S2 E203: Value Based Coaching with Blair Lloyd | Samson Strength Coach Collective
In the latest episode of the Samson Strength Coach Collective, Connor Agnew sits down with Blair Lloyd, Director of Training at Pure Performance, to explore the deeper layers of values-based coaching.
Blair shares her journey from collegiate athlete to coaching leader, diving into the challenges of self-doubt, overcoming injury, and how building trust with athletes starts with relatability. This episode breaks down the importance of core values in coaching, why culture can make or break a team, and how mentor coaching can be a game-changer for any coach looking to grow.
Key Takeaways:
- Core values create clarity and confidence.
- Self-doubt can fuel growth.
- Culture > individual talent.
- Empathy, consistency, and feedback are the backbone of athlete development.
- Mentor coaching offers a safe space for reflection and professional growth.
“We can’t be more successful than the culture of this program allows us to be.” – Blair Lloyd
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Connor Agnew:
What’s going on Samson Strength Coach Collective listeners on today’s episode, we have Blair Lloyd. She’s the director of training for peer performance over there in Massachusetts. Thank you so much for coming on Blair.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
You got it.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Honestly, thank you for having me. I’m stoked to be here.
Connor Agnew:
I’m really excited to have you on. I’ve been able to see your social media content and I’m sure a lot of our listeners have as well too. There’s a lot of very specific things I want to ask you about too, but we’ll start general. Can you just give me a background of your career and then what’s brought you to your current position?
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Yeah, you got it. So, um, it is like crazy to reflect on the fact that it is 2025. So we’ve got like a good amount of background now professionally. It’s been, uh, since 2014 now that I was an undergrad, right? But, um, collegiate basketball player, uh, four years. And then when I graduated, it was very interesting, right? So I actually did my undergrad exercise science thinking I was going to go the PT route. Um,
I worked in a clinic, I was like, this is not for me. And I think, you know, it’s interesting. think this will kind of really set the tone for where we go. But I had this interest in working with athletes and especially on like the PT side. And I was, I was very nervous that I wouldn’t make it at that time. You know, I was, I, a lot of self doubt. And so what ended up happening as I talked to, I was a TA for anatomy, cadaver lab, right. And.
my professor was like, why don’t you go into teaching? There’s a bunch of schools that we connect graduates with and you can teach science. And I was like, well, that kind of meets me. Where, you know, in a direction that I knew I wanted to go, maybe not exactly it, but I was like, I’m going to give it at least five years, right? So a six year teaching, you know, high school, middle school teaching that I did, was a sport coach for a while.
And then when I left one school to go to another, that became a personal training endeavor. And that was like, those were some like big lessons in that, right? So from a personal training background, I was like, I need to figure out how to really help people. They’re gonna be spending, it’s so funny, right? At the time it was $63. You’re gonna spend $63 to work with me, I better be worth it, right? So that’s really started.
my journey back to education, I got a lot of different certifications and I was just constantly seeking what else is out there, what else is there for me to learn. And I’m also high school teaching at the time. one environment for personal training became me training my clients out of my home, became me actually becoming a fitness manager. And that’s really where things kind of turned back towards like, hey, your thing is…
Coach Blair Lloyd:
is this industry over here, right? I was at a place called Vasa Fitness out in Colorado. And from there, right, I still super hungry for all that education. I was like, no, you need to do this. You need to be working with athletes. You need to go back to school. So I actually went and got my graduate degree over at University of Miami. A ton of amazing experiences out there working with the athletes there as well. A lot of
amazing mentorship guidance from you Miami. It’s funny, I had a little stint at Mike Boyle strength and conditioning just because it was after grad school as opposed to before because of COVID, right? So we have that all in the mix. And then that landed me at Northeastern University. So I was there for three years, took over that internship program toward the second kind of half of the tenure there and then time to move on. I’m at
Pure performance now and I am the director of training over there. So that’s like a quick resume breakdown, but lots to probably unpack.
Connor Agnew:
You are, mean, essentially a podcast host dream. I mean, there’s so many things that I can ask you about here. But the first thing that you mentioned was a kind of a little bit of self doubt you faced with PT. What was that self doubt and then how did you overcome it?
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Hahaha!
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Alright.
so I was young, right. And I think if I really look at my sports career, you know, there’s a lot of things that if I look back, I kind of say, Hey, those were those that self-talk didn’t serve you and didn’t serve your, team as, as well as you might’ve liked it to believe, you might, you might like to have believed it. It was at the time. So yeah, I just, I I knew.
that it was going to be competitive, right? I knew that if I worked with athletes, there were a lot of other people that also wanted to work with athletes. And you know, it’s crazy. Part of that narrative was you played D2 sports. And so therefore immediately there was going to be a barrier to entry because my, you know, my resume wasn’t going to stack up to other people, right? I kind of, mean, I loved playing like where I played and the way that I was able to compete, but I guess I kind of had a little bit of a, a little bit of just, yeah, like around saying that it was division two as opposed to division one. And
You know, I’ve always known that I will outwork people, right? Like I’ve always kept that, but I didn’t think that that even still was gonna be enough. you you asked an awesome question, which is like, how do you overcome that? And I think, you know, along the way we continue to overcome the self doubt that we have because we earn confidence, you know? We get in the arena, we show ourselves that we’re able to have a positive impact and that we’re able to.
