest:

7| How To Live Alone In Italy At 14yrs old & Now The USA At Florida State University with Milica Kubura (Part 1)

How To Live Alone In Italy At 14yrs old & Now The USA At Florida State University with Milica Kubura (PART 1)

How many 14 years old leave their country to study abroad? Well Milica KUBURA is one of them…

She contact me through my sports agency Elite Volley Agency & non-profit Elite Sport Students project.

She asked for help getting to a US college. I told her she shouldn’t have to pay an agent OR ANYONE for doing any of this because her education is MOST important. We put together a CV with her transcripts & all other documents. I sent it off to my network in the USA of over 1400 coaches and she received in the next weeks a TON of interest. JACKPOT!

Well what made her decide to go to the US? Why did she live alone in Italy as a Serbian girl at the age of 14? Find out in this episode.

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Ep7 LISTEN BELOW NOW :) (31m:28s)

PART 2 HERE: 11 | Don't Be Afraid To Change Your Life Before Going Pro with Milica KUBURA (Part 2)

About Milica KUBURA

19 years old & a freshman @Florida State University playing both sand & indoor volleyball.

Born in Belgrade, she wanted to be actress.

Attended drama school. Physically she was destined for sports. One sibling, her sister, who was the inspiration for her to start play volleyball.

Also she had amazing support from both of her parents.

Lived ALONE in Italy, on her own will and decision, to learn Italian and study at the AGE OF 14!

She decided to continue her education in USA… Find out how she got there by listening!

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Ep7 LISTEN BELOW NOW :) (31m:28s)


Key Discussion Points:

  • What’s her story and how she got into sports?
  • What else she’s interested in?
  • What did she struggle with in sports?
  • Why was it important that she go to a great school while playing volleyball?
  • What is her advice for international students that want to go to school in America?
  • What are her goals?

Key Lessons:

  • How she made her own decision to play volleyball in the future….

  • That she will struggle but must push harder….

“In sports there are always obstacles and we always have these moments when we think, ‘What is the purpose of this?’ Because in sports you have first to work hard & after that it’s all worth it.So we have to be patient all the time.”

  • She learnt to do everything in her life by herself at 14yrs old…

  • Why she had to learn Italian in first 3 months …

  • She couldn’t imagine her life without school and her sport...

“In my family a college degree is REALLY IMPORTANT… both parents have it.. my sister has it…”

  • Why SHOWING your team your ambition for a better education necessary…

"You just need to show what is your plan for future and to be persistent"

  • She defines what success means to her…

“Find what you love and let it kill you.” ― Charles Bukowski

  • How not being a starting player for her team was a HUGE challenge…

  • That you shouldn’t be afraid of chasing your dream…

"Don't be afraid to make changes in your life... listen to your heart, don’t overthink everything... chase your dream & everything would be ok."

  • How goals play an important part in her success...


“Now is the right time” - Lotus Sutra

 

INFO

Charity/Organizations They Add Value to:
 

Business/Work:
 

Past Teams: Red Star (Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade, Serbia)
 

Past Schools:
 

Recommended Guest:

10| How to Run For Charity From NYC to San Francisco... Alone! with Christina LEE

How to Run For Charity From NYC to San Francisco... Alone! with Christina LEE

Who runs across America?

Christina LEE does and she does so at a pace of about 30 miles or so per day!

I first heard about Christina LEE from a dear friend and the one and only contributor (at the point of typing this November 22nd, 2014) to my fundraiser so far on Indiegogo to raise funds for this podcast. DONATE HERE :) THANKS!

I asked if he knew anyone that was a former or current athlete doing great things. First thing he said was go type Running America into the search bar of Facebook.

I thought, hmm, ok strange. I did. As I landed on the page he starts to say how he met this incredible girl running across America recently and she is awesome.

Took me 5’ of digging on her page and researching to see I HAD TO HAVE HER ON THE SHOW! I knew no one does that without having a great heart, spirit and mind! Well my buddy, Ryan Dewitt, had great judgement.

Christina LEE defines #BeyondAthletic!

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Listen To The Episode Below (58:03)

About Christina LEE

23 yr old raised in California & self-proclaimed nerd. :)

Former high school cross country runner & standout in soccer (Forced to stop so listen to find out why..) had soccer scholarships across the country.. Top choice was Georgetown.

Graduate of two universities simultaneously

  1. New York University (NYU) with majors in Computer Science & Math

  1. Stevens Institute of Technology with major in Engineering with focus on Robotics and Automation.

Worked for Google. Currently not employed but seeking employment. ;)

Decided to knock a goal off her bucket list by RUNNING ACROSS AMERICA ALONE & raise $100,000 USD by doing so for the Navy SEALs Foundation benefiting SEALs and their families.

She’s raised over $30,000 so far… DONATE HERE AND/OR SHARE WITH A FRIEND

She’s a cover model, one of my personal role models and will be running the football out for Jerry Rice and the San Francisco 49’s on game day of week 12 in December!


Key Discussion Points:

  • What’s her background & story until HS?
  • What was her biggest obstacle in life?
  • Who inspires her?
  • Why she helps others?
  • What has running across america taught her so far?
  • What are her morning rituals before runs?
  • What a personal habit that contributes to her success?
  • How does she add value to others?
  • What are her future plans?

Key Lessons:

  • She knows now the life she wants...
  • When a door closes others open when you look closely…

“I need to make the best of what I have… I had to look away and never look back”

  • How she believes she can create awareness as a symbol for others…

...I’m not the one doing great things... I’m just out there as a symbol trying to raise money for the people that are doing really awesome stuff!”

  • Why the person she is most inspired by... is a life coach…

  • How mentoring and helping others is rewarding…
  • How running is the vehicle for the biggest changes in her life…
  • Why morning rituals are so important…
  • What her secret sauce is to her success…

“If you don’t want to make your life harder.. (LISTEN TO FIND OUT) is the easiest thing you can do. It’s free that’s the best part!”

  • Why she plans to work on Green Energy Initiatives & in the Tech industry

Follow Christina on FACEBOOK 


INFO

Charity/Organizations They Add Value to:

DONATE HERE: Navy SEALs Foundation / Running America

Business/Work: Seeking employment with/ Comp Science + Math + Engineering + Robotics Degrees

Past Teams:

Past Schools:
NYU
Stevens Institute of Technology

Recommended Guest:

Links 

State of Mind: The Psychology of Control (2013)