The Sonya Looney Show

Find your purpose! How many times have we heard someone utter those words.  The idea of purpose can be huge and intimidating. It's open-ended and it sometimes feels overwhelming because it sounds definitive.  Well, Misty Sansom has spent years dedicating herself to helping others find their purpose so that they can feel more fulfilled. In this episode, we talked about how you can find your purpose, and surprisingly- your purpose doesn't have to be your job.  Alternatively, Misty does help people turn their purpose into their job if that makes sense. Bottom line: you can uncover your purpose and you can do it alongside your job or sometimes you can turn it into your job. We talked about some of the landmines that can happen if you do start monetizing your hobbies. We also talked about some deeper subjects like being honest with yourself and overcoming the fear of saying what you actually want.  Developing your intuition is key to uncovering your purpose. Topics Discussed in the Podcast  why your passion doesn

Once per month, I'm checking in with you to talk about my journey as a new athlete mom. I'll talk about time management, how getting back to and maintaining a training schedule is going post-partum, the mental and emotional pieces too.  I'll tell you what it's really like and hopefully give you some nuggets you can apply to your own lives as well. This podcast is supported by Wahoo Fitness who has been a great partner during my journey as a pregnant athlete and new mom! My husband, Matt Ewonus has joined me on many of these Athlete Motherhood series because parenthood is really what it's about! In this episode, we talked about how we view aging, how having a baby might affect how you feel about things like failing a workout, thinking big picture when it comes to the pace of achievement, and how the caloric needs from breastfeeding have been impacting my training. Topics Discussed in the Podcast  Celebrating aging thinking big picture when it comes to pace of achievement how having a baby changes how we might

Doug Evans and sprouts have a few things in common.  They are both super healthy and both contain an incredible amount of potential energy.  Doug has used his energy for so many incredible life projects- from building incredible businesses in the health space to becoming an author about one of the most impactful nutritional powerhouses on the planet: the power of Sprouts.  Many of us are interested in harnessing the benefits of eating more plants and I have a secret for you- sprouts are about as nutritionally dense with nutrients as you can get.  They have about 20-30x the nutrients of other vegetables! One thing that is easily agreed on no matter what diet or lifestyle you enjoy, everyone loves the nutritional benefits of sprouts. They are also incredibly easy. If you listening to my episode with Stephen Ritz from the GreenBronxMachine, you heard about the incredible impact on marginalized communities from indoor gardening and involving kids. Sprouts are insanely simple to grow - they are cheap, very easy,

"You can train three things: your craft, your body, and your mind."  That's something you'll frequently hear from world-renowned high-performance psychologist, Dr. Michael Gervais.  I'm really excited about having him on the show because he is one of my personal heroes in the arena of mindset and psychology.  He frequently talks about the importance of self-discovery and our own inner lives, being aware of and training our inner narrative, and the power of vulnerability.  Over the course of 20 years working with world-leading performers, Dr. Gervais has developed a psychological framework that allows people to thrive in pressure-packed environments. His clientele consists of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, countless Olympic medalists, MVPs from every major sport, world record holders, internationally acclaimed music artists, and corporate leaders. He is the host of one of my favorite podcasts: Finding Mastery that explores the psychology of some of the world’s most extraordinary thinkers and doers. Dr. Gervais an

Infectious positivity, inspirational curiousity, humor, and you Stephen Ritz is a South Bronx educator who believes that students should not have to leave their community to live, learn, and earn in a better one. An internationally acclaimed award-winning educator, Stephen is the author of the best-selling book, The Power Of A Plant, and founder of Green Bronx Machine. Known as “America’s Favorite Teacher,” Stephen is responsible for creating the first edible classroom in the world, which he has evolved into the National Health, Wellness and Learning Center. He and his students have grown more than 100,000 pounds of vegetables in the South Bronx, and in the process, Stephen has moved school attendance from 40% to 93% daily and helped provide 2,200 youth jobs in the Bronx. Stephen was a Top Ten Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize, named Global Humanitarian, Food Tank Hero, TEDx Prize Winner and a Global Food Educator, and has presented at the Obama White House three times. A replica of his classroom was inst

