Interviews with individuals who have been successful within athletics and beyond to encourage and inspire girls and women to be active for a lifetime, to reach their goals, and to break new barriers in sport and life. This podcast is brought to you by the Active Girls Healthy Women in the Sports Medicine Research Institute at the University of Kentucky.
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131 - Jenné Blackburn, Lifelong Athlete; Founder of Always An Athlete® and Ball2Bike®
Jenné Blackburn has been at the forefront of innovative strategy and storytelling for more than 15 years, collaborating with brands such as VMware, WeWork, SONY, Location Based Technologies, American Idol/ABC, USA Volleyball, and numerous local, national, and global NGOs.
Recently, she launched her latest initiative and book, Always An Athlete, at the espnW Summit in partnership with the Center for Sport, Peace, and Society at the University of Tennessee. The "Always An Athlete" book, is a guide designed to help athletes transition from their sports careers to the next phase of their lives. She also serves as the Global Alumni Community Manager for the U.S. Department of State's Global Sports Mentoring Program.
For more information about Always an Athlete, visit: https://www.alwaysanathlete.com/.
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16 Oct 2025TRANSCRIPT
130 - Emily Manning, U.S. Figure Skating Association Gold Medalist and Figure Skating Coach
Emily Manning is a Figure Skating coach at the Lexington Ice Center with over 9 years of professional coaching experience. She is a triple U.S. Figure Skating Association Gold Medalist in Skating Skills, Adult Skating Skills, and Adult Singles. From figure skating to hockey; her coaching style emphasizes building a strong technical foundation while nurturing each skater’s individual growth - whether training for competition or skating recreationally. She brings her expertise in athletic conditioning to broader audiences as well through her work at Proof Fitness as a group fitness instructor. Her ultimate goal is to inspire people of all ages to move with strength, purpose, and joy.
If you enjoy this podcast, please click "subscribe" wherever you listen to episodes and we hope you'll consider leaving us a review.
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/UKAGHW, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ukaghw, or LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/active-girls-healthy-women.
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If you want to help us sustain the Champions of Active Women podcast, please consider donating to the University of Kentucky Active Girls Healthy Women Program at https://give.uky.edu/campaigns/47165/donations/new?aft=87003cbf2438ea9d126a47dbe0395353
1 Oct 2025TRANSCRIPT
129 - Karolina Kopyonkina, Program Coordinator, Active Girls Healthy Women
Karolina Kopyonkina is joined the Active Girls Healthy Women team as the Program Coordinator in June 2025.
Originally from Ukraine, Karolina moved to Kentucky at the start of high school and earned both her Master of Science in Medical Sciences and her Bachelor’s in Neuroscience from the University of Kentucky. With experience in health research, teaching, and mentoring, she’s passionate about empowering girls to stay active and build confidence.
Karolina is a competitive figure skater who took up the sport as an adult, fulfilling a longtime dream. Now she trains regularly, competes, and performs in recitals at the local ice rink, using her journey as a reminder that it’s never too late to try something new or pursue a passion.
If you enjoy this podcast, please click "subscribe" wherever you listen to episodes and we hope you'll consider leaving us a review.
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Sign up for the Active Girls Healthy Women newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/h6e30b (http://eepurl.com/h6e30b) or learn more about our Program here: https://linktr.ee/ukaghw.
If you want to help us sustain the Champions of Active Women podcast, please consider donating to the University of Kentucky Active Girls Healthy Women Program at https://give.uky.edu/campaigns/47165/donations/new?aft=87003cbf2438ea9d126a47dbe0395353
Inside a recent episode
131 - Jenné Blackburn, Lifelong Athlete; Founder of Always An Athlete® and Ball2Bike®
Published 29 Oct 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] no one said that about me for years and so what I realized was like oh we need some structure in physical spaces so I get very passionate about parks being a great space for this like kind of like a magnet of bringing all these different puzzle pieces of intergenerational play to the space and so I'm hopeful that the conversations I have coming up and different things are going forward will will be able to find a way to collaborate yeah I I love so much of that and we're pulling off time to dive in here today but I love the idea of intergenerational play and I feel like you're speaking to me I was a former competitive swimmer and also a mom so like that was very that story was very relevant there so you know we have just a few minutes left so I'd like for you to talk about what does success look like to you if you're successful what will the world look like? […]
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