Athlete Mindset

About Athlete Mindset

This is the Athlete Mindset podcast. Presented and produced by SportsEpreneur. Part of the QuietLoud Studios Podcast Network. And this podcast is all about mental health in sports. This podcast series is a space for conversations with athletes, coaches, practitioners, and stakeholders in sports. And it’s where those individuals share their perspectives, experiences, and thoughts on mental health in sports. Hosted by Lisa Bonta Sumii, LCSW, CMPC - Mental Performance Coach at Bay FC and CEO & Founder of AthMindset® Eric Kasimov, Founder of KazSource and the creator of SportsEpreneur, is generously hosting the Athlete Mindset podcast on his platform as he deeply believes these conversations are essential and deserve to be prioritized. If you are looking to start a podcast or create original content, you have to talk with the team at SportsEpreneur. I work with them and I vouch for them. It’s that simple. About Lisa Bonta Sumii, LCSW, CMPC Lisa is a mental health therapist with over 21 years of clinical experience, licensed in both CA and NV. She is Mental Performance Coach at Bay FC and CEO & Founder of AthMindset® Lisa supports the elite athlete to achieve optimal mental health and peak mental sport performance. She works with adolescent sport teams, collegiate student-athletes, Olympians/Olympic hopefuls, as well as professional athletes and teams. Lisa is the first-ever Mental Health & Sport Performance Specialist for the Oakland Roots Sports Club. The Roots are a men’s professional soccer team and purpose-driven club. Seeing the elite athlete as a multidimensional human, navigating various roles and identities, is integral to Lisa’s approach. Focusing on the role that interpersonal trauma, culture, race, gender, and sexual orientation play as the athlete navigates life on and off the field, is at the center of her work. Lisa is listed in the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Mental Health Registry and the National Football League Player Association’s Clinician Directory. Lisa is often an invited podcast guest and conference speaker. Besides hosting the Athlete Mindset podcast on the SportsE+ podcast platform. She spoke at TEDxWilmington on the intersection of race, mental health, and sport. She has been featured in Time Magazine, Teen Vogue, BBC World News, and Women’s Health Magazine. AthMindset, LLC, supports the mental health of the elite athlete and their ecosystem. This includes serving the spouses/partners, family members, coaches, teams, referees/umpires, agents, and athletic trainers, with clinical services and sport performance consultation. To get more content like this check out https://sportsepreneur.com and https://quietloudstudios.com/

Publisher

SportsE Media | hosted by Lisa Bonta Sumii, LCSW, CMPC

Category

health & fitness · sports

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 Nov 2021

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

107 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   9 Oct 2026

   Mental Toughness and Emotional Regulation with Jacqueline Kelly

   Jacqueline Kelly joins Lisa Bonta Sumii to discuss mental toughness, emotional regulation, and the connection between mind, body, and purpose. Kelly is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC), strength and conditioning coach, and founder of Kelly Performance & Wellness. Drawing on her work with athletes and her book Becoming Unfragile, Kelly explains how self-awareness and preparation help athletes respond to pressure without suppressing their emotions. In this episode: • What mental toughness looks like beyond pushing through • Tracking self-talk to build awareness • Finding the right level of energy and tension for performance • Focusing on preparation and effort when outcomes are outside your control • Using simple habits to reset when performance feels overwhelming Explore Athlete Mindset: https://www.athmindset.io/ Support the podcast: https://sportse.io/athlete More episodes: https://sportsepreneur.com/podcast/athmindset/ Athlete Mindset is part of SportsE Media. Hosted by Lisa Bonta Sumii. Produced by KazCM: https://kazcm.com/

2. 