Once per month, I'm checking in with you to talk about my journey as a new athlete mom. I'll talk about time management, how getting back to and maintaining a training schedule is going post-partum, the mental and emotional pieces too.  I'll tell you what it's really like and hopefully give you some nuggets you can apply to your own lives as well. This podcast is supported by Wahoo Fitness who has been a great partner during my journey as a pregnant athlete and new mom! I wanted to bring my husband, Matt Ewonus in on this episode as I will on some of the future Athlete Motherhood series because Parenthood is really what it's about! In this episode, we talked about how to stay motivated when your race or event got canceled (or just how stay in it if your training has gotten stale). Topics Discussed in the Podcast  Staying motivated when your event has been canceled or you're just in a rut Live Strava Segments on the Wahoo ELEMNT Power Numbers and TrainerRoad workouts Using Strava Routes or just GPS Routes I

One of my favorite sayings is that limits live in our minds.  Today's guest is all about helping people confront and overcome their own limiting beliefs by helping them understand what lens they are choosing to see the world.  Rob Scott has had a very interesting life from being homeless with substance-abuse problems, to getting back on track and having a great career, to riding the roller coaster of a cancer diagnosis.  What's Rob up to now?  He is a personal development coach, hosts his own Mastermind and Fundamental Shift Coaching Community.  He is passionate about helping people shift their identity to achieve big goals and personal fulfillment. Topics Discussed in the Podcast  Why your comfort zone isn't comfortable Lenses to overcome self-limited beliefs Challenging your bias questions to ask yourself about identity why affirmations don't work cause/effect of self-fulfilling prophecies work lense for imposter syndrome, self-worth, and procrastination Resources Follow Rob Scott on Instagram Identity S

Alison Tierney is a registered dietitian and board-certified in oncology nutrition and started her business, Wholesome LLC in 2015. After developing an oncology nutrition program at a local academic cancer center, Alison pursued Wholesome exclusively as her business and client base continued to grow and increase in demand. Her passion for nutrition and healthy lifestyle is obvious in her work, her care for her clients, and her desire to always keep learning. Although Alison is board-certified in oncology nutrition, she is multi-passionate in nutrition and her expertise goes beyond cancer and involves helping others with the management of chronic diseases such as: heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and autoimmune diseases. I love the story of today's guest.  Many of us tend to weave through different experiences in life before we find our path.  Alison is no different.  In school, she initially studied business and was a college athlete. As an athlete, she was aware that nutrition

Jen Hudak is an American freeski athlete specializing in halfpipe skiing. She is a 2-time world champion, 5-time X-Games medalist and 4-time national champion.   In 2010, she won nearly every competition there was: X-Games, US Open, World Ski Invitational, Dew Tour, and US Nationals, to name a few. But one contest eluded her: The Olympics. She had a vision that halfpipe skiing would be an Olympic sport and served as a proud advocate for the sport over her 13-year professional ski career. With the help of Jen's efforts, halfpipe skiing made its Olympic debut during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.  But as she pursued her quest to add "Olympian" to her highly successful list of career achievements, the unthinkable happened.  Horrific injuries and in addition, one of her competitors dying.  She had to rethink her goals.  To make matters even harder and more devastating, her father passed away, losing in a 5 year battle with a rare form of leukemia. The world had turned upside down on Jen.  Losing

Dr. Michael Greger is on a mission to give people information on how to live their healthiest lives.  The obesity pandemic in North America and globally is quickly escalating and Dr. Greger hs the most comprehensive book on evidence-based weight loss, the psychology behind our interpretation of how many calories are in food, and the danger of quick fixes like weight loss surgeries and diet pills.  He also has the healthiest and easiest foods to add to your diet to help burn more fat. "It turns out a calorie is not just a calorie. 100 calories of chickpeas is a different impact on the body than chicken or chicklets, based in part on different effects on their impact of absorption, appetite or microbiomes.  Different foods can rev up your appetite for example. It's not just what you eat, it's what you absorb.  Fiber, for example, in whole intact plant foods can trap calories, flush them out the other end. And even if you do eat and absorb the same number of calories. A calorie still may not be a calorie. The s