do whatever it is and that kind of sets us up to go into the next thing and continue to work hard and continue to overcome. And then again, just that, I think a little bit of self doubt is appropriate, right? It keeps you humble, keeps you hungry to learn more. But at the same time, when it’s debilitating and it starts to kind of set you back and not pursue the things that you might otherwise want to, that’s when there’s an issue. So.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
I’m kind glad I got a little bit of self doubt because it does keep me hungry, but I don’t let it stop me from being in the arena. And I think that that’s really important.
Connor Agnew:
Well, as Blair now, how do you look back at that period? Because we certainly, as all coaches, can relate to that period of self doubt. And I mean, I think a lot of us can view it as transformative. How do you view it now, many years down in your career?
Coach Blair Lloyd:
I mean, I’m so grateful for all the experiences that I’ve had. I’m grateful for the person that it’s allowed me to be to others along the way. You know, I think about little things that, and honestly, you know, I mean, like that’s not the bad things that, bad, gosh, you know, the things that kind of held me back, you know, have also really set me up too, right? So like, you know, I think about.
When I’m in the weight room with athletes and they’re going through adversity and when you’re able to authentically sit alongside somebody and help them navigate it because you faced it yourself, there’s such an authenticity in that. And it comes from just a real place. And so I think that’s really important for athletes to know that you haven’t always had it together, that you’ve struggled through some things yourself and that you’ve been able to navigate. I think it perpetuates hope for them.
Right? you know, so I’m super grateful that I’ve had the experiences that I’ve had, no doubt.
Connor Agnew:
Yeah, that relatability piece is key. I was always worried as a non-basketball player, specializing in basketball, that I wouldn’t really be able to relate to these people. But those lessons you learn early on in your career, I think can be extremely beneficial when you work with your athletes. They understand it, and you can be able to help them through their difficult times.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
100 % and like, you know, I think about some other things that have kind of come up along the way too, right? Like I, so my junior year going into, you know, it’s like the last day of pre-season before season starts, right? And I literally, I broke my big toe and you can’t run on a broken big toe. and so I remember like that practice, was a captain’s practice. We’re getting after it. I go up for a rebound, jam my toe, right? And,
And so it was wild because I didn’t realize it was broken. like, I was limping and I knew that didn’t feel right, but it’s your toe and whatever you stubbed it. So fine. And so, you know, I come off of, I come off of that, right. And it was, uh, the next morning you’re a basketball, you know, you work with basketball guys. everyone’s going to know what this is. Uh, we’re doing closeout drills. It’s a defensive focused practice day one. That’s what we’re doing. And I swear we, we did the more closeout drills than I’ve ever done in a practice in my life.
And I’m on this broken toe and so I’m going cause it hurts, but whatever that’s kind what we do as athletes is, you know, we push through. And I remember the athletic trainer like calls me over and she’s like, Hey, like what’s going on? I was like, know, stub my toe. You know, that’d be fine. Takes me on my shoe off my sock. You’re going to go get x-rays. And I was like, okay. Like totally like there’s no way, whatever, nothing. So I go get x-rays. come back. It’s broken. I’m like, you’re joking me. But.
All of that to say it’s like, okay, we’re broken toe, fine, whatever. I remember though, like the next couple of weeks, like we’re already playing games, right? Like we’re in our season now. the thing that I have never told like truly anyone this, none of my teammates would know this, but I was like, all right, what can you do? Like, what can you still do? So I…
got in the weight room, I worked my butt off, right? I could lift weights. And I was like, I’m gonna be a great teammate. And that was one thing that like, I look at myself today and I know that that set my trajectory for like, for who I am and where I am today. it’s, and so what I mean by be a great teammate is like, you’re gonna be, well, one, I’ve always been pretty lighthearted, you know? So like, all right, when we needed some air in the room.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
let’s be that person, let’s bring some life, bring some energy. But I was a high energy teammate and I was super invested on the bench. And so we had an amazing center and she, I remember like just, I was watching her, was like, whatever I can do to tell you so that you can have great games, because I was a power forward, I was like, we’re gonna make sure that we’re locked in and I’m gonna help you be great. And so…
You know, I just shared in her successes, right? You know, I would tell her where teams were playing her high side and like there, no one’s coming over to help low side. You have that option to drop and she would execute it and I, you know, would be the most pumped up for her. so, kind of fast forward to today to like actually answer your question. what happened from there is when athletes would get injured, I could help them with being that type of person, right? Like, Hey, you’re not limited to.
just the role that you have when you’re on the field, you’re on a team that still needs you. And so I could relate to them because I had been there and I could help them gain a different perspective on how to transition their role from, hey, yeah, like you play defense on the soccer field and you start, but now who are you going to be and now what are you going to do with that? And I think
Thinking about trajectory and kind of like where I’ve been and where I am now, having those insights to be able to share with your athletes, huge. And that’s where I am now. That’s how I’ve leveraged some of those things.
