The Standard

This isn't motivation. This is a movement. The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. Hosts Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe brings raw, truth-packed conversations with athletes, coaches, and leaders about identity beyond performance, discipline that lasts, and legacy that matters. 20-25 minutes of hard-hitting truth you won't hear anywhere else. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

The Standard is a arts podcast hosted by Erin Sarles, with 69 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Erin Sarles hosts The Standard, a arts show with 69 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #69

  US Sports Camps, 40 Years of Youth Sports, and What It Actually Takes to Build a Program That Develops the Whole Athlete | Ep. 69 Brian Sackinsky

  Aug 19, 202636 minS1

  Brian Sackinsky has spent over 40 years at the center of one of the most important conversations in youth sports. Not just how to win. How to develop. As a key figure at US Sports Camps — one of the most recognized names in youth sports camp programming in the country — Brian has been part of building and delivering athletic experiences for hundreds of thousands of young athletes across multiple sports and all levels of competition. He brings to this conversation the kind of operational understanding of youth sports that only comes from decades of working inside it: what programs that actually develop athletes look like, what they require of the adults running them, and what the youth sports landscape is getting right — and getting badly wrong. In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Brian to talk about what 40-plus years at the intersection of youth sports, camp programming, and athlete development has revealed about what young athletes actually need — and what the industry keeps failing to give them. In this episode: — The biggest lie youth sports culture tells parents, coaches, and athletes about what development actually looks like — What the best youth sports camp experiences Brian has seen do differently from the ones that produce burnout instead of growth — What character development alongside athletic excellence looks like when it's built into the program rather than bolted on — What 40 years inside youth sports reveals about what young athletes are carrying that coaches and parents still don't fully see — What US Sports Camps has learned about what athletes at different stages of development actually need — What coaches, athletic directors, and parents need to understand about building programs that develop the whole person This one is for every coach trying to build something in the youth sports space that actually lasts. Every parent investing in their young athlete's development and wondering what they're really getting. Every program and organization that believes athletic excellence and character development belong together — and wants to know what that actually looks like in practice. Connect with Brian: LinkedIn: Brian Sackinsky US Sports Camps The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: Website: blueprintbluechip.com Instagram: @blueprintbluechip LinkedIn: Erin Sarles Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader Follow us on social media and join the conversation BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #68

  30 Years in Athletics, NIL Certified — Why Income Protection Is the Foundation Everything | Ep. 68 John BronkhorstElse Builds On

  Aug 13, 202635 minS1

  Most financial conversations with athletes start with the money. John Bronkhorst starts with the asset that creates it. John Bronkhorst spent 30 years as an Athletic Administrator and Coach before becoming a Financial Professional with Capitol Wealth Strategies in Austin, Texas. That background — three decades on the sideline and in the athletic director's office — gives him something most financial advisors who work with athletes simply don't have: he understands the athlete from the inside. The culture, the identity, the compressed earning windows, the transition risk, and the specific financial complexity that arrives when NIL income starts flowing before most young athletes have ever filed a tax return. John is NIL certified through CleanKonnect NIL, the F.R.O.G. NIL Certification Program through the TCU Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and holds an NIL/MBA executive-level certification through Student-Athlete Insights. He works with high school and college athletes navigating NIL and revenue sharing income, physicians and medical professionals, agents, coaches, educators, administrators, and high-performing professionals and business owners — anyone whose financial complexity grows as their income grows. His work is built around one conviction: financial confidence begins with protecting the asset that drives everything. The ability to earn. Everything else builds from there. In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with John to talk about what athletes and high earners are getting wrong about financial security, what NIL income actually demands of a young athlete's financial infrastructure, and what the education-first approach to income protection and wealth-building looks like for someone navigating earnings for the first time. In this episode: — The biggest lie the financial industry tells athletes and high earners about where to start — What 30 years in athletics taught John about how athletes think about money — and what it costs them when nobody changes that — What NIL income specifically demands of a high school or college athlete's financial planning that most families aren't prepared for — The difference between disability insurance, life insurance, and annuities — and how they work together as a layered strategy — What "own-occupation" disability coverage means and why it matters more for athletes than almost anyone else — What every athlete, coach, and parent needs to understand about income protection before the money starts flowing This one is for every athlete generating NIL income without a financial plan. Every parent navigating a landscape that didn't exist when they were in school. Every high-income professional who has been building without protecting what makes all of it possible. Connect with John: Capitol Wealth Strategies — Austin, Texas The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: Website: blueprintbluechip.com Instagram: @blueprintbluechip LinkedIn: Erin Sarles Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader Follow us on social media and join the conversation BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #67

