0:00:14 - (Toby Brooks): It's another great day to get better. Becoming Undone is the podcast for those.

0:00:18 - (B): Who dare bravely risk mightily and grow relentlessly. Join me, Toby Brooks, as I invite a new guest each week to examine how high achievers can transform from falling apart to to falling into place. Author Adam Barone once wrote that the American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society in which upward mobility is possible for everyone.

0:00:42 - (B): While that definition seems clear and fitting enough for McKinney, Texas native Johnny Quinn, it wasn't quite so simple. Dreams of professional football took root early and Johnny worked hard to be the best high school athlete he could be, eventually leading the football loving state of Texas in receptions and finishing second in TD catches by his senior season. By most accounts, such performance should have opened the floodgates of scholarship offers from colleges across the country.

0:01:10 - (B): Unfortunately, they didn't. Lightly recruited by a few programs at lower levels, Johnny finally received his first and only Division I offer from nearby University of North Texas just one day before the end of the signing period. He took it disappointed but undeterred that his on field production hadn't translated to the opportunities he had anticipated. He did what he always does in the face of adversity. He worked.

0:01:34 - (B): Johnny committed to transforming his body in the weight room and went all in on developing fully in the hopes of making his childhood dreams of professional football come true from unt. Eventually those efforts helped his team to three bowl appearances, a degree in pre law and legendary status as alma mater's all time receptions leader. Surely the NFL, the prestige and the money that came with it were within reach.

0:01:59 - (B): Except they weren't. Johnny went undrafted in the 2007 NFL Draft in eerily familiar fashion. He found himself being productive on an elite level, but without the recognition that you might expect. Disappointed but still determined, he did what he does. He worked a professional career as an NFL free agent and later a signee in the Canadian Football League followed. And when the door to football finally closed, Johnny literally and figuratively broke it.

0:02:27 - (Toby Brooks): Down as a member of the US.

0:02:28 - (B): National Bobsled team, competing as a member of one of the two four man teams who competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Now a successful author and highly sought after professional speaker, Johnny's leveraged all the good that came from his years as a high performing athlete and translated those lessons into stories that both encourage and inspire. Hear Johnny tell his story of grit, determination and relentless pursuit and why he always checks his pocket for his keys in episode 11, push.

0:03:03 - (Toby Brooks): Today, we're really fortunate to have a guest that's familiar to many, particularly if you're a fan of the mean green from unt. And also former Olympian Johnny Quinn is joining us from McKinney, Texas today. Johnny, great to have you.

0:03:20 - (Johnny Quinn): Toby, thanks for having me on.

0:03:22 - (Toby Brooks): So, as, as I've shared with you, the, the real focus of this show is to help people who maybe found themselves in the midst of disappointment recognize that their story is not yet fully written. You can fall apart and feel like you're coming undone and. But there is really a transformation that can take place right between your ears that helps you decide that I am not finished yet. There is more that I can do, whether in this line or taking what I have learned from the failure or things falling short and applying it somewhere else. So your story, absolutely inspirational. So I am thrilled to have you here today.

0:03:59 - (Johnny Quinn): Thank you. And you are right. You hit on something that just caught my attention. Is everybody from time to time feels undone. And maybe to some of the listeners that are listening today, they are in that season of life. Well, well, this is for you. Or maybe things are flowing well right now. Well, you know what, I'm sure you know somebody that is feeling undone or going undone. And so this, this episode is for you as well.

0:04:23 - (Toby Brooks): Awesome. So Johnny's background, Johnny, you, you've, you were highly successful as an athlete in high school. And we'll get into that. You were able to, to translate that into success at the collegiate level and then eventually on the world stage. So the same question I ask of everybody, start at the beginning, wherever that was for you.

0:04:42 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah. So growing up, just like any kid who loves sports, I'd always watch football on the weekend, Saturday, Sunday, Saturday, college football Sunday, you know, NFL. And I just, I wanted to become a pro football player. And Toby, what I learned at a young age is that when you have a big dream and we all have big dreams, mine just happened to be sports related. When you have a big dream, you can't sit back and hope that it happens.

0:05:08 - (Johnny Quinn): You have to actively pursue it. And so I had a lot of success in high school football in the state of Texas, which Texas high school football is a very popular and big category. But what was interesting, Toby, is my senior year, I led the entire state of Texas and receptions. I finished second in touchdowns. And as a family, we were told, and Toby, this makes logical sense. If you make all the plays, if you win all the awards, if you score all the touchdowns, that's how you get college scholarships. Right. I mean we saw that growing up and that's just kind of what we thought.

0:05:47 - (Johnny Quinn): Kobi, I had one, one division one offer roll in two days before signing day. And so to our listeners, if you can think back to your high school days, if you're an adult now and think about that thought process as an 18 year old student athlete, it was a welcome moment to real life. Toby, that you know what, you can work hard and you can be the best and sometimes things don't fall in place. And Toby, here's the remaining part of this sentence.

0:06:22 - (Johnny Quinn): And that's okay, right? Right. What it did is it set in motion this healthy work ethic that when things don't go the way you think they're going to go, even when you win all the awards. Right. We don't give up. And so that parlayed to about one athletic scholarship at the Division 1 level to the University of North Texas and had a very fortunate career there, Went to three bowl games, played in three conference championships, got some really good rings and earned a degree in pre law, left as the school's all time leading receiver.