Connor Agnew:
Well, one of things you said that I really love is being able to share in success. How do you preach that to those athletes that you’re working with who may be out for an extended period of time? mean, especially it may even be different from your scenario of being a power forward to a center. I know of some players previously who’ve done a really great job of the exact same position, a player who was maybe on the bench and now starts and the starter is injured for a long time. And it’s almost a level of jealousy. I think it’s natural. We all kind of expect that. How do you coach your athletes through understanding that success is shared?
Coach Blair Lloyd:
always.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
I mean, think that’s just such a huge part of leading by example. if you’re going through, I guess I would answer that a couple of different ways, but yeah, I if you’re going through adversity, you have a responsibility to continue to learn and grow as much as you can through that adversity. I mean, I will probably talk about this, but I’m in that position right now. I believe that’s true for me right now.
But yeah, mean, look, we can’t be more successful than the culture of this program allows us to be, right? So we’ve got to have everyone bought in. mean, some of the experiences that I think of when I’ve seen teams have unsuccessful seasons, it’s because we have an individual mentality, right? I don’t think that, and that comes from the talent, the top,
from the top of our talent pool to the bottom of our talent pool, you know, like if I have somebody who is on the elite side and I’m putting things on my shoulders in a way that I believe I’m better than everybody else, that also starts to erode and allows for us to not have that shared success that I’m talking about. And so it’s really, like, this is not in any step of the way, like none of it’s ever for me.
This is for our team and I play the role that I play to the best of my ability and, and whatever that means. So if that means I’m a great teammate on the bench, I’m a great teammate on the bench. But I almost think that on the opposite side of that is where it really comes down to like, if I have a teammate that it’s the, you know, it’s the, don’t want to say anybody’s name. Obviously you never would do that, but like it’s the me show.
that’s also gonna start to erode at that. So I think it’s like a balance of the whole collective really being locked in on what the goals of the program are so that they can move everything forward as a unit. And I think you have to have that in order for anybody to be on the injured side, the best player on the field, kind of in the middle, the person that looks to play more defensive minded versus offensive minded. I everybody has to have…
Coach Blair Lloyd:
their role and execute to the best of their abilities for their team. And the more people that you have that are bought into that mission, the more success you’re gonna have.
Connor Agnew:
Yeah, and I love that too because everybody has a role to execute and just because you’re injured, your role may shift for a little bit of time, but it still means you have a role to execute.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Everything in seasons, I say that all the time, right? And I mean, and I mean, that’s like almost a life principle right there. I mean, there’s going to be a time period that I’ve got to focus on this thing because I know where I want to go. And that’s going to be different again, but that season of my life is going to look different than another season. It’s, and I think about it like this too. I think our responsibility is that those seasons, we want to add as much intention to those as we possibly can.
Connor Agnew:
there you go.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
as opposed to allowing for anything to be the default. And so kind of what I mean by that is, you know, some, sometimes I think we can let ourselves get pulled under water by just, I have all this going on and it disallows me to do this thing over here that I know is important. but it’s like, but if I’m, if I add intention to this particular season, because I’m aware of what my goals are, I’m to be able to get a lot further than just trying to keep the ball.
rolling all the time and whatever kind of comes up becomes the most important thing. I think there’s a real alignment and a real intention that we add to that process.
Connor Agnew:
Well, you brought up one of your principles, everything in season. What are your core principles as a coach? What are the things that you really emphasize with the athletes you work with?
Coach Blair Lloyd:
So I definitely would just like talk about kind of my practice and how I’ve categorized things so that I make sure to the best of my abilities that I keep no T uncrossed or no I undotted. But I look at three different pillars for like for my practice, right? So what that looks like is you’ve got values-based coaching, you’ve got principles-based practice.
we’ll dive into each of those things. And then evidence-based decisions. And between those three things, I kind of leverage my background in coaching to kind of help me navigate that. I did a more formal education in organizational leadership, but with an emphasis in coaching. So while I was at Northeastern, I actually got another master’s degree. I try to really leverage.
the principles that I’ve acquired along the way through formal education, right, through some of that continued education that I’ve done as well as that education at U Miami. And then I really try to leverage as best as possible, like the sports science background that I’ve acquired from being at University of Miami and from being at Northeastern to make sure that there’s a KPI that’s, you know, assigned, let’s say, to every adaptation that I aim to elicit with my athletes. And then that
informs my decision making those pieces of evidence that I make sure that I get on my athletes. So those are the pillars that I have for my practice. But all of that obviously unfolds deeper and deeper. Yeah, yeah, you got it. So I think it would just be disingenuine to not say like, have values that I think of just for myself as a human being, right? So I’m gonna take these things into all facets of my life.
