Yolanda Schmidt has an endless list of achievements in her fascinating career. Stepping into the ring more than 40 times has gathered an incredible amount of respect for Yolanda within the Muay Thai community. But it is safe to say that it has not been the smoothest ride. From broken bones to collecting belts, Yolanda sits down with Whitney Tuna for episode 7 of A Champion’s Mind to talk about the trials and tribulations of her illustrious career thus far.
Yolanda has experience in many different sports throughout her life. She explains to Whitney she has always attacked everything she has been willing to give her time to with all she has to offer. Winning her first 10 competitive bouts is evidence of her work ethic but she explains her first loss was a learning curve that impacted her so heavily she would never forget it. Upon reflection, she explains the feeling of letting her peers down was hard to take but as time progressed she realised that the disappointment she was feeling was purely within and was not a feeling her family and friends shared. Yolanda continues to explain that learning to balance between feeling as though she had disappointed herself to taking a loss an opportunity to learn has helped her greatly throughout her career.
As the life Yolanda lives begins to unravel throughout the podcast, it becomes clear that her work ethic is simply astounding. Her fight career has been plagued with injuries. She mentions that there has been times in a fight camp when she has had an injury to her left arm that would justify refusing to compete. But instead, she takes the opportunity to work on her techniques that do not involve her injury. Such a positive mindset has helped her work through losses, avoid the negativity that might be directed at her through social media and continue to inspire the youth in her job of Health and Physical Education.
Yolanda has a fascinating career with many decals to support her abilities. Perhaps the most fascinating factor of her career is the amount of setbacks she has worked through in order to achieve what she has achieved. The most important message Yolanda delivers is definitely supported by the fact that she won a gold medal for Australia with a torn hamstring that occurred in round 1. If you want something bad enough, you will find a way. Have a listen to how Yolanda has always found a way.
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#CHAMPLIFE #STRONGERTOGETHER
Episode No. 6 of the podcast, A Champion’s Mind, sees Whitney Tuna sit down with Australian Champion Boxer, Jason Mallia. Starting Boxing at a young age, Jason recalls his biggest influence in the ring to be his Dad considering he was responsible for introducing him to the sport at a very young age. A mere 25 years in to his life, Jason has already won an incredible 5 Australian Championships and 9 State Championships. This has helped his dream of making it to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 a very real reality. Perhaps most fascinating of all, he has managed to continuously achieve and grow in his career whilst managing the world class facility, Crew, in his hometown of Melbourne on the east coast of Australia.
Recalling his youth, Jason describes how he developed a strong work ethic from a very young age through his upbringing. He says his father would regularly explain to him that he had a responsibility to those around him to deliver his absolute best at all times in all aspects of his life. He explains such a strong message has helped him a lot throughout his career in and out of the ring. The reality is that, if you want something, you have to be willing to work for it. He mentions this particular realisation would serve him well when he would be in the pits of a stressful day that would often lead to a lack of motivation. Reflecting as honestly as possible, Jason mentions this mindset has been pivotal for his progression in many ways.
Touching on the fact that 25 is a young age to be the owner of a gym, Jason explains he could not have it any other way. In the very early days of his career, he explains he would feel very conflicted working as a personal trainer in rented spaces as he was rarely allowed to operate in the manner that he believed was in the best interest for him and his clients. Even though he was quite young, to Jason it appeared the obvious move was to open his own facility and use his experience to develop a strong and successful product. Whilst he openly admits there are a lot of struggles that came along with it, he likens it to any difficulty you face in life. He advises strongly that you should learn from every experience. He explains that all your experience builds your character and quite often the biggest change or positive adjustment to your character occurs in your most difficult times.
