#490 Jessica Renney and Paula McQuaid of Hone Athletics on Understanding and protecting Athlete Mental Wellness
Way of Champions PodcastShow Notes
Paula McQuaid, co-founder and in-house research lead, fuels HONE's innovation with her passion for uncovering what truly shapes human wellness. For the past fifteen years, she's dedicated herself to understanding how people thrive, then translating that insight into tools that help athletes, coaches, and organizations perform at their best through HONE's platform. With a Master of Counselling and a member of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, Paula brings both academic depth and human connection to her work. Alongside her role with HONE, she has served as a Mental Performance Consultant for Hockey Canada's Women's U-18 National Team, quietly keeping two Gold (2019, 2022), one Silver (2020), and one Bronze. Co-founder Jessica Renney leads growth at HONE with her sharp insight, energy, and passion for connecting people to purpose. Born in Trail, British Columbia, and raised across Western Canada by two coaches, Jess has always been surrounded by sport and the pursuit of excellence. Seeing firsthand the pressure and barriers that exist in high-performance environments, both through her work and through her upbringing as the daughter of a 13 year NHL coach, she brings an incredible perspective to the mental health and well being needed for athletes to thrive. A graduate of the University of Lethbridge with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, she later completed her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology at the University of Victoria. She is also a member of the Canadian Counseling and Psychotherapy Association. Connect: https://www.honeathletics.com/ The #1 Bestseller CAPTAIN: THE ATHLETE'S GUIDE TO BEING AN EXCEPTIONAL TEAM LEADER is now available! CLICK HERE TO ORDER We are constantly asked "where have all the leaders gone?" Now more than ever, it is up to schools, clubs and coaches to develop our leaders, and this new book is a perfect guide to train and develop them. It is filled with stories of champion team captains on the professional and college level, Hall of Fame coaches, and more, and is a masterclass on leadership. Your athletes will learn from leaders such as Carles Puyol Abby Wambach, Tim Duncan, Shane Battier, Richie McCaw, Carla Overbeck and Simone Biles. It will help your athletes understand the qualities needed to lead, the responsibilities they must accept, and the most common challenges they will face. The chapters are short and sweet and have discussion questions so that your leaders can work through them together and set your team up for great success. The book also comes with a FREE downloadable 10-session curriculum so you can guide your team or the leaders in your school or club through the entire book. FOR ORDERS OF 10 OR MORE, WE OFFER A $5 PER BOOK DISCOUNT. EMAIL [email protected] to place your order. BOOK A SPEAKER: Interested in having John or one of our speaking team present to your school, club or coaching event, either in person or virtually? Looking for leadership training for your student athletes, a coach development workshop or parent education? We are still booking Fall 2026 events, please email us to set up an introductory call [email protected] PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS, AND JOIN 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS FROM SYRACUSE MENS LAX, UNC AND NAVY WOMENS LAX, AND MORE! These are just the most recent championship teams using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes and support teams. Many of these coaches are also getting THE CHAMPION SPORTS PARENT so their team parents can be part of a successful culture. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you? We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school and collegiate sports programs in the country, will your team be next? Click here to visit John's author page on Amazon Click here to visit Jerry's author page on Amazon Please email [email protected] if you want disc
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Kevin Connors is the Managing Director at Susan Crown Exchange, where he oversees grant making, leads new initiatives, and co-develops organizational strategy. Kevin helped lead the Million Coaches Challenge, a national initiative launched by the Susan Crown Exchange in 2021 to transform youth sports by training one million coaches in evidence-based youth development practices. Backed by 18+ partners, including the Aspen Institute's Project Play and research led by the American Institutes for Research, the Million Coaches Challenge is transforming youth sports by equipping coaches with the information and tools to create positive, inclusive environments that help young people build confidence, belonging, and life skills through sport. Between 2021 and 2025, it collectively trained 1,173,354 coaches. Previously, Kevin served as the Founding Director of Personalized Learning at Chicago Public Schools, where he led a $25M initiative and partnered with 120 schools to lead the nation's first large scale implementation of the Personalized Learning school model. Kevin has also written for Education Week, is a Teach for America alum, and presents regularly at local and national conferences. His work has been covered by CNN, The Today Show, and Vanity Fair. Recently, with support from the Susan Crown Exchange, the Aspen Institute and Ohio State University LiFESports recently announced the National Coach Survey. The 15 minute online survey can be found at as.pn/coachsurvey. The goal is to reach 20,000 coaches through the survey, and is designed to provide value to the youth sports field writ large, as well as a valuable tool for individual organizations. Specifically, organizations with 25 or more responses are able to receive their own reports. Connect at https://www.millioncoaches.org/ The #1 Bestseller CAPTAIN: THE ATHLETE'S GUIDE TO BEING AN EXCEPTIONAL TEAM LEADER is the book you need to develop your team captains and leaders! CLICK HERE TO ORDER We are constantly asked "where have all the leaders gone?" Now more than ever, it is up to schools, clubs and coaches to develop our leaders, and this new book is a perfect guide to train and develop them. It is filled with stories of champion team captains on the professional and college level, Hall of Fame coaches, and more, and is a masterclass on leadership. Your athletes will learn from leaders such as Carles Puyol, Abby Wambach, Tim Duncan, Shane Battier, Richie McCaw, Carla Overbeck and Simone Biles. It will help your athletes understand the qualities needed to lead, the responsibilities they must accept, and the most common challenges they will face. The chapters are short and sweet and have discussion questions so that your leaders can work through them together and set your team up for great success. The book also comes with a FREE downloadable 10-session curriculum so you can guide your team or the leaders in your school or club through the entire book. FOR ORDERS OF 10 OR MORE, WE OFFER A $5 PER BOOK DISCOUNT. EMAIL [email protected] to place your order. BOOK A SPEAKER: Interested in having John present to your school, club or coaching event, either in person or virtually? Looking for leadership training for your student athletes, a coach development workshop or parent education? We are still booking Fall 2026 events, please email us to set up an introductory call [email protected] PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS, AND JOIN 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS FROM SYRACUSE MENS LAX, UNC AND NAVY WOMENS LAX, AND MORE! These are just the most recent championship teams using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes and support teams. Many of these coaches are also getting THE CHAMPION SPORTS PARENT so their team parents can be part of a successful culture. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you? We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school
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