Connor Agnew:
Well, I’d love to hear it. Please expand.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
coaching relationships otherwise. And so altruism for me is huge. I gotta leave this thing better than I found it. I think that’s why if I look back, I didn’t have it defined, but what really allowed me to move confidently into teaching was really that, right? Help other people be successful in areas where you’ve found success. That was a sentence that I really like took with me.
from undergrad into teaching and that stayed with me ever since. And so as I say that out loud, I’m kind of proud of myself for that. That’s just means to me that I’ve been very aligned with myself and that’s like encouraging for me to kind of continue on. And I would hope that that would encourage other people as well. Authenticity, so I have to be truly myself and you know, for better or worse, right? Like I’ve got to be me because the right people are going to attract and the…
the people that it doesn’t attract, that’s okay. That’s why so many different coaches can exist because the ability to have relationships with other people and those look different. I think there’s a beauty in that, right? And really finding the environments that we belong to can only happen through being authentic and showing up as ourselves. I think we do a service by doing that and we end up being in the right place by doing that. So.
Authenticity is a big one for me. Then integrity, right? If I say I’m going to do something, my actions are going to align and that’s just me having integrity and that kind of has to shine through and everything that I do that has to shine through. So that’s me as a person, values-based coaching, right? So from a coaching perspective, I ask my coaches three things and I’m going to show up this way as a coach as well. So empowerment, like…
This is not for us, this is for the athletes and we’ve got to allow them to embody the confidence that the training should give them. Like they have to now have that. Cause one of the things that I’m going to ask from my athletes as an athlete values ownership. So I can’t pass that off to them for them to own it if I don’t empower them to do that. And again, you know, so much to talk about there, but that’s the one commitment, right? So if you invest in me, I’m going to invest in you tenfold.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
you show up, I’m gonna show up. I mean that even to the point where like, know, Northeastern worked as a 10 month contract, right? And I showed up throughout the summer for those girls just because like, if you’re gonna show up, I’m gonna show up. that’s, if I’m gonna say that these are coaching values of mine, I’m gonna embody those coaching values and I’m gonna get here. And I don’t necessarily recommend or think that that’s.
the way that you have to do that, but it was the way that I did it. It felt true to me. It felt right to me at that time. And so that’s how I did that. and then positive regard is another coaching value. And this is a little different, a little nuance maybe, but, you know, Carol Dweck wrote a, wrote a book called growth mindset and one of the antidotes in there that’s stuck with me for a long time. Cause again, that’s another book that I read when I was in undergrad. I mean, that one’s been with me just for a long time. And I think the fact that I was a teacher as well kind of solidified this one, but,
If I set high standards and high expectations, they’re going to get a lot further because of the expectations and standards that I set for them. And if I don’t do that, I do them a disservice. They’re going to, they’re going to miss the mark. They’re going to, they’re going to aim lower and they’re going to hit lower because I didn’t set the bar high enough. So, um, essentially that’s what positive regard means to me. Um, and then just to recap, uh, athlete values. So ownership, like this is, this is yours.
You have to completely embody this. Your successes are yours. But also your failures are yours. I don’t think failure is a bad thing. It’s just, you you’ve got to own the entirety of it. Discipline as a coach, right? You’ve got to align the intention of what I’m asking you to do and the focus of what I’m asking you to do. And those two things don’t always mean, you know, it doesn’t have to be high effort all the time if that’s not what I’m asking for.
And if it is high effort, I expect full effort, right? So that’s kind of how I would break down discipline. And then respect. We have to set up an environment that everyone can be successful in. And that’s within a session, that’s session to session, that you put all your stuff away before you got out of the room so that the next group coming in can be successful here. We’re creating an environment where everybody has the opportunity to be successful, and that’s how we show respect.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
That’s like, that’s kind of that pillar in a nutshell for me and how I run that all back. So I articulate it to my athletes, my coaches, to you when I talk about it.
Connor Agnew:
Well, I love the framework and I think seriously those things are so valuable and I think it ultimately changes how you are as a coach. It really defines what is something that you’re going to set every day as your intention. What are the standards that you’re going to set and what are your values? What would you say to coaches who haven’t necessarily bought into that process quite yet of having an actual set standard of values or pillars? And you know, I’ve seen it many times with younger coaches before.
I think it’s typically younger coaches are the ones who don’t have their set values first. What would you, what would your advice be to those coaches or what would you say?
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Yeah.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
I guess I would, you know, the first thing I would say is I just would want them to have the awareness that that can help them become more confident and more aligned with what they’re doing, right? If we’ve never thought about it before, there’s a huge opportunity there. And then from that place, right, once you’ve, you know, if you’re willing to establish those things, or maybe it’s even just
contemplating, you will have more confidence as a coach if you establish those things, because you’ll know what you’re about. You’ll know how you show up. You’ll know what you give beyond just the X’s and O’s of the strength and conditioning practice, right? you know, where, where maybe there’s some, you know, I’ll use that word again, maybe there’s some self doubt associated with the things that you implement because you’re newer, you’re newer to the field. you’ll start to establish your
your value because it won’t be exclusively about the resources that you provide, but the guidance that you give from a who you are and how you show up perspective. I would just encourage them the more that you can get aligned with your practice from the coaching side of things. And I just look at that as like the how you show up and how you do what you do. It really ends up being a game changer.
