The #beBetter Podcast
The goal of the #beBETTER brand is for everyone to show up
as the best version of themselves everyday.
#beBETTER provides opportunities for all of us to be better teammates, coaches, parents, teachers, administrators, partners and/or friends by looking inside ourselves, thinking about our choices and taking action on what we can do to work every day to be the best versions of ourselves and #beBETTER than we were yesterday!
Episodes
25 episodes
Episode #24: Aaron Locks has been a leader in the youth sports industry for over 30 years and has impacted over 2,000,000 kids lives including one of our hosts!
Aaron Locks has experienced many different failures in his life and he will be the first to tell you that without those failures he wouldn’t be where he is today, which is right where he wants to be. Aaron’s mom was and still is his inspiration...
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1:06:48
Episode #23: Trina Comerford shares some advice for parents to make sure they don’t get thrown out of their kids' sporting events. Seriously, who would ever do something to get themselves thrown out of their own child’s game?
Trina Comerford’s journey from mom to division 1 softball umpire has forced her to make some sacrifices, but she is well aware of the sacrifices her family has had to make as well. She believes that anything worth doing is worth doing well whic...
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1:09:28
Episode #22: Lt. Col. Seth Barrett joins us from Germany where he is currently stationed protecting America and exploring Europe with his dog when he gets to take a break.
Lt. Col. Seth Barrett was a senior in high school in 1997 on the Santa Rosa High School basketball team where previous guest, Pat Kennedy (Episode #5), coached him and helped shape him into the incredible person he is now. Seth has traveled the...
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1:09:38
Episode #21: Amy Christensen is going to change the way you think about family relationships and make you rethink how you have been parenting your kids.
Amy Christensen is the first guest that Jared recruited for the podcast and he could not have picked a better one. Amy was a first generation college student, but she also had some great examples as parents. Amy gives her perspective on ...
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1:08:27
Episode #20: California HS Athletic Director of the Year and podcast veteran, Justin Clymo, spends some time talking about the process and not the outcomes.
Justin Clymo graduated from Stevenson School in Pebble Beach California, won a national championship while coaching at UC Davis, but he knew he belonged at the high school level and he’s now back at his alma mater impacting the next generation....
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1:17:09
Episode #19: The key to success is work ethic and attitude, if you ask 4 time NWAC champion Cheryl Holden.
Coach Cheryl Holden talks about her journey from a small town in Washington to Vice-President at Columbia Basin College. We discuss the importance of the process and not the outcome as well as what a “normal coach” should look like. If we expec...
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1:11:40
Episode #18: Courtney Jackson has dedicated his professional career to the kids who need him most, it is his calling.
Courtney Jackson learned to love the game of basketball as a young kid and his passion for the game took him to Sonoma State University, then to the Napa Valley where he coached the boy’s basketball team at the Hanna Academy. Eventually this le...
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58:32
Episode #17: Mr. Sonoma State, Rich Shayewitz, stops by to talk about family, basketball and what’s next.
Rich Shayewitz is and will always be associated with Sonoma State University, but a few short months ago, in the middle of the season as the head men’s basketball coach he was told the college was going to cut all athletics at the end of the se...
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1:13:48
Episode #16: Ryan Reynolds shares his story from small town to the big screen, just kidding, this Ryan is the head football coach at Sutter High School in the central valley of Northern California.
Coach Reynolds grew up in Humboldt county and always wanted to be a football coach. His time as an assistant coach under a legend helped him to grow and develop, but as most coaches will tell you, there were some bumps along the way. Coach Reyn...
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1:09:29
Episode #15: Kathie Woods might be the happiest human alive, but the retired volleyball coach is still finding a way to compete except this time it is on the pickle ball court.
Coach Woods is a coach, teacher and mentor and although is retired, she continues to teach and connect with her former student-athletes. She enjoys every day and her energy is infectious. She regrets nothing because she learned from all o...