  From NCAA Division I Track to 27 States — Why Lasting Wealth Is Built From the Inside Out | Ep. 67 Freddie Gladney

  Aug 13, 202641 minS1

  Most people build their business from the outside in. Freddie Gladney has spent 12 years proving that the only way that works is the other direction. Freddie Gladney is the Founder and CEO of Gladney Family Enterprises — a leadership-driven business built on one conviction: lasting wealth is built from the inside out. A former NCAA Division I Track and Field athlete at UC Irvine, Freddie understands firsthand the discipline, sacrifice, and identity forged through elite competition. What he also understands — and what drives everything he builds — is that those same qualities are the foundation of lasting wealth, generational legacy, and real business success. Not skill acquisition. Not a better strategy. Character first. For 12 years, Freddie has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs across 27 states and 4 countries pursue financial freedom, business ownership, and generational legacy on their own terms. His work extends far beyond traditional business coaching. It gets to the foundational question: are you building something that lasts, or are you just trading time for money? In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Freddie to talk about what the business world isn't telling entrepreneurs and former athletes about wealth building, what character-based entrepreneurship actually looks like in practice, and what it means to build something that serves your family, your community, and your purpose — not just your bank account. In this episode: — The biggest lie culture sells entrepreneurs and former athletes about what it takes to build lasting wealth — What 12 years helping hundreds of entrepreneurs revealed about the difference between temporary financial success and generational legacy — Why character development — not skill acquisition — is the foundation that determines whether wealth lasts — How athletic discipline and identity translate directly into building something that outlasts a career — What it means to stop trading time for money and start building something that serves family, community, and purpose — What every entrepreneur and former athlete needs to hear about building from the inside out that most people aren't saying This one is for every entrepreneur stuck trading time for money and not sure why the strategy isn't working. Every former athlete trying to channel competitive drive into building something lasting. Every person who wants to build wealth that serves something bigger than themselves. Connect with Freddie: Instagram: @freddiegladneyofficial LinkedIn: Freddie Gladney Gladney Family Enterprises The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: Website: blueprintbluechip.com Instagram: @blueprintbluechip LinkedIn: Erin Sarles Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader Follow us on social media and join the conversation BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #66

  He Learned He Could Compete at 25. Two Years Later He Was on the Paralympic Podium in Paris. | Ep. 66 Ryan Medrano

  Aug 3, 202655 minS1

  December 2022: first training session. August 2024: two silver medals at the Paris Paralympics. Less than two years. Ryan Medrano was born with cerebral palsy in Savannah, Georgia. He was 25 years old when he found out — on Season 43 of Survivor, of all places — that cerebral palsy was a recognized Paralympic sport classification and he could compete internationally as a para-athlete. He went home. He started training. By July 2023 he was at the World Championships. By November 2023 he had won gold in both the 100 meters and 400 meters at the Parapan American Games in Santiago. By August 2024 he was standing on the Paralympic podium in Paris — silver medals in both the 100 and 400 meters, competing for Team USA in the T38 classification. The conversation that changed his life happened on a reality television show. The work that followed was anything but reality TV. Ryan's story is one of the most remarkable origin stories in American Paralympic history — not because of what he overcame, but because of what he did the moment he found out what he was capable of. He didn't hesitate. He didn't wait. He ran directly toward it. In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Ryan to talk about what life looked like before that conversation on Survivor, what those 20 months of training from scratch to the Paralympic podium actually required, and what he wants every person who has ever been told their ceiling is lower than it actually is to understand. In this episode: — What life looked like before he knew he could compete — and how he thought about his cerebral palsy — The conversation with Paralympian Noelle Lambert on Survivor that changed the trajectory of his life — What 20 months of daily training from zero to the Paralympic podium actually demanded of him — What it felt like to stand on the Paris stage knowing where December 2022 started — What competing for Team USA means to someone who found his sport at 25 — What he would tell every person who has been told their ceiling is lower than it actually is — What comes next — he's not done This is not a story about overcoming disability. This is a story about a man who found out what he was capable of — and ran directly toward it. This one is for everyone who found out what they were capable of later than they expected. Every parent of a child with cerebral palsy or a physical difference wondering what is possible. Every athlete at the beginning of something who can't yet see the podium from where they're standing. Connect with Ryan: @ fast_track182 The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: Website: blueprintbluechip.com Instagram: @blueprintbluechip LinkedIn: Erin Sarles Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader Follow us on social media and join the conversation BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #65