Connor Agnew:
Yeah, I think it provides clarity for the athletes too, right? They know what to expect. Exactly like you said, you know what to expect each session. You know what you can bring and it brings confidence for you. But the athletes become a lot more clear on who you are as a coach and it helps you develop a better relationship as well.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Absolutely. Yeah, think that’s such a good point because I think one thing that can end up being detrimental is the variability in how you show up, right? If you haven’t established that, there’s, look, you’re allowed to have a bad day, meaning, you know, maybe you’re sick or something, so your affect is different. Okay, fine. But ultimately, the vast majority of the time, athletes should know what to expect from you and…
and you should know what to expect from you as well. think that that’s integral.
Connor Agnew:
Yeah, it reminds me of something I did just previously. It was a small exercise, but I rated what my mood was prior going into the session. And so I’d rated it out of 10, and then I rated what the session was. And I only did it for a week. My plan was to do it for a month, and then I didn’t want to beat myself up and find out that if it was a bad session, I’m clearly the problem, right? Because any time that my mood was low or we had like a five or four out of 10 going into the session, the session was pretty much the same. And then obviously, the times I had good moods, the session was much better as well, too.
that really just goes to show and reflect that if you have these set values, it can help you have high quality sessions consistently as well.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
No, I love that practice. As much as we get to learn from each other through this, I love that exercise. I think there’s a lot of value to that.
Connor Agnew:
Yeah, it was certainly eye opening, right? Because it’s easy to blame the athletes, I think, sometimes. It’s easy to be like, well, Joe was really in a bad spot today and he upset me. And it was like, or was I upset previously to the session? And then that’s what actually drove it. It made me look at Joe a little bit differently than I typically would. I mean, it’s such small behaviors. Like if somebody was maybe moving slow through a session, I probably approached it on different days as well, based on what my mood was. If somebody’s moving slow and I said, hey, man, you kind of need to hurry up a little bit.
I didn’t get the answer I liked and I might coach that person a little bit harder, but if I was in a good mood, I might’ve been more encouraging as a coach and helped uplift them a little bit. could have gotten a much more productive result out of that session.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Definitely. Yeah, though, that’s so good. would if if you’re willing, I mean, look, one of the first thing is if you’re ever willing to rate yourself a four with your mood, at least you’re willing to be honest with yourself. Like because I think there’s a lot of people that, you know, would just know, I feel great. No, I feel great. No, I feel great. I think like step one, one of the things, you know, if you’re willing to rate yourself a four, I think there’s real opportunity just insofar as your own ability to be reflective, because the more that we’re able to be reflective.
the further that we’re gonna end up going. So I think that that’s huge step one is like, you’re willing to be honest about it. And then you’re willing to see what happens as a result. That’s huge. I like that activity a lot. I I might steal it from you to be honest with you. I think it’s very good. Yeah. There you go. Right. That’s what we do here.
Connor Agnew:
You have free rein, promise you. I stole it from somebody else, so that’s how it works. Okay, well one thing I definitely want to touch on is something you’ve spoken about in your blog and posted on social media. Did you have any other big injuries besides the broken toe during your basketball career?
Coach Blair Lloyd:
I broke the opposite side toe my senior year. Almost the exact same mechanism too, which is insane. So except for this time, instead of it being the last day of preseason, was our first exhibition game of the season. So my junior year and my senior year actually started off the season with breaking each big toe. And then, I mean, just professionally, I actually took a nosedive. I was mountain biking in Colorado. I went over my handlebars. I broke both my wrists.
Connor Agnew:
wow. My goodness.
Connor Agnew:
Coach Blair Lloyd:
That was a tough injury to come back from for sure. again, a lot of good lessons from that at that time, but I was like 24 years old and then at 32 over here, went ahead and my ACL. But first time, yeah, first time tearing my ACL.
Connor Agnew:
So, mean, I just want to, can you try to take me through that rehab process? I’m sure frustration, I’m sure, like you said, from your other injuries, you gained a lot of really positive things out of it as well.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Yeah, so the first thing that kind of happened in that process, Well, other than, you know, me hobbling off of the turf and getting myself, you know, in a chair and kind of reconciling what all had happened. I was like, this is going to be a good thing. Like, you are going to make this a good thing. You’re going to going to, you have to.
And that was like, that was a really early thought. You’re going to become more empathetic. You’re going to have to go through this. And so the process of having to do something is going to make you face adversity and you’re going to end up again on the other side of this. And so I’ve been, I’ve been very determined to make sure that every lesson that there’s an opportunity to glean from this that I do. So some of that has again been,
Well, actually some of that has been one of the coolest things that I’ve taken from this is there have been some just amazing human beings that you meet along the way and that find out that you tear your ACL and that have checked in on a semi-frequent basis. hey, how are you doing? How’s the knee holding up? it’s like immediately you know that is the kind of leader and coach you want to be. And it’s like, because it means so much to you.
