The Bounce Forward Podcast

Emma Thompson is a former collegiate and standout swimmer from the Pacific Northwest. For the latest episode of the podcast, I sit down with Emma on the eve of her 22nd birthday to learn about her life after swim—the transition from being a full-time athlete to a full-time working professional. This episode is for parents, young athletes and coaches working with teenage and twenty-something athletes. Emma’s story and candor serves as inspiration and a cautionary tale. ET is the epitome of the remake—the embodiment of what it looks like to let go of one part of our identity, to pursue a new path, intentionally and thoughtfully making sure that our actions are in alignment with our priorities.Spirited, feisty, wise beyond her years and full of heart, Emma Thompson has been a source of inspiration for my young swimmer and I’m confident that in this conversation she will provide much needed perspective (perhaps a desperately needed perspective shift) of how we can best support young athletes as they chase their watery (performance) dreams, while fostering a strong sense of identity and self outside of the pool, track, playing field, or court. WNbL, Emma’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emthompsonn/#Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠beaudacious.com⁠⁠⁠⁠Michael’s Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@michaelleachba⁠⁠⁠⁠Show’s Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@thebounceforward⁠⁠⁠⁠Michael's Mindset and Mental Endurance Coaching: ⁠https://beaudacious.com/coaching/⁠

We’ve brought back Mike McCormack, founder of one of the most celebrated (and kickass) mountain bike stage races in North America. The Breck Epic remains true to its roots, filled big, long backcountry rides at high elevation in Breckenridge, Colorado. In our last episode with Mike, we riffed on his diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to welcome all riders, regardless of age, race, creed, ethnicity or gender. In this conversation, we dive into what makes the Breck Epic the iconic race that it’s become. Tipping off on Sunday, August 10th, 2025, the Breck will be celebrating its 17th year and it just keeps getting bigger and better—while keeping the rider numbers and thus the rider experience, stable. In this fireside chat, we explore Mike’s concerted effort to promote women’s cycling through the Breck Epic Women’s Tour (they hosted 60 women in the pro field in 2024), along with his ecosystem approach to event organizing including 3-nights of sustainable fireworks (yep, fireworks at the Breck in ’25), the Women’s Cycling Summit and year two of Breck Bike Week. Quintessential Mike McCormack, his style is very much his own and he shows up raw, real, and willing to bare all. Affable, eccentric and honest, listening to Mike Mac flow on all things event organizing and bike racing is a trip worth taking.WNbL, Breck Epic Website : https://breckepic.com/Breck Epic Instagram: @breckepic Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠beaudacious.com⁠⁠⁠⁠Michael’s Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@michaelleachba⁠⁠⁠⁠Show’s Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@thebounceforward⁠⁠⁠⁠Michael's Mindset and Mental Endurance Coaching: ⁠https://beaudacious.com/coaching/⁠

For the second episode of Season 3, we’re bringing back a Bounce Forward fan favorite, Haley Smith. If you haven’t listened to Episode 1 of Season 3, with Haley, we’d highly encourage you to do so as it sets the table for this most recent conversation. In the days following her return from South Africa, Haley and I sat down to unpack her eight stages of racing on the Western Cape, for the legendary Absa Cape Epic. In this conversation we explore Haley’s take on resilience, how she navigated the struggle bus early on, lessons she learned about herself and her racing parter and why the teammate component of the Cape Epic makes for a truly special and eye opening experience. Filled with Haley insights and wisdom, we dive beyond the watts, exploring how she overcomes self-doubt, mantras, mental cues, the power of believing in potential, and why it’s easier to suffer in a pair. WNbL, Cover art photo by Trek BikesHaley’s Website: https://www.haleyhuntersmith.com/Haley’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/haleyhuntersmithWebsite: ⁠⁠⁠⁠beaudacious.com⁠⁠⁠⁠Michael’s Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@michaelleachba⁠⁠⁠⁠Show’s Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@thebounceforward⁠⁠⁠⁠Michael's Mindset and Mental Endurance Coaching: ⁠https://beaudacious.com/coaching/⁠

Haley Smith is one of the biggest names in the world of North American off road cycling and a Bounce Forward original. In today’s conversation, on International Women’s Day, we take a deep dive with one of our favorite International Women—Canadian off road racer, Haley Smith. On the eve of her trip to South Africa to race the notorious Cape Epic Stage Race, we explore the immense health challenges that Haley navigated in 2024 and how she mentally prepared to return to racing after a year of adversity. We’ll also discuss topics such as courage and confidence in endurance racing, how she’s diversifying her race calendar, and why Haley isn’t shying away from pursuing performance goals in her post oxygen-less Haley season.. Haley shares a shift in perspective and how for the first time, she’s learning the value of rest in life and training. Honest, transparent, thoughtful, Haley always inspires and impresses with her wisdom and witty sense of humor. From feeling like she was suffocating on the bike (and on the couch), to navigating the uncertainty of whether she’d ever race again, Haley takes us into the heart of her struggles and how she’s endured and come out the other side, stronger—mentally and physically—despite, and perhaps because of the hardship. Raw, real and honest, Haley shares how she’s feeling freer, lighter and more grounded than ever. This one’s a real treat and true to the Bounce Forward mission of how we rise from illness, loss and setback. WNbL, Haley’s Website: https://www.haleyhuntersmith.com/Haley’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/haleyhuntersmithWebsite: ⁠⁠⁠⁠beaudacious.com⁠⁠⁠⁠Michael’s Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@michaelleachba⁠⁠⁠⁠Show’s Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@thebounceforward⁠⁠⁠⁠Michael's Mindset and Mental Endurance Coaching: ⁠https://beaudacious.com/coaching/⁠

In this episode of Roll On, Cole Paton, we’ll dive into Cole’s 2024 season—exploring the highs and lows of the Lifetime Grand Prix, Marathon Nationals and Marathon Worlds. This conversation also explores Cole’s relationship with fellow racer and Olympian Savilia Blunk, lessons learned from ‘going for it’ with friend Bradyn Lange at Chequamegon, and the insight that inspired the rest of his season after taking a more conservative approach (holding back) at Sea Otter.  We’ll revisit Cole’s frustrating end to the season in Bentonville, why he dug so deep when sick at The Rad and what’s motivating Cole most going into 2025.  Raw, real and vulnerable, Cole shows up for Roll On as he does for race day—holding nothing back and giving listeners a look inside the mind and heart of one of the top off-road cyclists in North America.  On a side-note, we had this episode scheduled for publication on November 20, but tragedy struck my family the evening before. There’s a multitude of reasons I chose to team up with Cole for this partnership, and all I can say, is that he’s been showing up for me and my family in a bigger way than he’ll ever know. Sincere, authentic and true—that’s the Cole I know. The straw the stirs the drink—he’s a straight up animator on race day.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Cole Paton is the real deal—and he’s so much more than a bike racer. He’s a friend, partner, son, uncle, brother and down to earth, humble and full of grace dude, who just so happens to be one of the fastest men on two wheels.  We hope you enjoy the listen!  Cole’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colepaton/ Website: ⁠⁠⁠beaudacious.com⁠⁠⁠ Michael’s Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@michaelleachba⁠⁠⁠ Show’s Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@thebounceforward⁠⁠⁠