0:06:56 - (Johnny Quinn): And so Toby, here I am, right? Did in high school, then in college. So I'm thinking I'm knocking on the NFL door and that brings me to the beginning of my pro football career.

0:07:07 - (Toby Brooks): Absolutely. So before we delve down that road, what were your emotions like? I mean, you played at a 5A school which for those not familiar with Texas football, that's just at the time that was the largest division or 6A now, but that was the biggest division in arguably, if not the biggest, one of the most competitive states. You're at the top of the heap, but yet no one's calling. What, what's the emotion like for you as you're rolling through October, November and you still don't have those letters in hand?

0:07:35 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah, confused, right? Very confused. Because again, growing up, going to all the college recruiting seminars, hey, here's how you get recruited as a student athlete. And it's, you know, you know, you have to make the plays, you have to do, do great in the classroom. You got to make sure you're getting exposure. And so here we are as a family, Toby kind of checking the box. First team all district, first team all area, first team all state.

0:08:00 - (Johnny Quinn): And so I remember we were asking these recruiting gurus saying, what is going on? Because I have the data and the statistics that all these college coaches look for. They want to see production. And the recruiting coordinators at this point were like, well, I Don't know. We're confused too. And so a lot of uncertainty and confusion around the recruiting process. Yeah.

0:08:25 - (Toby Brooks): And it's got to feel like as you conclude your collegiate career, like this is, this is happening all over again. Like you're successful. You're, you're the most productive receiver in your institution's history. You're, you're, you're clearly on in the upper echelon of receivers nationwide and yet come draft day, your name doesn't get called.

0:08:46 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah.

0:08:47 - (Toby Brooks): What's your motion like?

0:08:48 - (Johnny Quinn): Well, disappointed and back to that. Confused because you hit that right on the head. It was almost like, you know, playing a movie on repeat. Like, okay, I. Stakes are a little bit different, a little bit higher now. But I've seen this script before, I've lived it. And you know, with the NFL draft, I mean, think about this. My, I remember getting ready for the NFL draft. My agent calls and is like, hey, we've got some good news. We think you're going to get drafted. I'm like, okay, okay.

0:09:17 - (Johnny Quinn): He goes, johnny, we looked at the last nine NFL drafts and they're, you know, on average 28 to 32 wide receivers are getting selected. And at that point, of all the receivers, you know, enlisting in the NFL draft, my senior year of college, Kobe, here I am again. I'm now in the top 10 in career receptions, career yards, career touchdowns. And so, you know, I knew I wasn't a day one draft pick, but you know, you just think, golly, from a perspective, production standpoint, Right? I mean, isn't that what everybody wants to see? Sport and business? Can you produce and a production? You know, I'm thinking, okay, 32, up to 32 receivers get drafted. I'm in the top 10. Well, hurry up. Draft day. And Toby, when, when the NFL Draft came, 35 wide receivers were drafted and I was not one of them.

0:10:07 - (B): You heard Johnny acknowledge that even though his performance had put him statistically in the top 10 at his position, he didn't really expect to be a day one draft pick. That's a distinction reserved for the 32 most highly touted prospects in a given year's draft class playing in a smaller conference, there may have been concerns from folks that his numbers were hard to compare to other athletes who had competed week in and week out against other NFL caliber talent in larger conferences.

0:10:32 - (B): Even so, he expected to be picked at some point in the three day event where the top 259 players are allocated to NFL teams with history telling him that usually at his position, 28 to 32 receivers were picked since. Sadly, in a year where 35 pass catchers names were called, Johnny's name wasn't among them. The emotions were raw and painful, but at the same time they were sadly familiar. Just like high school, when his elite statistics in the state of Texas seemed to somehow be overlooked, he was left with just one option, press forward.

0:11:03 - (Johnny Quinn): And so confusion, disappointment, frustration, all creeped in.

0:11:09 - (Toby Brooks): Well, I'm fortunate enough to know the end of the story. I've followed you for some time. So it's, I've seen student athletes in a very similar position. And there's really two directions you can go with that. You can either sulk and pout and mope and blame, or you can pour all that energy into a positive direction and recognize that I can control the controllables. And that's it. And so draft day came and went.

0:11:36 - (Toby Brooks): Your name wasn't called. But then shortly thereafter, opportunity comes calling. At any rate, so you get an opportunity as a free agent. What were those seasons like as you're on the cusp of this NFL dream coming true?

0:11:51 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah, so I remember after the draft I had four free agent contracts come in from NFL teams to give me an opportunity. And at the time, the best opportunity of the four was with the Buffalo Bills because they did not draft a wide receiver that year. And the draft class. And so as my agent was, you know, reviewing potential contracts that, that looked like the, the most advantageous to make a roster.

0:12:15 - (Johnny Quinn): And so, you know, I'm just excited, right? Here I am, kid from McKinney, Texas, with this dream that is coming true, signing a three year NFL deal with the Buffalo Bills. And I get the Buffalo, I get all my NFL gear and then three days into practice I tear my hamstring. And in the NFL, I think we all know what the NFL stands for. Not for long. And boy, may they have me on a flight back to Texas so quick. But think about this, Toby. Up to this point, I've always been good at football.