And I just think about all the, look, I’m not gonna beat myself up too bad. It’s like the power of regret. You it’s like, you look at it, you go, man, I wish I would have done that. And you go, all right, cool. Like I have the opportunity to do that and we’ll like keep it rolling. But you know, I’ve coached so many athletes who have had ACL tears and you know, the kind of semi-frequent checking in and just being a little bit more shirred up on that, I would absolutely do. Cause it’s meant so much to me and you know,
super grateful for those coaches that have just had that empathy and that that forethought to do that. Another one of my big thoughts is like, man, this is challenging. And like, I’m going through it at 32. Imagine going through it at 18, 19, sometimes younger, sometimes older, right? But you know, it’s like, this is a tough one. Cause like so much of, you know, my identity for sure is in.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
my coaching, right? Like it’s what I love doing. And so the fact that it’s, it’s got to change a little bit. It has been tough. And then it’s like, and then you ask somebody who’s, who’s younger to do that. That’s not as equipped, you know, mentally and emotionally, just because they haven’t had that amount of time to reflect. It’s like, Ooh, all right. Like, you know, you’ve now got that opportunity to really come alongside of them and, be that empathetic, you know, coach and support them in that way, because you can.
truly understand what they’re going through. Yeah, I mean, the first five weeks are just brutal. know, it’s so much and even still like I’m 10 weeks out today post-op. And it’s just like so much after surgery is just challenging. so, okay, fine, it’s challenging, but all right, it’s challenging for them too. So know that and know that you’re gonna be able to show up better for them as a result.
Connor Agnew:
Yeah, one of the things that you mentioned that I think is really valuable is recognizing that as coaches, when we get older, we have a lot more, I would say, skills at just being able to handle things that life throws at us, right? I remember being told no to go to a party when I was 17, and I thought everything was over, right? You know, now I’m the one who would rather not go to that party. Those things are very different. So I think that’s a really key insight as well is that what may seem like a smaller deal or something that we could
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Absolutely.
Connor Agnew:
kind of easily handle, obviously being an ACL injury, we all understand is a very big process no matter what age, but when you reflect on it and you look at how would I handle this as an 18 year old, it’s probably different than how you would handle it now.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
I mean, I’m so grateful that I didn’t go through that when I was an athlete, if I’m being super transparent. And then, you just realize that they are sometimes and it’s like, all right, well. And then, I think that’s really where I’ve had an opportunity to thrive through this whole thing is like, hold on, there’s so much as a performance coach that I can give to them to keep them focused on just the-
opportunities to progress forward and do meaningful things that set them up for success when they come back. And that’s one of the things that I was really motivated to do. you know, the day that my jump height is higher than it was before, I get to use Hawking force plates. I’m very fortunate in that way. Right. So the day that my jump high is higher than it was going into this, you know, I’m going to be like, let’s go right. But there are things that I’m doing now that are setting me up for that. And I believe that I know that that’s true. And so that’s really where it’s like,
I’m going to be so much more equipped to like support athletes on the performance side because there are things that I can still achieve. That’s what I’m focused on. And it’s going to have those outcomes down the road. And like, that’s what I want to share with athletes down the road. And so I was like, cool, I’ll experience it now. I’ll set myself up so that I’m just more aware of what those things are. And it’s not say I won’t learn more things, but I’m at least that awareness sets me up. Cause I think one of the things that I’ve
I’ve always really leaned on athletic trainers to like take on that role, that process. And that’s great. But like as a performance coach, you also have those opportunities to step in and provide guidance and those interventions for where they’re at that are going to support them long-term.
Connor Agnew:
How have you honed the skill of positive self-talk? Because to me, it’s a skill that you can work on. But I mean, the two instances I can think of already just speaking with you is dealing with self-doubt early on in your career and then learning how to be more positive with yourself. then, I mean, almost immediately after undergoing an ACL injury saying, well, this is going to be a good thing. How have you developed that skill for yourself?
Coach Blair Lloyd:
I mean, if you ask me my favorite genre of reading, is researcher authors in the field of psychology. And again, I’m just so big on awareness. think if something comes into your periphery and it resonates and you let it in, that’s gonna set you up to be better. And so that’s like one of the big encouragements I give to coaches.
relatively often is it’s like, like, you you go through this process of undergrad, grad school, and honestly, like, I kind of wish you even had it before that, but still, it’s like, your responsibility now is to critically think through everything that you’re exposed to. And I just would put this in the category of psychology, but that’s truthful with any of, you know, thing that you learn. And as things resonate, they feel true to you, like, continue to pursue those things.
and allow yourself to grow in that way. And so, you know, I mean, right off the bat, it’s like, I mean, from like a leadership perspective, you’ve got so many great authors. Brene Brown is fantastic. You’ve got Daniel Pink, who’s wonderful. You’ve got Adam Grant, who’s unreal. And it’s just like all of those. And I know that I’m like missing some, but go look at a bookshelf real quick and come back. But, no, Angela Duckworth, unreal. Like just so many unreal people. And it’s like,
That’s what I gravitated to early on in so far as me just wanting to live this life to the fullest, I guess. And I know where my passions lie and I’ve always tried to pursue things that are aligned to some degree. And I think in that process, it’s just allowed me to kind of come on to the other side, not even the other side, right? Cause it’s still a process. Let’s not even pretend we’re done growing, right? But that’s really allowed me to kind of channel these things into…
who I am and how I’ve developed some of my kind core beliefs.