With a storied career already, Jason paints the picture for his future goals. Interestingly enough, as a competitor, his focus is set heavily on an appearance at the Tokyo Olympics. It is fascinating to hear that he has a sole focus given his position would likely offer many doors for him to walk through. As the conversation progresses, it becomes quite apparent that Jason is very experienced in putting his focus in the right place. His career is illustrious and young, his business is thriving and young. Jason is an incredibly exciting human being to watch and his future is undoubtedly going to be beautiful to watch unravel. Listen to one of the industries most exciting and passionate leaders share his mindset and his journey with a likeminded individual.
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In the final year of his commerce degree, Daniel Bradshaw took a leap of faith and began designing his own clothing label, Street X. Originally toying with several varying business plans and titles for the brand, Daniel eventually settled on Street X. Which was inspired by an Australasian stock exchange product named Chi-X. Daniel sits down with Pamorn Martdee to discuss the trials and tribulations of the label thus far. From its well thought out birth to its global success, the story of Daniel Bradshaw and Street X is a fascinating journey.
Originally aiming to create a stock exchange style website, Daniel explains how building a business from the ground up has encouraged him to realign his goals. Looking back over the 9 year journey, Daniel tells Pamorn how he envisioned being a multi-millionaire at the height of his success with 9 years of progress under his belt. But he continues to clarify that such a thought was far too broad and letting go of that warped reality has helped him develop success. Advising Pamorn that it took many years for Street X to become a profitable business, Daniel also describes how realigning and simplifying his approach to continuously progress has been the best move he has made. Being a multi-millionaire would be an enjoyable life, but Daniel explains that aiming to be in a better position in every facet of the business with each year that passes has allowed everything to fall in to place accordingly.
As Pamorn and Daniel progress through the podcast, the characteristics that Daniel possesses become quite apparent. Narrating a clear chronicling of his upbringing, Daniels discusses with Pamorn how he was a very active and competitive child who progressed in to a rather defiant character. He continues on to explain how such characteristics gave him the confidence and the mindset to create and build a successful business. Daniel provides great insight for the commitment that is required to develop an idea to a point that it offers success.
Whilst he is entirely responsible for his own success, Daniel strongly refutes the fact that he is an entrepreneur. He explains he had no capital backing from day 1 and that every leap he has taken in his career has come at the risk of losing everything. It’s incredible to hear the attention to detail Daniel has and the amount he has absorbed and learned from in his 9 year journey. The most exciting part is undoubtedly that he is armed with many different approaches and even though 9 years of trading is a massive success in itself, he is only just getting started.
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Kevin Ross, an American Muay Thai World Champion in multiple combat organisations sits down with Pamorn Martdee to share his Muay Thai journey in a bare all episode of the podcast, A Champion’s Mind. Throughout an illustrious career, Kevin has enjoyed success in many different ways. Reaching the height of World Champion on multiple occasions, Kevin has competed in varying styles of combat over a 17 year and 50+ fight career. Including Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Boxing.
The story of triumph is not an unfamiliar tale. But the brink Kevin has returned from is particularly special. In the beginning of his Martial Arts training, Kevin explains he was a lost young man with nothing but a strong work ethic. Such a strong work ethic led him to progress at a uniquely rapid pace. Whilst this encouraged people surrounding Kevin to believe he was far more experienced than he was, he explains this worked to his detriment in some aspects and led him to have a largely false ego. He continues to explain losing his first competitive bout was a bitter pill to swallow, but looking back he speaks of the experience quite fondly noting how it helped to shape the competitor he would go on to become. Depicting his first bout, Kevin describes how the playing field was not level and the odds were stacked against him. Looking back, he acknowledges he would not have been able to rise to the occasion the many times he has needed to throughout his career had he not have faced the challenge and absorbed all he could on that fateful day.
Possessing an unbreakable mindset, Kevin explains viewing his younger years as a purposeless waste helped him stay focused over the course of his 17 year career. Having faced troubling times in his youth and losing some close friends along the way, he has a deep understanding of his purpose and what he has needed to do to fulfil it. A true testament to Kevin as an entertainer is the fact he was voted the North American Muay Thai fighter of the year in 2010. Despite the popularity of Muay Thai in North America trailing to the likes of Boxing and MMA, competing against an all-star list of competitors has undoubtedly earned Kevin the respect he deserves. An incredible feat considering he began training in 2003 when he was a young adult that had made the conscious decision to turn his life around.