   26 Dec 2025

   The Other 23 Hours: Athlete Identity, Body Confidence, and Building Healthy Sport Environments with Julie Shiller

   Julie Shiller, MS, CSCS, CMPC Candidate, who is also pursuing her clinical licensure. She is an AthMindset® Mental Performance Practitioner and sport and performance therapist with Align Bay Area Sport Psychology. A former youth athlete who left sport without the body-confidence and mental-health support she needed, Julie now channels that lived experience into helping athletes and coaches thrive as whole people. With more than 15 years in coaching and human performance—including extensive work as a strength and conditioning coach—Julie guides growth across the physical, mental, and emotional domains. She is also a trainer for Positive Coaching Alliance and the founder of The Other 23 Hours Coaching, where she supports athletes in the transformational moments that happen outside of practice and competition. Whether she’s working with youth competitors, collegiate teams, or coaches (https://www.nisoa.com/) seeking to build healthy, high-performing environments, Julie brings empathy, evidence-based practice, and a holistic perspective to her work. Chapters 0:00 — Athlete Mindset & SportsEpreneur 0:17 — Cold open + energy check 1:09 — Welcome & introduction to Julie Shiller 2:00 — Julie’s background: coaching, performance, and lived experience 4:10 — Leaving sport without support & why it matters 6:45 — Athlete identity and body confidence 9:30 — Eating disorder awareness in athletics 12:10 — Why the “other 23 hours” matter most 15:05 — Coaches as culture-setters 18:40 — Starting with the coach before the athlete 22:15 — Building team-wide support systems 26:30 — Youth and collegiate athlete considerations 30:05 — Integrating physical, mental, and emotional performance 34:10 — What healthy sport environments actually look like 38:20 — Advice for coaches and practitioners 41:31 — Closing reflections & appreciation Information and short-form content on athletes and eating disorders Go here for resources and education (https://anad.org/get-informed/athletes-and-eating-disorders/) A note on body confidence: The sense of comfort, acceptance, and positive attitude a person has toward their own body. It’s not just about appearance—it’s about how you feel in your own skin, respecting and appreciating your body’s abilities, and being less influenced by societal pressures or unrealistic ideals. For athletes, body confidence is particularly important because it affects performance, recovery, and mental health. Athletes with strong body confidence are more likely to trust their bodies, maintain healthy habits, and enjoy their sport without being hindered by anxiety or shame about their appearance. More content by SportsEpreneur on athlete mental health: Why players are taking control of their health (https://sportsepreneur.com/athletes-data-ownership-wearable-technology/) | The pressure placed on college athletes (https://sportsepreneur.com/suicide-prevention-nil-pressures-future-athlete-mental-health/) | Teaching resilience in youth sports (https://sportsepreneur.com/youth-sports-mental-health/) Connect with Julie Shiller: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-shiller-5a828b192/) | Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/theother23hourscoaching) The Other 23 Hours Coaching (https://www.theother23hourscoaching.com/) Connect with the host & podcast production team: Lisa Bonta Sumii: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-bonta-sumii-lcsw-csw-5317b31b5/) | Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/lisa_bontasumii/) SportsEpreneur: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sportsepreneur/) | X (https://twitter.com/SportsEpreneur) Credits: Athlete Mindset is part of SportsEpreneur (https://sportsepreneur.com/) Produced by KazCM (https://kazcm.com/) and also featured on the QuietLoud Studios (https://quietloudstudios.com/) podcast network. Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io (https://freebeats.io) | Produced By White Hot If you or someone you know is struggling If you’re experiencing thoughts of suicide or emotional distress, please reach out for support: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US): Call or text 988 Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 International resources: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines (https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines) You’re not alone, and support is available.

3. 

   24 Nov 2025

   Suicide Prevention, NIL Pressures, and the Future of Athlete Mental Health | Dr. Kweku Amoasi, PsyD, CMPC

