Q: Any tips on how athletes can reach out to the business world?
A: As an athlete, I really encourage people to see themselves as part of a business. I know sometimes it's really hard for people to talk about themselves and to try to get support but if they see it in terms of business, which is to say if it's meant to be then it's going to be a good relationship.
They need you. They can't just sit within their four walls and think all day about selling their product. They have to do a few things.
Whether it would be by an ad, having an athlete talking about it, etc. And if you can see yourself as something they could utilize, simply by what you're doing already or working together on an outcome, then that's huge.
So, it gave me the confidence to go into business and be able to just state the facts as to what I was up to, how it may help them and how a company might want to be involved.
Q: Which would you say is more important: race performance or selling yourself as an athlete?
A: I was always driven by having a greater purpose than just my race results. For me, I wanted to learn about myself and what I was capable of through my sport.
But the other thing that I was really passionate was, of course, getting other people to see their own potential, or to see what other resources or products, or avenues there are, in order to have fun and be their best in life and sports.
It's not for everyone. Like you said, I was successful at doing that because I wasn't the athlete that was going to be the world champion or just have the results to show.
There are a few people like that; they don't have to do anything else but win those races. That's so few people in the world of endurance sports.
You have to realize that there are other elements or ways to market yourself..