Connor Agnew:
It’s a more fun way to live, living on the positive side.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
I think so. Yeah. And, and then the other part of it too is, know, like I have been, I’ve been coaching since like, since I was, I think the earliest coaching experience I had was like 14 years old. So I’ve always been like relatively athletically inclined. That’s very fortunate. I’m just, my genetics are great, in that way. And, and so, you know, you’re on varsity playing sports, right? And when you play varsity sports, there’s kind of this, and then
part of that, at least in my community where I grew up, grew up was, well, then you go and you coach younger kids, right? And so, you know, by the time I was, you know, a junior and senior, I had been doing that for, for years already from like the clinic side and coaching younger kids. But then like a lot of that started to become my own at a very young age. The first time I ran my own clinic, I got a call from like our recreation authority and it was like,
Can you staff this and run this clinic? It’s gonna be a volleyball clinic. It’s here. Can you do that? And I’m like, yeah, I’m gonna get paid now. But I think I’m so fortunate to have been kind of pushed in that direction where it’s like, yeah, if you have to set something up, it’s on you, you gotta go do it. And then I did, right? And so I think those experiences though, where you’re just giving back what you do to others and that starting so young has also kind of been just,
a part of it where I didn’t have control over that, right? My environment controlled that on my behalf. And then, you know, I think I just kind of shouldered the responsibility of, then really be great at that, like really go and do that.
Connor Agnew:
And so this leads perfectly into one of my questions for you. Obviously, you are a mentor coach. You help other coaches. What is the importance of mentor coaching for coaches? If I’m somebody who has never opened my eyes to the kind of mentor side of the world, what would be your quick selling points for it why it could be so valuable?
Coach Blair Lloyd:
I’m like the worst at quick selling points. mean, I, I, I know I told you like, get ranty. you know, I just create, I try to really do my best job to create a safe space for somebody to explore what they’re struggling with when they come and talk to me. nope, like there’s, there’s no pressure in so far as like that, those initial things, but I just try to create that space where like, if you come to me, there’s no judgment. It’s just.
Connor Agnew:
Okay, then a long cell.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
What are you going through? And let me just try to add value like right away. But I do notice there’s a lot of, a lot of it comes down to confidence. And so we’ve got to, you know, so, so what we, what I try to do is it’s like, well, let’s figure out what you’re really good at first, cause you’re already coaching. So what are you good at? And let’s, let’s spell that out so that you, you’ve identified for yourself.
what you’re falling back on, right? Like, is what I’ve got, this is what I do, great. And it’s like, and then we can build from that place, but until we’ve established that from a, hey, are you someone who’s good at rebuilding rapport? And as a result, you get better buy-in? Know that that’s a huge strength. That’s not a nothing quality, insofar as you as a coach. That’s a massive strength that you should know that you have to leverage.
So regardless about how you feel about your exes and nos, know that if you notice your ability to build relationships is good, do that at an excellent level and continue to leverage that. Sometimes you don’t even realize the story that you’re telling yourself until somebody is willing to hit a pause and then will tell me more about that.
And then you kind of start to uncover some things that might not be serving you. like, you don’t know, again, like if this is your default belief, it’s never been interrupted, right? You don’t have an opportunity to kind of grapple with that. But I think sometimes having somebody that helps you navigate that process, again, like that judgment-free, psychologically safe environment for you to just
discuss. then also, for me, have some of those. Yeah, for sure. Like we need to have like the practical tools, the actual the implementation, the the why behind the what to help somebody navigate what it is that they do. Because then that’s another thing that I noticed too, is a lot of times in this industry, you’re told so much what to think, what to think, what to think, and there’s not a lot of like substance sometimes. And so you get lost in
Coach Blair Lloyd:
I wanna do this great job, but like, how do I know that I’m doing that? And so that’s why, again, like, that’s why the pillars that I have are so true to me is like, well, I wanna be able to assess my intervention. So I’ve gotta have that duality there. again, like helping somebody create that, again, just gives them confidence to execute. And so from the coaching side, we’ve gotta figure out
who you are and what your strengths are. From a practice side, let’s make sure that we build that up. And if that’s something that people struggle with, I would encourage you to receive some mentorship because it has the opportunity to be personalized to you. mean, if you’re in a position where there’s just gaps in so far as your knowledge, go get the knowledge, right? Go get the X’s and O’s.
