S6E4: Coach Cassandra Cunningham on Curiosity, Consistency and Growth

Cassandra Cunningham, founder of P3 Physical Education, and coach with Endeavor Racing Alliance, has lived by the philosophy of "prior proper planning." So she knew it had to be the driving force behind her coaching, too. From walk-on at Sacramento State University, to National Team rower, to coach of all levels, Cassandra believes in the power of curiosity to drive success. Our wide ranging conversation for rowers and coaches, touches on the power of sport, positive mindset, being present, trusting the process, and blending with your teammates.

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QUICK LOOK

00:00 - Intro
02:43 - The Huddle
03:32 - The Hot Seat Q&A
06:19 - Rowing origin story: To keep her life from unravelling, Cassandra walked on at Sacramento State
09:23 - Navigating her way to success in college came by way of being curious
12:14 - Finding and needing sport
17:00 - Cassandra was inspired to become a coach by her dad who was a coach, and her mom who installed her with common sense
19:04 - Strengths and struggle buses of new coaches, and setting the tone for the team
23:14 - Coaching, connecting with, and being present for the whole athlete
26:49 - Founding P3PE to bring her philosophy of prior proper planning through communication, organization, and professionalism
29:33 - The perfect stroke doesn’t exist
30:54 - Trusting the process: consistency, growth, awareness
33:22 - Cultivating a positive mindset starts with self-care, showing up, and reading the room
37:34 - Endeavor Racing Alliance: creating good humans and less chaos, thinking outside the box to “race up”
41:11 - From camp to club and back: sharing ideas, curiosity, and blending
46:18 - Evolution of positive planning mindset
49:04 - Steady State Network news and notes

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To see photos of Cassandra, and get links to the people, clubs, events, mentioned in this episode, check out the show notes on our website.

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This episode was made possible in part by Breakwater Realty, RowSource, and our Patrons.

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Steady State Podcast is written, produced, hosted, and edited by Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan. Tara provides additional audio engineering and is our sponsor coordinator. Rachel manages the website, social media, and e-newsletter. Our theme music is by Jonas Hipper.

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