0:12:47 - (Johnny Quinn): And now for the first time in my career, somebody sits me down, they look me in the eye and they essentially say, Johnny, you're not good enough. Today we are cutting you. And Toby, that, that did not feel good at all. At all.

0:13:07 - (B): Such rejection can be devastating. And Johnny fully admits that for the first time in his life, doubts had begun to surface as to whether this dream he had held for so long was actually going to happen. But he did what winners do. He focused on what he could control and he got back to work.

0:13:23 - (Toby Brooks): Up to that point, in your life, obviously football's a critical part of your identity. Would you say that it was central? What's your thought process? If this is really over, where do you go from football?

0:13:34 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah, I don't think I got to that point yet. I think as we continue to unpack my story, there is a time I get there, I'm thinking, with the Bills, it's very devastating. I've never experienced loss like this, but I knew because I've seen other people's journeys through NFL and trying to make a team, that there'd be another team. Because remember, I had four contracts on the table. And so I just thought, okay, I have to get healthy. My agent's going to find a new team.

0:14:00 - (Johnny Quinn): And he sure enough did. The following year, I got picked up by the Green Bay Packers. And I mean, when you talk about just organizational support, when you talk about tradition and history, when you just talk about, I mean, NFL football, the packers, whether you're a fan of them or not, you understand the magnitude that team has when it comes to their community of fans. And so, yeah, just an incredible opportunity to step into Lambeau and try to make a run with the Packers.

0:14:31 - (Toby Brooks): Sure. So you're battled through some injuries, some adversity. Clearly things didn't unfold exactly the way you would have scripted them.

0:14:39 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah.

0:14:40 - (Toby Brooks): What did you tell yourself to keep going during that time?

0:14:43 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah. So I think, you know, as I can look back and consider that time, the people that I had in my life, the books that I'm reading, the TV that I'm watching, the podcast that I'm listening to, it all matters. And so navigating through those turbulent times, I couldn't see it then, Toby, but I can see it now, looking back, that the content we consume matters. And so, and I still do this now in the marketplace, I'm always protecting and evaluating the content I'm watching, I'm reading and listening to.

0:15:30 - (Johnny Quinn): And so to your point, these, these injuries, setback, frustrations, NFL football, that was huge. That was a huge step.

0:15:40 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah, I've heard it said that there's a fine line between iron willed persistence and a lack of self awareness. And if we're skeptical about ourselves, it's like, is it time to shut this down? Like, is this dream over? If we're staunch and we're committed to the plan, then we just think, I'm not done yet, I've still got more to do. And I feel like your persistence, that was forged as a 17, 18 year old star coming out of McKinney High School.

0:16:09 - (Toby Brooks): Is serving you well in this time, you wouldn't have wished that experience on yourself.

0:16:13 - (Johnny Quinn): Right?

0:16:14 - (Toby Brooks): Right. But it's serving you well. And I think there's a lesson in there for people, right?

0:16:18 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah, there is. And I love the way how you categorize that because it is a fine line to walk. And I will say this, Toby, as I have gotten older and experienced more things in my life and we all get this, if you've lived a little bit of life, you look back on some experiences, you're like, okay, here's what I would have done different or, okay, now I can learn from this. Moving forward, I would say this. And self awareness is, you know, you could argue, foundational when it comes to leadership.

0:16:49 - (Johnny Quinn): It takes wisdom and discernment to understand when I need to keep pushing through and when that door is truly closed.

0:17:01 - (Toby Brooks): Right.

0:17:02 - (Johnny Quinn): And for me, Toby, it was the third time I got cut from professional football.

0:17:06 - (B): Gonna hop right in here and say that again for those of you taking actual or even just mental notes. It takes wisdom and discernment to understand when I need to keep pushing through and when that door is truly closed. Two words I want you to remember now for the stories and quiz coming up later. Push and door both will be pivotal in Johnny's future.

0:17:27 - (Johnny Quinn): See, you know, I don't have the story of I pushed through 17 times and finally made the NFL. Didn't work like that for me. Some guys at mine. But the third time getting cut, Toby, it took some wisdom and some discernment to understand this dream is over. There's no more opportunity here. Right. So I can either dwell on that of oh, what it could have been, or, you know, this is the highest level I'll get in my career, you know, however you want to phrase it. Or, Toby, I can use these experiences and use it to springboard me forward.

0:18:10 - (Toby Brooks): Absolutely.

0:18:11 - (Johnny Quinn): Right. To become an Olympic bobsledder. Right. Who would ever fought. You don't grow up in Texas and think bobsled. There's no NCAA level bobsledding and take a bobsledding class. But I share that to all my listeners. You know, today is. You do need wisdom and discernment. Because for some listeners, Toby, it is time to pack it up.

0:18:34 - (Toby Brooks): Right.

0:18:34 - (Johnny Quinn): But for some, it's time to continue to press through. And I think to help make that right decision, you need people that you can trust and pour into to help navigate those times. Does that make sense?

0:18:50 - (Toby Brooks): Absolutely.

0:18:50 - (Johnny Quinn): Absolutely. Yeah.

0:18:52 - (Toby Brooks): I'm a huge fan of Brene Brown and she's one that talks about how unless that person's been in the arena, they have no place speaking into my existence. But we surround ourselves with people who have been in that circumstance and they'll tell us you've got what it takes. You just. The time's not right or you just haven't faced your right opportunity. And I think that's critical for me. It's determining is this a peak or is this a plateau. If this is a peak, I'm as good as I'm going to get.

0:19:20 - (Toby Brooks): If the opportunity window is closing, maybe it's time to move on. If this is a plateau, maybe, maybe my resolve is being tested. How badly do I want this? And if I'm willing to push through, then maybe success is on that other side of the horizon.

0:19:35 - (Johnny Quinn): Right.

0:19:36 - (Toby Brooks): So that's the critical question. Right. I don't want to press a bad position and waste time and energy and resources on something that's never going to happen. I'm never going to make it in the NBA. I know that. Yeah, I could invest a lot of time and energy and effort pursuing that, but no amount of will is going to get me there. I think you're right on with that self awareness piece.

0:19:57 - (Johnny Quinn): V. I had a mentor tell me this and when he shared it with me, just kind of struck me and I kind of sat back and marinated on it for a while. Is Toby, time is not your friend when you are not in alignment with your goals. If anything it is, it is dragging you away from a potential opportunity or a responsibility or a path that you know you should be on or pivot to. And so because time is a resource that you, I, any listener, we cannot create more of.

0:20:34 - (Johnny Quinn): I want to be diligent about that. I want to use that wisely. And we've got to understand that it is not your friend if you're not in alignment. Right. With what? With. With the goals that you're trying to track down.

0:20:47 - (B): That's great stuff. Time is not your friend when you're not in alignment with your goals. Too often we get distracted by those shiny objects that promise immediate gratification. But as my good friend Neil Kennedy says, pursuits that don't feed my purpose are distractions. They cost me time. And time is one of the few things in my life that I can never get back. So the key for Johnny was to look inward and to question precisely what his goals were so that he could spend his time most effectively. And that meant learning a whole new sport at the suggestion of his agent who saw unique potential in a world class athlete on ice.

0:21:22 - (Toby Brooks): So after The Packers. You go to Canada, play with the Rough Riders there, just miss out on a championship, and then you kind of see the handwriting on the wall. Every football player takes their pads off for the last time. You don't always know when that is. Did you know when you took those pads off that time that this is probably it? Or were you not quite there yet?

0:21:42 - (Johnny Quinn): No, wasn't there yet. I thought when I blew my knee out in Canada, I thought, okay, this is another hurdle we're going to overcome. At the time it was 2009. This isn't 1992 where an ACL ruins a career. Sports medicine and surgeons have gotten so good that I take six months off, I'll recover, and my repair needs to be even stronger than the other one. Right. So I just, I've looked at it as a hurdle to overcome.

0:22:10 - (Johnny Quinn): But Toby, once I got cleared and my agent was trying to find football teams and we kept getting no after, no after, no after, no. At that point I understood the writing was on the wall because again, I had to use good self awareness, Toby. I had to back out and say, okay, you know, here I am, I've been cut three times, I've got a blown out knee. If I'm in general manager and I'm looking at this receiver, on paper, he kind of looks like damaged goods.

0:22:41 - (Toby Brooks): Right?

0:22:41 - (Johnny Quinn): I mean, that's the reality. And I had to own that. And that's tough. I mean, Toby, it's tough now to even see, you know, to think back through that.

0:22:52 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah.

0:22:53 - (Johnny Quinn): But when I saw and understood the writing was on the wall, again, this is another critical moment in everybody's life. Again, whether you're a sports fan or not doesn't matter. There comes a time to where you either understand that the writing's on the wall or, you know, you bury your head to say, like an ostrich. And that's not what we want to do. And so at that point, I had to pivot. I had no choice.

0:23:22 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah. So nobody expects bobsledders to come out of Dallas Fort Worth. So you see the closure of this chapter in your athletic life. But we didn't mention you're by no means a one trick pony. You're not some slow possession receiver. You hold a record at your school for the 4 by 100 you're known for your speed. And speed translates across a variety of sports. So how do you go from being carted off the field in Canada to now being in a jumpsuit with USA emblazoned across your chest? There's got to be some stuff in between there.

0:23:57 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah. You know, you watch the movie Cool runnings over and over and over, you know. No, you're right. It's. I don't think unless you live up in snow or in the mountain, you don't really think Bobsled living in Texas. And so I knew I saw something left in the tank. Toby, my agent could not find a football team, and some things started to line up. He represented a bobsleder back in the day. My mom, her co worker, was a bobsleder back in the day. And so they look for former football guys with a track background.

0:24:26 - (Johnny Quinn): And so, Toby, I kind of fit the mold. And here's what's so interesting looking back now is that some things started to fall in place. Like I fit the mold of a bobsledder. Who would have known? I had no idea playing football and walking onto the track and field team would put me in a position to potentially being an Olympic bobsledder. But looking back now, sometimes I would share this with our listeners. Sometimes, Toby, is you have to kind of almost repeat your resume to yourself and understand what you've done and what you've accomplished. And how can that.

0:25:02 - (Johnny Quinn): How can that skill set translate into a new field? Mine was speed. Maybe somebody, it's project management. Maybe it's, you know, customer service or sale doesn't matter. And so I realized, yeah, I had these tools to sell myself in another field of expertise. That's exactly what I did.

0:25:20 - (Toby Brooks): That's fantastic. I think a theme that's emerged as I've done these first few rounds of interviews with highly successful people, is we can become so focused on what's ahead, what's in front of us, that we don't really take the time to enjoy what we've accomplished. And I think you hit on that. I mean, here you are, highly decorated high school athlete, hall of fame member at your university, three seasons of professional football. I guarantee, if I went to my high school, closest to my home, and said, would you take this as a career?

0:25:54 - (Toby Brooks): Every student athlete on that team would absolutely say yes. But when you're in the midst of it, you're just constantly like, I got to get on another roster. I've got to make it in the league. I've got to do that. You're so focused on what's ahead.

0:26:04 - (Johnny Quinn): Right.

0:26:05 - (Toby Brooks): You don't get a chance to appreciate. So I'm curious, before you pivoted to bobsled, was there a moment where you took a moment even to recognize that this was a pretty special thing? Football has served me well. Or did you walk away feeling like you had stuff left undone?

0:26:21 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah, the latter. I did not take a moment. And I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. Toby, I'll tell you this. When I got cut the third time, professional football, I couldn't watch pro ball for two to three years. I'm fine now, and I can watch it now. But I was so upset, right? I was hurt. I was devastated. Selfishly or biasedly, I thought that the GM should have kept me instead of some other receivers.

0:26:52 - (Johnny Quinn): I think we all go through that when you get let go. So. No, but. Okay, so let's think about this. Let's think about those frustrations, right? Because we all have them. We could use those to dwell on and victimize and throw our hands up in the air. Hey, this is it, right? This is the highest I'll ever get in any career. Or we can take that negativity if that's. If we want to label it that. And use it as fuel.

0:27:25 - (Johnny Quinn): Right? Use it as fuel for the fire of. Okay. I grew up in Texas. I don't have a bobsledding background. Oh. But I do have some intangibles. I am fast, I am strong. Kind of fit the mold of what they're looking for. Let me use what I've learned, my skill set, and apply it in a new domain.

0:27:45 - (B): This is so good to me here. Joni recognizes that sometimes the disappointments in a season aren't meant to harm us. They're meant to form us. And if we let them, they mold us more completely into the people we were meant to be. Football could have left Johnny scarred and bitter, forever reminiscing about what could have or what should have been. Instead, it steeled his resolve and took him from what seemed like lofty goals to play football in the USA and Canada at the highest levels to chasing Olympic gold on the world stage.

0:28:14 - (Johnny Quinn): And I think, Toby, that is the challenge that we are walking through post Covid and beyond is, look, the world has changed, and it will continue to change. Okay. Are you open to using the skill sets that you've developed over the years in a new domain, or are you right? And that. That's. That's the underlying question.

0:28:37 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah. Well, I'm also. As you're talking, I'm. I'm thinking you didn't grow up with Olympic dreams. You grew up with NFL dreams.

0:28:45 - (Johnny Quinn): That's right.

0:28:46 - (Toby Brooks): So when. When you make this pivot, is this just value added tacked on to the end of your Athletic career or do you have plans to compete in multiple Olympic Games? What's your thought process there?

0:28:58 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah, you know, when I made the switch to bobsled, now the Olympics is now in on my radar. Right. I remember growing up, I got so excited when the Olympics would come around. And I always thought, I wonder if they put football in the Olympics, that would be cool. And, and so you're right. When I pivoted to a new, you know, quote unquote career, I look, what's the end game? Oh, to make the United States Olympic team and have an opportunity to earn a medal for our country.

0:29:22 - (Johnny Quinn): That was the main goal. That was the, that. That was where all focus and resources and effort were going to. It wasn't until I made my first Olympic team did I start thinking multiple Olympics because I didn't want to get ahead of myself. Right. And trying to make an Olympic team is hard. You know, the percentage is hard enough already. And so that was that. That was the right and healthy goal at the time.

0:29:48 - (Johnny Quinn): The focus is, okay, I'm going to use this. Four years. So I started in 2010, my bobsledding career, made my first Olympic team in 2014. And so it was four years of dedicated work for bobsled. But looking back, 15 years of athletic experience just happened to be in the football, track and field realm. That contributed to that four years of success.

0:30:09 - (Toby Brooks): Right. So there's increased scrutiny, and rightly so, I think, on mental health in athletes. I don't know if you had a chance to see Michael Phelps's documentary Way to Gold where he talks about the post Olympic blues. And I've certainly seen this on the collegiate level where athletes, and even at the high school level, I mean, it happens for everyone. The question is just when? And I feel like for the Olympic athlete, they are so invested, they're so far down the road. It almost takes this maniacal commitment to excellence where every calorie you put in your body, I mean, for most athletes to make it to that level, they are squeezing every ounce of genetic ability out of themselves.

0:30:47 - (Toby Brooks): No doubt that's core to their identity. And then the closing ceremonies ends, the lights go off, and now what?

0:30:55 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah, yeah.

0:30:56 - (Toby Brooks): And it's a void. And so for so many athletes, there is this gaping void once sport is gone. We see it in arts as well. Someone's a performer, a singer, same thing. There's usually pretty finite windows on those careers. And then you've got the rest of your life to be a, you know. Johnny Quinn former Olympian Johnny Quinn former WIDE RECEIVER for the University of North Texas. What advice would you give a young athlete at any stage when they're faced with the end of their career and looking at what's next?

0:31:26 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah, you've really hit it spot on there, Toby. And I have seen that documentary of Phelps and a couple of the other athletes on there. Actually, one of my teammates from the Olympics, Katie Ulander, who's on the skeleton team, she was one of the athletes on there. So now here's what we're exploring, Toby. We are now going deeper into an athlete's perspective and mindset and focus. And I love the way you worded that you were squeezing out every ounce of genetic ability to make the Olympic team.

0:32:01 - (Johnny Quinn): And when closing ceremonies hits and you head home and there's no more, nobody's waving the American flag and it's quiet, and you don't really have to be anywhere for training, your identity is hit. Right? And so I think the question we need to consider, Toby, is, okay, where have you put your identity right as an athlete? Is your identity in your skills? Your ability to lift weights, Your ability to run fast? Your hand, eye coordination?

0:32:36 - (Johnny Quinn): When I was playing professional football, Toby, my identity was in Johnny Quinn, the football player. And it never came from the perspective of, oh, I am God's gift to football. No, no, no, no, no. It was, oh, I believe in my work ethic, and I believe that I can get the job done with the current resources available. Here's the problem with that, Toby. That got taken away. Yeah, it got taken away. It didn't matter if I was the first one in the weight room. It didn't matter if I was the last one off the field catching footballs.

0:33:13 - (Johnny Quinn): That got taken away. And so here I am, 26 years old, my first career as a pro football player, my identity destroyed, right? Absolutely destroyed, Toby. It was at that point that I realized that when I have my identity tied to sport or to our listeners, who, whatever it is, anything outside of Christ can be taken away. Absolutely can be robbed, can devastate you. And here is the thing. When I made the switch to Olympic sports, Toby, I would have been devastated had I have not made the Olympic team.

0:33:52 - (Johnny Quinn): But watch this. Whether I made the Olympic team or not, my identity was tied to who Christ thinks I am and his love for me.

0:34:05 - (B): Here Johnny gives us an insight into his faith, which has certainly been a part of his life story from a young age. However, with sport and the accolades they brought, providing him with significant, albeit temporary, purpose and identity, that faith hadn't really been tested until the possibility of their end began looming large. In a moment of clarity, Johnny reveals that only his relationship with God could have provided him with bedrock upon which he could anchor his life.

0:34:30 - (Johnny Quinn): And so, as an athlete, I would encourage any athletes listening to this and really any of our listeners is where have you placed your identity? And, you know, you saw it in the Phelps documentary with the other athletes, and you hear crazy stories about, you know, people doing some tough things when their career concludes because now it's been taken away.

0:34:54 - (Toby Brooks): Right.

0:34:54 - (Johnny Quinn): And so this, you've. You've unlocked a very important question that all athletes and really any listener needs to consider is where do you put your hope? Where do you put your trust?

0:35:08 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah, absolutely.

0:35:09 - (Johnny Quinn): That makes sense.

0:35:10 - (Toby Brooks): Absolutely.

0:35:11 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah.

0:35:11 - (Toby Brooks): And I think from the Phelps documentary standpoint, there's an obligation to Team USA athletes that the medical community needs to do better and we need to provide once you're cut from the team. And it's the same in a college athletic setting. It's the same in a high school. We can't continue to deliver care for every high school athlete that goes through McKinney High School.

0:35:33 - (Johnny Quinn): Right.

0:35:34 - (Toby Brooks): But I still know there's an obligation at some point where we have to help people make that transition. I think some institutions do a better job at life skills training and helping student athletes make that jump. I don't. In the arts, I think it's even worse because you don't. It's not like you're going to an institution as a part of their theater team. Typically, you're on your own. You're a private contractor pretty much as soon as your career starts, for better or for worse. And so for me, I just recognize an obligation here.

0:36:06 - (Toby Brooks): If I've got a family member who's an athlete or an artist or whatever, when they're facing that transition, that pivot, we've got to be there. We got to do better.

0:36:15 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah.

0:36:16 - (B): Johnny's memoir, Breaking through the Barriers, is a great read. It adds countless extra stories and rich details to our conversation today. In it, two stories stand out most. First, while competing on the world bobsled circuit, the U.S. bobsled team had traversed across Europe in vans loaded down with sleds, gear, and team members. Johnny shares one particular story that is funny in retrospect, but had to be tough in the midst. He once accidentally snagged the keys to one of the team's vans and stashed them away for safekeeping in his jacket pocket. The team leaving Winterberg, Germany, en route to Lapland, France.

0:36:50 - (B): Ordinarily a 9 hour drive took 11 hours to arrive in near blizzard conditions. Unfortunately, with no cell phones and no way of contacting him to get those keys, the team had to make their way all the way to France before everyone realized that one van, the one packed with two sleds, weights, and most of the team's gear, and the one to which he had accidentally stolen the keys to, was still in Germany.

0:37:14 - (B): After being told by his coach to catch a little sleep, Johnny had to grab a teammate and drive 11 hours back to Germany, then turn right around and drive back to France. The other story, the one for which Johnny's perhaps most famous, became known as the Sochi Jailbreak.

0:37:29 - (Toby Brooks): While showering in his room in the.

0:37:30 - (B): Olympic village at the time 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, the bathroom door became somehow wedged shut. Unable to summon help, eventually, Johnny did what he's always done when confronted with a challenge. He broke through it. Social media lit up. He trended on Twitter, ended up on the Today show, the hilarious picture of the American bobsledder who had literally punched and pushed his way through to safety.

0:37:52 - (B): A simple Google search will show you this story and it is gold.

0:37:56 - (Toby Brooks): So you emerge from your second career as an athlete and we, you know, we know the end of the story. You're a highly successful speaker. I will brag on you the work ethic that you forged through years as an athlete. I see right away. I, I sent you a LinkedIn message and for our listeners, I don't know if Johnny does this for everybody, but you recorded a personalized message to me to answer my question.

0:38:20 - (Toby Brooks): And that resonated with me. It's like this guy, thank you. This matters. This is next level attention. And I thank you tremendously for not just for doing that, but for the model of doing that. And I want to do a better job with how I interact with my students and how I interact with people. Like, we get so short with the way we communicate with people and that went a long way in helping me feel like my question mattered. So that was awesome.

0:38:47 - (Toby Brooks): So how do you go from bobsled to standing in front of Fortune 500 companies?

0:38:52 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah, so that's funny you say that or, you know, you share the story of me sending that personalized message. Your question. Here's the thing, Toby. I am an all in kind of guy. Sport, business, relationships, you know, marriage with my wife, Amanda, my kids. So here I go. I moved from football. I'm all in on football. I go to bobsled. I'm all in on bobsled. I transitioned to speaking I saw an opportunity that in the marketplace, I learned things in the Olympics, in the NFL that transitioned flawlessly into the marketplace.

0:39:27 - (Johnny Quinn): And so it was really low hanging fruit that I could move that passion because I truly enjoy it to the stage. And what gets me excited when I hear from, you know, up and coming speakers like yourself, hold up.

0:39:43 - (B): Johnny Quinn just referred to me as an up and coming speaker. My day, my week, my month, my year have officially been made.

0:39:53 - (Toby Brooks): Carry on.

0:39:54 - (Johnny Quinn): We need more high quality speakers out there that can pour into students, faculty, Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, associations, it doesn't matter. And so I kind of look at this from an abundance mindset, Toby, of let's get more great speakers out there, because my goodness, the world needs it right now, you know, and so to kind of bring it back to, okay, so I see this opportunity and I noticed it. When I was in the NFL, I kept getting cut. I had to find a way to generate income that as a speaker you can generate income.

0:40:29 - (Johnny Quinn): Because I never knew if my agent was going to call and I have to go get on a plane and go to the Kansas City Chiefs and run a 40 yard dash. I couldn't work the traditional hours. And so I saw with speaking that they're very, I mean, you know, depending on how you have your schedule set up, it can be very demanding, but there is a lot of flexibility. And so when I got back from the Olympics, it gave me enough, I had enough marketing power to kind of start doing it full time.

0:40:51 - (Johnny Quinn): And so I just, I, I truly jumped in. I went and found speakers that are two, three, four steps down the road of the direction I wanted to go. I'd watch them, I'd look at their website, I listened to them speak, you know, YouTube videos and, you know, I'd take things that I liked, I wouldn't do things that I didn't like. And that's how I just started to pick it up. And here's what I love about the speaking space.

0:41:13 - (Johnny Quinn): If you're good, you will get more bookings, Toby. If you are not good, you will get cut. Just like in sport, my friend. So it is very rewarding, it can be very lucrative. But I love the instant feedback. I love the instant feedback. So I have a passion for it and I love it, my friend.

0:41:36 - (Toby Brooks): Absolutely. So any event planners listening, Johnny? All across the country, internationally. Also, if you're interested in getting into that speaking space, TheTopspeaker.com, an incredible resource that you've put together based on firsthand experience. And it's really, really well done. And so I can't recommend that enough. So the last question, it's not always been a path that went exactly the way you would have navigated it.

0:42:05 - (Toby Brooks): If you had a chance to look across the table at 12 year old Johnny with his McKinney youth football uniform in hand, what advice would you give Johnny?

0:42:16 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah, so looking back now, I wish I would have spoke up more. I bought in and I still think, I still believe this to be truthful is that you need to lead by example. Right. So I want to be the first one in the weight room. I want to be, you know, the first one on the field. I want to stay late, I want to do it. And I did all that. And looking back now that there's no doubt that helped propel my career.

0:42:43 - (Johnny Quinn): But there were areas that I could have been more verbal. And so I've also seen the flip into that where you got a guy in the locker room who's extremely verbal and doesn't have the work ethic to back it up and he's just a talking head and not a good position to be in. I think you can do both, Toby. And so I think looking back now, I wish I would have been more vocal in my leadership at a younger age where I took the position of, well, I'm just going to have people notice me by how hard I work or they can see my leadership skills by judging my effort on the field. Again, both good things.

0:43:26 - (Johnny Quinn): But there's a place to speak up, right? There's a time that you need to be vocal. And so I think that that would be my advice looking back now.

0:43:35 - (Toby Brooks): Absolutely. I think that's sage wisdom. The recruiting space has certainly changed dramatically even in the short time since you were an athlete. But yeah, kind of that old saying, closed mouths don't get fed. A lot of times you have to create some buzz and you do get people to look at you. And that kind of flies in the face of the good old blue collar, pull myself up by my own bootstraps mentality.

0:44:00 - (Toby Brooks): And in some ways it feels selfish. But it's not like you're just asking for recognition for the work you're doing. Nothing wrong, nothing less.

0:44:09 - (Johnny Quinn): That's right. And I think that is, that is one of the myths that's maybe floating around culture is that it has to be either or has to be blue collar work ethic or I'm going to be, you know, some verbal, you know, think tank or whatever.

0:44:22 - (Toby Brooks): Influencer.

0:44:23 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a better word. There's a time and season for everything. Yeah. You need to be able to fall back on your worth that work ethic. Totally, totally understand that. But there's nothing, you know, I would say again, looking back now, Toby, I would say you're kind of being a little selfish by not speaking up. If you have the credibility and the reputation work ethic to back it up.

0:44:50 - (Johnny Quinn): Right. You, you not taking more of a, an advantageous vocal role, I'd say that's a little bit selfish.

0:44:59 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah.

0:45:00 - (Johnny Quinn): Right.

0:45:00 - (Toby Brooks): Yep.

0:45:01 - (Johnny Quinn): So I don't know. It's, it does take wisdom and discernment for sure.

0:45:04 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah. So any recruiting coordinators listening from the early 2000s, you missed like you missed, it's your bad. Should have paid more attention. What for you remains undone. What's left.

0:45:16 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah. So I always start with the end in mind and sport was I want to get to the NFL. Right. And Bob said I want to go to the Olympics. I start with the end and then I work it back in speaking, I want to speak in front of 20,000 people at one time. Toby. To date I've spoken in front of 5,000 and that was with Lockheed Martin. This was pre Covid. It was awesome. And so I've got an end in mind goal there on the speaking side. So it's going to take a lot of work, probably going to take more books to be written, more people to meet and grow and learn. But I also start with the end of mine relationally, with my marriage, with my kids.

0:45:55 - (Johnny Quinn): I've got a 4 year old and a 1 year old. My wife and I, we've been married for nine years. So think about this at year 30. So 21 years from now, my wife's name is Amanda by me, starting with the end in mind, I'm just throwing that 30 year mark out just as a, that's a long term goal. When I come home from work, Toby, 21 years from now and I hit that little garage door button and that garage door goes up at home, do I want my wife, do I want Amanda saying Johnny's home or oh, Johnny's home.

0:46:32 - (Johnny Quinn): Same thing with my kids. I'm not looking to be their best friend. I want to be their parent. So in 20, 20, 21 years, do I have that, that healthy relationship? And so by me, starting with the end in mind, Toby, in all facets, relationally, career, whatever, it helps guide my daily actions. Right. It helps me remind. It reminds me what is today. It reminds me, let's just say next Tuesday when nothing's going on.

0:47:01 - (Johnny Quinn): My typical Tuesday That. That effort at work, that effort on my marriage, that effort with my children matters. It matters every single day.

0:47:12 - (Toby Brooks): Absolutely.

0:47:13 - (Johnny Quinn): So that's. That's what I see down the road.

0:47:15 - (Toby Brooks): Yeah, No, I. We're. We're right in line. My. My mantra is strategic and purpose, relentless and pursuit. You got to plan the work and then just do the work.

0:47:23 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah. Just do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like it.

0:47:26 - (Toby Brooks): Awesome. Well, can't thank you enough. How can our listeners connect with you if they want to either get involved with your. Your speaker training or event planners looking to book a speaker for their next event?

0:47:38 - (Johnny Quinn): Yeah. So everything's at my website, johnnyquenusa.com and I appreciate you the plug to my speaker website, Toby. We're glad to have you on board. Thetopspeaker.com. so those are my two websites. And if you're on social media, all my handles are the same. It's at Johnny Quinn USA at Johnny Quinn usa. And I'm pretty active on social media, so we can connect there.

0:48:01 - (Toby Brooks): Awesome. Well, I can't thank you enough for your time. It's been a treat and I don't know, maybe 200 episodes down the road. We'll follow back up.

0:48:10 - (Johnny Quinn): I like it. Toby, congratulations on this and thanks for having me on.

0:48:14 - (Toby Brooks): Thanks so much, Johnny.

0:48:15 - (B): Johnny Quinn, Believer, husband, father, Olympian, pro athlete. All of these titles fit, but the.

0:48:21 - (Toby Brooks): Word I'd use to describe him as.

0:48:23 - (B): Fuel of success in all these areas and beyond. Relentless. Johnny's faced his share of both literal and figurative closed doors in his life. But his willingness to do those hard things, to stay true to the process and to know when to double down and when to pivot make him a prime example of someone who is living their life Undone. Becoming Undone is a nitro hype creative production written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share for becoming Undone, contact me@undonepodcast.com

0:48:56 - (B): where you can also sign up for our mailing list to be notified of new episode drops and exclusive Team Undone benefits.

0:49:01 - (Toby Brooks): Becoming Undone can be heard on Apple.

0:49:03 - (B): Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Until next time, everybody keep getting better.