but if you’ve been doing this for a, for a while, and there’s still some thing that, you know, is, is inconsistent going through that with, with somebody is just so powerful. like, that was really created in my environment at Northeastern. Like I’m so grateful that I have that. I am on a mentor coaching team as well. And so like, when, when I grapple with things, I do have coaches that I
feel very comfortable and confident going to, to help me move forward. Which, you know, if it’s not a mentor, develop an awesome network because in your network too, In your network, there can be a lot of things that are uncovered from that perspective too. Again, just, can’t speak highly enough about the people that I’ve come into contact with along the way that have.
continue to like leave that door open for me to continue to receive guidance when I’ve felt that I’ve needed it and to continue to move my understanding forward.
Connor Agnew:
One of the things I think is really valuable about it is it’s a completely objective person, right? It is somebody who you can speak to that is not a friend. There’s no context of us spending all these years together. So I remember when I struggled with some things, I might reach out to a fellow coach who I’ve known for a long time and they try to kind of hype me up a little bit. And it’s like, well, you’re just saying that because I’m a friend of yours, right? And you’re just trying to be positive and everything. Whereas if I had heard it from somebody who was completely objective, I might…
take that feedback a little bit differently. I might kind of believe it more if that makes sense.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
The other thing that I’m going to just add to that, because I totally think that you’re right, is that when you look at that person that you choose to be your mentor, there should also be qualities about that person that excite you, right? Whether that’s from an aspirational perspective, well, an aspirational perspective, whether that’s as a human, as a coach, their career, whatever that is, wherever you are finding that you need help and support, look at that person and
and make sure that it aligns with what you aspire to. I think that’s a huge part of it because, I also will tell coaches, like, you got this feedback from someone, do you aspire to be that person? Do you aspire to coach like that person? Well, then maybe that feedback can just pass through. Maybe we don’t have to hold on to that feedback, but maybe we could just let that one go because not everybody, you know, deserves
a place in your practice. And that’s okay. You can, you can acknowledge that their intent was good, but you can go ahead and just let it go. And that’s also okay. And that can also be really powerful too, because sometimes when we get feedback, especially, you know, from like an authority, we’re gonna whatever that looks like for some people. It can also kind of be that catch 22 where it’s like, you gave me advice. I appreciate that you were willing to give me advice, but you don’t have to take it. And sometimes like there’s,
Sometimes there’s huge benefit in just being able to communicate that to someone.
Connor Agnew:
Yeah, I think empathy becomes really huge in that one too, because I remember we had a former intern come in and he just visited for the day and we were speaking and he just said he was kind of struggling with, you know, his supervisor and they kind of disagreed on a lot of things. And it was almost that exact point to was like, well, you kind of to put yourself in his shoes, understand where he’s coming from, understand some frustrations he might have in his career right now, and understand why, you know, he may just be taking some things out on you. And you have to understand those things. And again,
let it pass by. Like you said, I liked that phrase really well.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Yeah, we’re all human and we’re all navigating this thing. think if you give people the benefit of the doubt, which I would encourage, I think you live a much happier life when you would just say, hey, that person was trying to give me their best, thank you. And then again, we’re not a sponge in absorbing everything, but instead, allow for that filtration. You’re critically thinking.
You have ownership over your practice again. This comes back to so many of those values and this is yours. So take it if you want it, but you don’t have to take everything. And I often will say that. I picked up a great adopt, adapt, replace framework along the way. And I love that so much because it’s like, thank you so much for being willing to give me that. Let me figure out if it resonates and it’s.
you real is true for me, it’s authentic for me to add it. If I can adapt it and make it right for this context, or if it’s just not right. And I, you know, I think you have to know that you have enough that if it’s not right, you can’t, you can’t let it go. Yeah.
Connor Agnew:
And just not to let those things weigh you down because it be very tiring.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Yeah, if you let everything, you know, kind of come in, yeah, at some point, it’s no, not everything can serve you and that’s all right.
Connor Agnew:
Yeah, absolutely. The acceptance piece, which I love. Well, Blair, thank you so much. I’ve really enjoyed speaking with you and enjoyed really getting to know more about you and what you do. I think it’s been really exciting for me.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
If that’s time, that’s wild, man. Time flies. I genuinely, it did. It really did. Thank you so much for this, Connor. I appreciate it. I look forward to keeping in touch.
Connor Agnew:
I know it flew by, yeah.
Connor Agnew:
Absolutely. If anybody wants to follow you on social media, follow your blog or wants to potentially be mentor coach, what would be the best way to do that?
Coach Blair Lloyd:
Yeah, so easy enough to get to me, built for the sports performance. That’s, you know, Instagram handle and then website. Just put a.com after that. Everything through there. So easy enough.
Connor Agnew:
Awesome. Well, thank you again, Blair. I really appreciate you. You as well.
Coach Blair Lloyd:
You have a good rest of your day, Connor.