Once per month, I'm checking in with you to talk about my journey as a new athlete mom. I'll talk about time management, how getting back to and maintaining a training schedule is going post-partum, the mental and emotional pieces too.  I'll tell you what it's really like and hopefully give you some nuggets you can apply to your own lives as well. This podcast is supported by Wahoo Fitness who have been a great partner during my journey as a pregnant athlete and new mom! I wanted to bring my husband, Matt Ewonus in on this episode as I will on some of the future Athlete Motherhood series because Parenthood is really what it's about! Truthfully, we were trying to record this episode for weeks, but every time after Bradley went to bed, we wanted to just chill out!  So I'm excited that we got this episode in the queue. It was fun to sit down and recap what we've been up to as parents the last 3 months. Here's my MorningBrew Newsletter Referral Link (you don't get money, but you get swag!) Topics Discussed in th

Alison Desir and Amir Figueroa are on a mission for social change.  The two individually found their love of running – Amir’s father died of HIV when Amir was 4 and Alison was struggling with depression and some very hard life challenges with a bad break-up and a very sick father.  And from there, they found running through seeing others lead by example.  Amir saw a friend with HIV walk a marathon and raise money for Harlem United.  Alison saw a friend on social media who was a black man training for a marathon and felt empowered to do it too. And now?  Leading by their own examples is changing the world.  Before they met, Amir and Alison started their own running groups to build community in Harlem and met because of similar hashtag they were using.  They decided to join forces. Not only did they join forces, but they got married and had a beautiful baby boy named Kouri about a year ago.  For Alison and Amir, it’s not just about running, it’s not just about having a club.  It’s about running for social chang

Katerina Nash is a timeless force in the sport of cycling.  Not only is she a 2x Olympian in Mountain Biking, but she also has been to the Olympics twice for cross-country ski racing in 1998 and 2002.  Her first Olympics was a the age of 17 and again in London 2012 and Rio 2016.  Originally from the Czech Republic, Katerina moved to the U.S. in 2000 on a college scholarship for cross-country ski racing.  Katerina has proven to be among the world’s most versatile and enduring athletes, showing the world that women can remain competitive at the highest levels into their forties. She dominated every where she goes- CX, mtb, stage racing, Downieville... She has been on multiple World Championship and World Cup podiums in both CX and MTB and she also has won BC Bike race numerous times and competed in her first EWS in 2019. Topics Discussed in the Podcast  growing up in Czechoslovakia from Nordic Skiing to her first Olympics (mtb) in 1996 Moving to the USA and choosing mountain biking Clif Bar and her long term

Ayesha McGowan is the first African American female Professional Cyclist, riding for Liv Cycling. She's on a mission to advocate for representation and is an inspiration for the next generation of African American female cyclists.  Her bicycle has been a tool to not only help her accomplish her dreams, but as a vehicle for storytelling and social change.  Ayesha noticed that our sport of competitive cycling was being represented in the media by white men and she took action. Her tagline is "Representation Matters."  Her voice and mission have created diversity across brands, media, teams, and organizations. She's been on the cover of Outside Magazine, partnered with Nike's Dream Bigger video series, and has spoken on stages, podcasts, and articles on why it's important to have representation in sport, in the media, and in the industry. Recently, Ayesha was named to the Top 50 most influential people in cycling by CyclingNews for being an advocate for women of color in the bike industry.  Check out her most r

Once per month, I'm checking in with you to talk about my journey as a new athlete mom. I'll talk about time management, how getting back to and maintaining a training schedule is going post-partum, the mental and emotional pieces too.  I'll tell you what it's really like and hopefully give you some nuggets you can apply to your own lives as well. This podcast is supported by Wahoo Fitness who have been a great partner during my journey as a pregnant athlete and new mom! If aren't an audio fan and you want to read the transcription, scroll down a bit. Key Takeaways "Your starting point isn't your endpoint and a growth mindset means that knowing that whatever that number is, you can improve on it. But if you don't ever look at that number. If you don't get up the courage to say where am I starting from, if you never look at that you'll never get better and you'll never be able to measure that improvement." "The only thing to be ashamed of is not looking and not trying to make changes to a situation that maybe