  From Professional Football to NIL Smart Hub — Helping Families Make Smarter Decisions | Ep. 65 Dr. John DeWitt

  Jul 24, 202639 minS1

  Most NIL conversations start with the opportunity. Dr. John DeWitt starts with the decision. Dr. John DeWitt is a former professional football player, Vanderbilt graduate, and founder of NIL Smart Hub™ — an education-first platform helping high school athletes and families make smarter NIL and recruiting decisions before they get locked into the wrong opportunities. He has seen, from the inside of a professional career and from years of working with families, exactly how quickly athletes get pulled in the wrong direction when they lack the framework to evaluate what actually serves their long-term interests. His approach through NIL Smart Hub™ isn't about chasing the biggest deal or the hottest trend. It is about bringing context and clarity to some of the most consequential decisions a young athlete and their family will ever make — decisions that evolve significantly from freshman year through senior year — and ensuring that those decisions are made with confidence rather than pressure, with understanding rather than hype. Dr. DeWitt works with students, families, schools, coaches, and organizations across the country. His education-first system gives families the framework they need at each stage so they can navigate NIL complexity without getting overwhelmed by misinformation, manipulation, or short-term thinking. In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Dr. DeWitt to talk about what families are getting wrong, what the NIL industry is not telling them, and what the education-first approach to athletic decision-making actually looks like from freshman through senior year. In this episode: — The biggest lie the NIL industry sells families about what matters in these decisions — What Dr. DeWitt witnessed in his professional football career that convinced him families needed better frameworks — How NIL and recruiting decisions change from freshman through senior year — and why stage-by-stage guidance matters — What separates families who make smart long-term decisions from those who get caught in hype and pressure — What coaches and schools need to understand about supporting families without adding to the confusion — What every high school athlete and parent needs to understand about NIL decision-making that most people aren't saying This one is for every family navigating NIL for the first time without a framework. Every high school athlete feeling the pressure of decisions that seem bigger than they are. Every coach and program that wants to help their athletes make smart choices without making the pressure worse. Connect with Dr. John DeWitt: NIL Smart Hub™ — [website to be confirmed] The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard. Support the show CONNECT WITH US: Website: blueprintbluechip.com Instagram: @blueprintbluechip LinkedIn: Erin Sarles Email: erin@erinsarles.com FREE RESOURCE: Join the 5-Day Reset™ — designed for athletes ready to build identity, discipline, and purpose beyond the game. blueprintbluechip.com/blueprintfoundationschallenge SUPPORT THE SHOW: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Share this episode with an athlete, parent, coach, or leader Follow us on social media and join the conversation BOOK ERIN TO SPEAK: Looking for a speaker who challenges comfort and calls out truth? Erin is available for team workshops, parent seminars, and leadership events. erin@erinsarles.com ABOUT THE STANDARD PODCAST™: This isn't motivation. This is a movement. Hosted by Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe, co-founders of Blueprint to Bluechip™, The Standard Podcast™ calls out the lies culture sold athletes and raises a new standard in sports, leadership, and life. We bring raw, truth-packed 20-25 minute conversations about identity, discipline, and legacy that goes beyond the scoreboard. New episodes drop every Monday. Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

  ListenShow Notes

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