Athletes spend years learning how to train, compete, recover, and perform under pressure, but few are taught how to manage the financial opportunities that can come with success. Rachel Blogg sits down with Shana DiMarco, founder of The Athletes Advisor and a financial advisor who works with athletes and high income professionals, to talk about financial literacy and why planning for the future matters long before an athletic career ends.

Shana shares some of the financial mistakes she sees athletes make, from assuming another paycheck or NIL deal is coming to making major purchases before understanding taxes, expenses, and long term needs. She and Rachel also discuss the pressure athletes can feel to financially support family, how lifestyle and identity can become tied to income, choosing people you can trust with your money, and why asking questions is a strength. Because every athletic career eventually changes, and making intentional financial decisions now can give athletes more freedom when the paycheck, contract, or opportunity looks different later. Connect with Shana: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shanabuildswealth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanadimarco/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShanaDiMarcoFSCP Stay connected with Rachel: LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok

ℹ️ The podcast content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice.

What if confidence isn’t believing everything will work out, but trusting yourself when it doesn’t? Rachel Blogg sits down with adventurer, executive coach, author, and keynote speaker Lei Wang, the first Asian woman to complete the Explorer’s Grand Slam by climbing the highest peak on every continent and skiing to both the North and South Poles. Her journey began not as a lifelong athlete, but as a self-described former book nerd wondering what might happen if she challenged the story she had always told herself about who she was.

Lei shares what climbing Mount Everest taught her about fear, risk, mental strength, and the difference between pushing through discomfort and knowing when stopping is the right decision. She and Rachel explore how real confidence is built through experience, why reaching the summit is only halfway, and how learning to trust yourself can change what you believe you're capable of. It’s a conversation about courage, identity, and realizing that who you’ve been doesn’t have to determine who you become next.

Connect with Lei: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JourneyWithLei LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leiwang/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/journeywithlei/ Stay connected with Rachel: LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok

ℹ️ The podcast content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice.

What happens when the body you’ve spent decades training suddenly doesn’t work the way it did before? Rachel Blogg sits down with IFBB Pro wheelchair bodybuilder Sharla Peterson to talk about the catastrophic spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down and forced her to confront a life she never expected. Sharla shares what happened when her L1 vertebrae burst during a squat, the uncertainty that followed, and the moment she realized her wheelchair might be a permanent part of her life. She opens up about finding purpose again through adaptive bodybuilding, eventually returning to the stage and earning her IFBB Pro card. Rachel and Sharla also explore athlete identity, independence, accepting a new reality, finding progress without perfection, and learning that rebuilding your life doesn’t always mean becoming the person you were before. Sometimes it means discovering what you’re capable of now. Connect with Sharla: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ifbbpro_fit_chick_onwheelz/?hl=en Stay connected with Rachel: LinkedIn, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok ℹ️ The podcast content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice.