Start Here: What the Touchline Taught Me

How 20 years behind the scenes in pro sport shaped how I work, parent, plan and live.

“You owe it to yourself to be the best you can possibly be - in baseball and in life.”
— Pete Rose (Baseball Great)

There are plenty of books written by high-performance athletes - about winning, discipline, and pushing the limits. But far less is known about what happens behind the scenes in professional sport.

It’s not just those who run out on match day or compete under the lights. Behind every athlete is a wider team working off the pitch - planners, fixers, thinkers, organisers - all pulling in the same direction, often unseen and unrecognised.

They are the little-known secret behind every successful team or athlete. They put in the grind, day after day, hour after hour. You could walk past them in the street and never guess what they’ve just held together - but without them, none of it works.

What’s so fascinating about life behind the scenes is the access. You’re immersed in a world built around performance, precision, and pressure. The culture is obsessed with improvement - and winning, yes - but also with how you prepare, recover, lead, and respond when things go wrong. It’s a formula. And it doesn’t just work in sport - it works in life.

I was one of those people.

I spent 20 years in professional sport, working quietly in the background. And, almost everything I now rely on, in relationships, parenting, business, even planning my wedding, was shaped there. I’m not just talking about making money. I mean how I think, how I act and how I follow through.

People often tell me I’m organised. That I’m always ahead of the game. And you know what? I’ll take that. I am.

But I wasn’t always like this. I used to dilly-dally around and never actually finish things. I was a master procrastinator. I listened to the noise - the “you can’t do this,” “nobody gets those jobs” kind of talk - and looking back, that noise probably delayed what I could have achieved earlier.

Moving into sport changed that. It was relentless. Actually, unrelenting. Often both. But it was also life-changing.

The habits I learnt there have stuck with me ever since - in our home, in my work and even through a midlife career pivot. When people ask, “How do you do it all?” my answer is simple:

Sport trained me for it.

I’m not an athlete. I never competed professionally. But I worked in top-flight sport - and that tattoo never washes off.

So here’s everything I’ve learnt, wrapped in what I hope are some humorous (and maybe a little inspirational) stories to help you boss your life.

Since stepping away, day to day, from sport in 2022, I’ve used every teeny, tiny lesson I picked up to not only get sh*t done, but to back myself, all the way.

Think of this space as the changing room after the match - honest, messy, full of stories. It’s where I’ll share what I learnt, so you can take what’s useful and run with it. Because I believe those lessons are too good to keep hidden.

Good luck. I believe in you.
But really, that doesn’t matter.
The only belief that counts… is yours.