Imperfectly Human™ | Athlete Identity & Life After Sport

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...

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 fol...

What if failure isn’t the thing holding you back, but the thing teaching you how to move forward? Rachel Blogg sits down with entrepreneur, mentor, and House of Bricks founder Adam House Sr. for a candid conversation about entrepreneurship, resilience, identity, and learning to keep moving when life and business don’t go according to plan.

Adam shares lessons from building multiple companies, returning to basketball in ...

When does discipline stop being healthy and start taking over your life? Rachel Blogg sits down with adaptive performance advisor Alyssa Spaw for an honest conversation about bodybuilding, body image, disordered eating, perfectionism, and the complicated relationship high performers can develop with exercise, nutrition, and their own expectations.

Alyssa opens up about how fitness initially made her feel strong and empowered before...

What happens when the sport that shaped so much of your life is no longer the center of it? Rachel Blogg sits down with her son, Cole Whipple, for a personal conversation about growing up as an athlete, playing college basketball, and realizing that walking away from competition didn’t mean losing who he was. Instead, Cole found relief, rediscovered his love for basketball, and learned that the sport could remain part of his ...

What happens when you finally reach the level you worked so hard for, only to realize the pressure is just beginning? Rachel Blogg sits down with NFL player Tyron Herring for an honest conversation about chasing a professional football career, getting cut, changing teams, managing expectations, and learning to separate who you are from how you perform. Tyron shares the mental pressure of knowing every practice could affect your fu...

What happens when the thing you love most becomes inseparable from who you are? Rachel Blogg sits down with professional MMA fighter and former UFC fighter Charles Rosa for an honest conversation about athlete identity, pressure, mental health, trauma, and the complicated reality of imagining life after fighting.

Charles opens up about losing his two older brothers, finding an outlet through MMA, battling depression when fighting i...

What happens when the sport that shaped your identity is suddenly gone? In this deeply personal episode, Rachel Blogg shares why Imperfectly Human is entering a new chapter with a focused mission: helping athletes navigate life after sports. Drawing from her work as a therapist and mental performance coach, as well as her own experience recovering from a life-changing injury, Rachel opens up about the emotional challenges that come...

What happens when you stop hiding the hardest chapters of your life and start telling the truth? Rachel Blogg sits down with YouTube creator, storyteller, and fashion designer Mrs. Kane for a deeply honest conversation about pregnancy loss, domestic violence, healing, resilience, and finding purpose through vulnerability.

Mrs. Kane shares the unimaginable heartbreak of losing nine pregnancies before welcoming her miracle daughter,...

What happens when you stop waiting for the perfect moment and simply decide to begin? Rachel Blogg sits down with endurance athlete, Harvard Business School graduate, engineer, and educator Anthony Simonetti for an inspiring conversation about resilience, purpose, adventure, and choosing experiences over fear.

Anthony shares the journey that took him from a childhood shaped by family challenges and his sister's battle with cancer t...

What happens when you stop hiding the hardest parts of your story? Rachel Blogg welcomes author, speaker, and content creator Rachel Sobel for a deeply honest conversation about surviving domestic violence, navigating breast cancer, raising resilient kids, and learning that vulnerability can become your greatest source of strength.

Rachel shares how years in an abusive relationship slowly eroded her confidence before therapy helped...

What happens when the dream you've spent your entire life chasing suddenly comes to an end? Rachel Blogg sits down with former NFL running back Montee Ball for an honest conversation about identity, performance pressure, addiction, recovery, and what it means to rebuild your life after everything changes.

Montee shares the hidden struggles behind his success at the University of Wisconsin and in the NFL, the pressure to always ap...

What keeps so many of us from showing up as our authentic selves? Rachel Blogg sits down with holistic therapist and coach Corynne Carranza for a candid conversation about perfectionism, social media, motherhood, entrepreneurship, boundaries, and the quiet fears that often hold us back from being fully seen.

Together they explore why even experienced therapists struggle with vulnerability online, how comparison steals confidence,...

What happens when recovery stops being about simply staying alive and starts becoming about fully living? Rachel Blogg sits down with comedian, entrepreneur, and recovery advocate Jill Pavlov for an honest conversation about eating disorders, addiction, perfectionism, and the long journey toward self-worth.

Jill shares how years of believing she wasn't enough led to an eating disorder, substance abuse, and ultimately a life-changin...

In this inspiring episode of Imperfectly Human, Rachel sits down with former NFL player, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker Marques Ogden to explore what it really means to rebuild your life after everything falls apart. Marques shares his journey from professional football to becoming a successful business owner, only to lose nearly everything after a devastating business failure. Faced with financial ruin, addi...

Fear doesn't always show up in obvious ways. Sometimes it's loud and easy to recognize, and other times it hides behind perfectionism, self-doubt, and the belief that we're not ready yet.

In this solo episode of Imperfectly Human, Rachel shares how her fear of the ocean led her to take on a triathlon and eventually complete a Half Ironman. She explores how fear can keep us stuck in our personal lives, careers, and athletic pursui...

In this deeply moving conversation, Rachel Blogg sits down with Holocaust survivor Mary Eckstein to explore a life shaped by loss, resilience, courage, and gratitude. Mary shares her firsthand experiences as a child in Nazi-occupied Hungary, surviving fear, hunger, separation from family, and the uncertainty of war while witnessing extraordinary acts of kindness that helped save lives.

As the conversation unfolds, Mary reflects on...

Rachel Blogg sits down with Alicia Michelle, founder of The Koi Collective, for a conversation that took a completely unexpected turn. What starts as a business chat quickly becomes one of the most raw and honest conversations about surviving a childhood defined by poverty, abuse, and chaos, leaving home at 17 with nothing, and slowly, painstakingly building something different.

Alicia opens up about growing up the oldest of 13 sib...

Rachel Blogg sits down with Malcolm, founder and CEO of Langdon Park Capital, whose paths crossed in the most unexpected way — through a TikTok video Rachel posted after helping his college-aged son get home safely following a March Madness game. What started as a simple act of concern from one parent to another became a moment that restored faith in humanity for nearly half a million people. In this conversation, they unpack...