I'm pretty excited about today's guest.  The best thing about podcasting is I get to learn even more about a person's story, even when they are a friend!  I first met David Swain when we connected over Prokit.  Prokit celebrates adventurers and the athletic experience, whether you’re just getting started or breaking world records. The platform is designed to help cut through the noise, learn from the best, and find the community you need to reach your potential. David Swain is the co-founder of Prokit along with Angela Zaeh.  The idea first popped in his head in 2013 when he signed up for his first cyclocross race. Just like all of us when we start new things, David wondered how to train, what gear to use, where to race, what to eat, what events his friends are doing and the idea of Prokit was born.  But David is so much more than the founder of Prokit. His experience in communication and team building is unparalleled.   David's story is interesting and a wild ride- from driving cross-country to San Francisco

39 trillion. That is approximately how many bacteria that are living in your gut. Guess what feeds them? You. Everything you eat is either a step towards better health or a strike against it.  If you want gut flora that help balance your hormones, reduce your chances of cancer, reverse Type 2 Diabetes, prevent neuropsychiatric conditions like ADHD, Alzheimers, and depression, then you need to eat fiber.  Yes! Fiber is about so much more than pooping regularly.  So how do you make sure you have a healthy gut?  You talk to Dr. B, you eat as many different sources of fiber as you can, and you pick up the book, Fiber Fueled. If you're a fan of this podcast, you more than likely listened to my first episode with gastroenterologist and now new author, Dr. Will Bulsiewicz.  As he likes to be called, Dr B is an MD and an internationally recognized gut health expert. He is passionate about the incredible healing power that lives inside you—your gut microbiota. Dr. B's medical training involved 16years at America's eli

I really enjoy public speaking and have had the honor to give keynote speeches on the topics of positive psychology, motivation and habits, nutrition and even cycling-specific talks at business, leadership, tech, and nutrition conferences.  One of my favorite stories to include is an old Cherokee parable. I wanted to share it with you because it embodies the power of our perspective.   Perspective and choosing what stories to tell ourselves and how we interpret daily events and emotions is one of the most powerful practices you can have.   One evening an old Cherokee man told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The grandson

Pregnancy and motherhood looks different for everyone, but in this week's podcast episode I have a chat with fellow new cyclist mother, Laura King about our pregnancies and post-partum life.  We talked about topics you may not be accustomed to hearing about like miscarriage, pelvic floor health after birth and also maybe more familiar topics like what it's like to ride during pregnancy, how we are maintaining our identities, and more! A quick bit about Laura King: Laura’s background in competitive swimming led to 12 years competing in triathlon, including the Ironman World Championships and earning a pro license. An invitation to USA Cycling's Talent ID Camp and a simultaneous job offer for a major industry position presented a fork in the road, and her decision to take the industry position and pursue racing as a passion provided the right balance of career and sport. Nonetheless, her credibility as a competitor has served her well in a successful career of over a decade in Sales and Marketing in the outdoor

Derek Loudermilk might be one of the most interesting people you've ever met.  He's discovered a new species of virus while in graduate school, he's traveled the world as a professional cyclist, he became an entrepreneur and digital nomad - including doing this with a wife and a child under the age of 3.  He's created his own path as an author, podcaster, speaker, coach, and guide to help people start living the life they imagined.  How did this all really start?  With a blood clot in his brain after being given a 75% chance of dying.  In his quest to understand the future of entrepreneurship around the world, Derek Loudermilk has traveled to every US state, 40 countries, and lived on four continents. He is the author of his book SuperConductors.    Topics Discussed in the Podcast  the power of community his journey to living around the world and becoming an entrepreneur falling in love with adventure at Yellowstone how to remove barriers and make changes where does confidence come from? how to become a dig