172 - Nekoda Smythe-Davis: Leaving Sport Broke Me, But It Also Brought Me Home to Myself
Description
Nekoda Smythe-Davis didn’t grow up dreaming of Olympic medals. She was just a girl from a London council estate who found her way onto the mat, fell in love with judo, and kept showing up through wins, losses, injuries, and identity shifts.
In this conversation, she opens up about the weight of expectations, the complexity of walking away, and the courage it takes to rebuild your life from scratch, not for the spotlight but for yourself.
If you have ever had to let go of something that once defined you, this episode will stay with you.
What You’ll Hear
- Why she never saw herself becoming an Olympian and how that mindset shaped her journey
- The burnout behind the glory and how she held it all together working multiple jobs
- What it took to finally make peace with her decision to step away from judo
- How a career-threatening concussion forced her to rethink everything
- Her deep faith and how it helped her find calm, clarity, and purpose
- Why she gave herself permission to rest for an entire year before choosing what’s next
- What she’s building now with Beacon Judo Club and how she’s shaping the future of the sport
- Her message to athletes who feel lost after retirement: you are not broken, you’re becoming
Want to go deeper?
This is more than a story about sport. It’s about letting go of identity, grieving a dream, and choosing self-worth over outside validation.
Let Nekoda’s journey remind you that your life is not over when your career ends. You are allowed to change your mind, rewrite your story, and come home to yourself.
If you are navigating what is next in sport or beyond, visit www.2ndwind.io
to learn more or book a consult.
United States
