146. Sowing Seeds for Your Career with Mental Conditioning Coach Juah Toe

146. Sowing Seeds for Your Career with Mental Conditioning Coach Juah Toe

 

 

Introducing Juah Toe

Today I’m talking to mental conditioning coach Juah Toe about sowing seeds for your career.

Her Career Journey

Juah earned her BA in Psychology from West Chester University of Pennsylvania where she won a national championship in rugby. She was a finalist for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year award and the recipient of the 2021 NCAA Today’s Top 10 Award. She went on to earn her MS in Sport and Exercise Psychology with a concentration in Applied Sports Psychology at UNC Greensboro. She is currently an assistant mental condition coach at IMG Academy.

Sowing Seeds for Your Career

When Juah was in her first year of grad school, she applied for a summer position with IMG and did not get it. Instead of feeling discouraged, she celebrated how far she got in the interview process and resolved to spend the next year getting the experience that would help her stand out. She got the job the second time around, which led to her current role with IMG. There, she’s able to introduce the tools of mental performance to young athletes, knowing that she might not get to see the fruits of her labor now, but trusting that it will pay off for them someday, just as it did for her when she put herself out there applying for the job.

Inside this episode:

  • Juah discovered sport psychology in college through an unsuspecting conversion with her athletic trainer, former Madam Athlete guest Lindsey Keenan. Lindsey helped send Juah in the right direction, helping her find internships and opportunities.
  • She first applied for a summer internship with IMG during her first year of graduate school. While she didn’t get the job the first time around, Juah was resilient and resolved to get as much experience as possible to stand out during the next year’s application.
  • After being successful in her second attempt, Juah’s last summer at IMG consisted of meeting with numerous campers on both a short and long-term basis. Juah describes this as getting her reps in and was crucial in helping her develop her style.
  • Juah loves being a woman in sport and the empowerment that rugby has given her. She views sport as an incredible tool for all women and girls to develop critical skills in life and is working to help Black women and girls, specifically, break away from outside expectations to benefit from all that sport has to offer. 
  • She considers it a privilege to work with athletes as young as 12 on their mental conditioning. While she might not get to see the fruits of the seeds she’s sowing today, she trusts that her athletes will benefit from receiving these mental tools so early in their athletic careers.
  • Juah is working on feeling proud of her accomplishments, especially in the moment. She encourages all women to stop being humble and celebrate that their accomplishments are objective, not subjective.

Resources

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