#communityovereverything Champion Mindset Consulting
Welcome to our member spotlight, where we highlight outstanding businesses making a difference in our community. We are thrilled to showcase Champion Mindset Consulting, a mental health consulting firm for young athletes that offices out of CityCentral Plano—Legacy West.
In this spotlight, we speak with Emily Williams, who specializes in providing mental performance counseling to young athletes to overcome stress and pressure and find their self-confidence. Join us in learning more about Emily's work and what led her to help young athletes accomplish their goals!
Tell us a little about Champion Mindset Consulting LLC.
Champion Mindset Consulting™ provides mental performance coaching services to athletes (mainly gymnasts & dancers). Coaching sessions are offered in-person and via video for athletes who are out of state or in other countries. Under Champion Mindset Consulting™, we have our Champion Mindset Academy™ which houses Champion Mindset Academy™ for Gymnasts and Champion Mindset Academy™ for Dancers. These are our two online training programs, which are available on their own for independent training or in combination with one-on-one coaching sessions for individualized training.
What led you to mental performance coaching?
I had a bit of a roundabout way of getting to where I am now. Mental performance coaching was actually not in my plans at all. I went to college and got a bachelors in exercise science, then moved out to Florida for physician assistant school. I had planned on being a sports medicine/orthopedic PA. However, during my second semester, I started having some health issues that actually forced me to pull out of school and come home. While doctors were trying to get my health under control, I decided to start my masters in sport and exercise psychology. I also worked in a PT clinic that was very athlete focused. We had many gymnasts, NFL players, MLB players, & some NBA players. After finishing my masters, I continued to work in the PT clinic while also providing mental coaching services. Then, after some time went by, I decided to launch my own company at the end of 2019, and we are!
What is something you wish you’d known when you were just starting your business?
I wish I had known more about the marketing side of things. Obviously, I have no business background from my schooling, so I've just had to learn over time. Luckily, a lot of my growth early on was all word of mouth. I also work at a local gymnastics meet once a year & set up a vendor table where I'm able to reach a ton of people. When I decided to launch my first online training program, I really had to hone in on social media marketing. I've gotten better with it as time has gone on, although it's not something I love spending my time on. I don't have tens of thousands of followers, but it's grown a lot over the past year and a half, and I've been able to reach many athletes who live out of state & even out of the country! I wish I had known more about all of this when I first started so that this growth could've happened earlier (seeing as I launched my business straight into COVID). But at the same time, I think it's important to be able to adapt & learn as you go in order to be successful.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
I'm definitely witnessing all of my athletes' success! Watching their performance improve as they progress with their mental performance coaching is so fun. There are common things like overcoming nerves or mental blocks, building resilience & mental strength to get through tough practices, coming back from injuries, and so much more. Specific to my gymnasts & dancers, it's super fun watching them compete & achieve some of their long-term goals as well. I've had gymnasts qualify as elite and earn scholarships to college, and I've had dancers receive scholarships to some of the most prestigious ballet schools around the world. I love when they text updates & send videos showing their accomplishments. Their success is the best part of my job!
How has being a part of the CityCentral community affected you and your business?
City Central has been amazing! When I first started my business, I started out in one of the smallest little offices. It was cute, & it was all I could afford. When everyone was trying to figure out the COVID situation, I was very much still in the building phase of my business. For the most part, I simply moved everyone to video calls and did sessions from home. I did have a few people that I still needed to see in person, though, and City Central was so great. They helped me adapt plans to still be able to see athletes in person, despite my office being so small. After two years in my "starter" office, I was able to upgrade to a larger office (with a window!!). This has been so nice because it's conveniently located off of the elevators, so parents feel comfortable dropping their kids off, and it's big enough for the kids to have a couch to sit on and feel comfortable while they're here.
If you had a friend in town and you could take them to one of your favorite restaurants or spots in your community, where would you take them?
My husband and I like going to The Star and Legacy West. We also have lots of little sushi spots that we like a lot. And if the friend enjoyed ballet, I would take them downtown to the Winspear!
We would like to thank Emily for being a part of our Member Spotlight series! If you are interested in being a part of this series, please email info@citycentral.com or speak to your Community Manager.