   In this episode of Athlete Mindset, host Lisa Bonta Sumii, LCSW, CMPC, sits down again with Dr. Kweku Amoasi, PsyD, CMPC — licensed psychologist, Certified Mental Performance Consultant®, USOPC psychological services provider, and Chief Wellness Officer for Blaquesmith Consulting. This conversation explores the rising mental health challenges athletes face: suicide prevention, stigma, high-pressure environments, financial realities tied to NIL, and what it actually takes to support athletes across college and pro sports. Dr. Amoasi also reflects on his keynote at the Alliance of Social Workers in Sports Annual Conference and the powerful role social workers play across the sport ecosystem. Lisa brings her dual lens as a clinical social worker and Certified Mental Performance Consultant® — as well as her identity as a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the author of The AthMindset® Workbook: Training Your Mind for Optimal Mental Health in Sport and in Life. Dr. Amoasi brings the energy and brotherhood of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Both Lisa and Dr. Amoasi are proud members of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). Their ongoing dialogue centers on serving the whole athlete — and supporting the caregivers who support them. Episode Chapters 0:00 — SportsEpreneur & Athlete Mindset 1:22 — Welcome + why this part two matters 1:33 — Dr. Amoasi’s background & roles 2:35 — Fraternity pride + community as healthy grounding 3:18 — Athletes as “superhuman” & stigma of vulnerability 4:50 — Why athletes choose silence 6:52 — Medication vs self-medication in sport 8:22 — “Mental spotters” + invisible weight 9:24 — What parents and coaches can do early 10:14 — Mental Health First Aid in athletic settings 11:40 — Early intervention & normalizing tough conversations 12:33 — The evolution of sport psychology (NBA, NCAA, USOPC) 14:55 — Embedded counseling vs traditional campus services 16:30 — Psychology becoming as normal as the training room 17:49 — NIL pressures: identity, development, time, money 18:54 — The “three things” rule for college athletes 20:03 — NIL reshaping college sports entirely 22:04 — Brain development + responsibility overload 23:06 — Stress → risk behaviors 24:17 — Reflections on the Alliance for Social Workers in Sport keynote 26:26 — Why social workers are essential in sport 29:28 — Multidisciplinary care in the athlete ecosystem 31:04 — Loving the whole athlete 33:02 — Advice to emerging sport psych + social work professionals 35:47 — Ethics, boundaries, & trusted circles 37:39 — Parallel process for clinicians supporting high-visibility athletes 38:51 — Why every layer of the system needs support 39:56 — Closing appreciation + reflections Episode Topics Suicide prevention and athlete vulnerability Stigma, “superhuman” identity, and why athletes don’t speak up Mental Health First Aid in sports Evolution of sport psychology in NBA, NFL, NCAA, and USOPC spaces NIL pressures: performance, academics, money, identity Social workers’ critical role in sport Balancing ethics, visibility, and care Building a trusted professional circle Supporting the whole athlete — and the whole ecosystem Featured Links Alliance of Social Workers in Sports https://www.aswis.org/ (https://www.aswis.org/) AASP – Association for Applied Sport Psychology https://appliedsportpsych.org/ (https://appliedsportpsych.org/) The AthMindset® Workbook: Training Your Mind for Optimal Mental Health in Sport and in Life https://athmindset.com/workbook (https://athmindset.com/workbook) Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. https://oppf.org/ (https://oppf.org/) Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. https://www.deltasigmatheta.org/ (https://www.deltasigmatheta.org/) Connect with Dr. Kweku Amoasi Licensed Psychologist Certified Mental Performance Consultant® Psychological Service Provider — U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Chief Wellness Officer — Blaquesmith Consulting | https://blaquesmith.com/ (https://blaquesmith.com/) Author, keynote speaker, mental health advocate Proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/blaquesmith/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/blaquesmith/) Connect with the host & podcast production team: Lisa Bonta Sumii: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-bonta-sumii-lcsw-csw-5317b31b5/) | Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/lisa_bontasumii/) SportsEpreneur: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sportsepreneur/) | X (https://twitter.com/SportsEpreneur) Credits: Athlete Mindset is part of the SportsE Media (https://sportsepreneur.com/) platform. Produced by KazCM (https://kazcm.com/) and featured on the QuietLoud Studios (https://quietloudstudios.com/) podcast network. Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io | Produced By White Hot If you or someone you know is struggling If you’re experiencing thoughts of suicide or emotional distress, please reach out for support: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US): Call or text 988 Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 International resources: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines (https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines) You’re not alone, and support is available.

Who has been a guest on Athlete Mindset

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Lucas Williamson
• Maya Chandler
• Aher Uguak
• Anaya Peoples
• Chris Billam-Smith

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

55,800

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

11 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 83 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

87

Social presence

94

YouTube

72

Engagement

77

Contact Athlete Mindset

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Athlete Mindset