Kevin provides an in-depth explanation of the mindset and the mentality he has towards his training in the 60 minutes he spends with Pamorn. His belief in his ability is astounding whilst he is still incredibly humble. With a historic career in stow already, it is clear that Kevin has wholeheartedly taken every opportunity to learn from every experience he has been a part of so far whether it is a positive or a negative one. Perhaps the most intriguing takeaway of the third episode of A Champion’s Mind with Kevin is his relentless drive to improve himself. A drive he takes with him inside and outside the ring. Interestingly enough, it is quite apparent that winning the inner battle is of far more importance than any decal he has earned along the way. In the later stages of his career, its immensely inspiring to hear the soul of the assassin is still deep.
Happy listening!
#CHAMPLIFE #STRONGERTOGETHER
We are all familiar with the saying, “practice makes perfect”. But the method of practice is equally as important as the amount of time invested. There are countless research articles addressing the factors that can determine the success of your practice and they cover a wide variety of topics. The state of your current sleeping pattern, the attention to technique, the nutritional intake and the time invested are just a few topics that spring to mind. Liana Nici, a Dietician for one of the most successful Australian Rules Football Clubs in the West Coast Eagles sits down with Whitney Tuna for some insight into the importance of nutrition for an athlete at any level.
Liana explains working with the West Coast Eagles has been a career highlight. Managing the nutritional needs of 30 athletes has shown Liana the importance of knowing the athlete, knowing their body and knowing their role within the team. This allows her to dive deep into their psyche as well as their performance. A method Liana says is absolutely necessary if you want the best results. The first step towards the right improvement begins with defining the goal. Liana explains the paramount importance of getting to know the athlete prior to offering any nutritional advice. Understandably, most athletes will share the common goal of success, but what that looks like and the road to getting there will undoubtedly vary from one athlete to the next. Investigating the role Liana plays and the responsibility of the athlete, Liana explains there is a common misconception that the performance on the day is all that matters. Going more in depth, Liana explains the importance of pre and post performance routine. If you want your body to maintain peak performance, it is vital to prepare and recover using the correct methods. A concept that is quite easy to understand.
Knowledge can easily be turned into power. In order to execute well, it is imperative to have a deep understanding of the concept. Liana touches on some of the battles that appear with the high performing athlete. Surprisingly, under-eating is at the top of the list. But Liana explains that the reasons for under-eating often vary. Having experienced such a dilemma first hand on many occasions, Liana reiterates the importance of defining the ultimate goal the athlete is working towards. She says this helps the athlete to completely understand the sacrifice required to get to the highest level of performance. Liana explains accepting your body will change in ways you may not like also helps the athlete to realise just how driven and how serious they are about achieving their goal. Like anything worth working towards, there will be parts that you enjoy and parts that you dislike, but they go hand in hand. Building the routine for all aspects of performance will create good habits and ensure that high level performance is maintainable. Liana relates the importance of such a method to combat sports. She explains, losing the good habits will likely see an athlete move too far away from their competing weight and result in pushing the body too hard in a short period of time in order to perform. This will likely result in early fatigue and or injury both physically and mentally.
Liana offers a mountain of knowledge in her chat with Whitney. It serves as a strong reminder of the importance of focusing on the habits that are needed in order to be successful. Often we are guilty of looking at the giant and scary goal that is at the end of the journey and this sometimes works as a deterrent. Liana is an incredibly knowledgeable individual and she offers some amazing advice for the performing athlete and the significant effect the relationship you have with food has on your life in multiple ways. Every great champion has mastered the basics.
Happy listening!
#CHAMPLIFE #STRONGERTOGETHER