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1:00:56
BONUS Episode: Joseph Herbert joins the show for a special Father’s Day episode!
Joseph ("Joe") Herbert is the oldest son of one of our hosts, Mike Herbert, and his story will hopefully inspire other young student-athletes to keep moving forward. This young man has not always known exactly what his path is, but he has alway...
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1:02:47
Episode #14: The 3 hosts spend some time talking about the first 12 episodes, themes, what they have learned so far and what has impacted them to be better.
A reflection episode to say the least, this episode is a look back at what we have done so far. Not many people know that we recorded the first 12 episodes in a very short period of time and then put them in the bank and took a break. Not reall...
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56:04
Episode #13: Tiffany Cotter talks about her childhood, her passion for volleyball and how a knock on her hotel room door changed her family's life forever.
Tiffany Cotter shares her family's story about losing her husband, Gene Cotter, and how she continues to get up every morning for her kids. The love for her children is her driving force each day as well as her passion as a school counselor at ...
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55:12
Episode #12: Dr. Erica Tom is one badass human being who changed our lives and showed us all how to #beBetter.
Dr. Tom is a quitter, but hear me out, it is a good thing. Listen to Dr. Tom discuss how her decision to quit really opened her eyes to how good it feels to help others by simply doing something for someone else. As a teenager she came to love ...
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1:22:22
Episode #11: Megan Hankins-Maldonado talks about how coaches need to take care of themselves before they can focus on helping others.
Megan Hankins-Maldonado has spent her life coaching and helping others. Now she is focused directly on helping coaches be better so they can ultimately help others achieve things they didn’t know they could. Megan has many different experiences...
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1:10:16
Episode #10: Lennie & Jim Zalesky talk about growing up together and their joy of coaching the sport they have grown to love, wrestling.
Growing up you might think that wrestling was the only thing talked about in the Zalesky house for the all-american and hall of fame wrestlers Jim and Lennie Zalesky, but you would be wrong. Jim only competed in 1 event when was in the 7th grad...
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1:05:09
Episode #9: Greg Clink talks about why culture and developing the whole person is the most important key to success.
Coach Clink is known in the coaching industry as a guy who was always doing it the right way. Listen to him talk about how his past experiences shaped him and why his decision to retire was a family decision. Coach Clink’s first coaching job wa...
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1:07:25
Episode #08: Warwick Schiller talks about if he is a prince or a king and how that impacts why he does what he does.
Warwick Schiller is THE Attuned Horseman and you may wonder why he would want to talk with us. He is a world renowned horse trainer, but he would say the horse is not the problem, he is helping to retrain their owners. Our conversation covers h...
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1:17:21
Episode #07: Mary Jo Truesdale, recently retired hall of fame softball coach, talks about playing for “all the marbles” and the relationships she has cherished along the way.
Coach Truesdale has spent her life and career dedicated to students and the game of softball. Although she started off as a basketball player, her love for softball grew from her high school coach and mentor into a hall of fame career. One of o...
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59:06
Episode #06: Ashley Bauer, former student-athlete and future nurse, shares her perspective on her high school athletic career from the good to the bad.
Ashley is a 3rd year nursing student at Loyola University Chicago, but before she decided to move to the midwest she was a starting high school basketball student-athlete. She decided to step away from the game she loved just before her senior ...
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54:59
Episode #5: Pat Kennedy and how the relationships, not the wins and losses, have been the best part of the journey!
Over 30 years in education, Pat Kennedy has been a parent, teacher, coach, administrator and official. He tried to retire, but is back coaching again and doesn’t look like he is going to stop helping people be better any time soon. Coach spends...
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1:24:26
Episode #4: Eric Reveno is not afraid of the “F” word, but it’s not the word you are thinking of!
Stanford University Associate Head Coach of Men's Basketball, Eric Reveno, discusses his coaching stops from Palo Alto to Portland to Atlanta and back again. Some great advice from someone who has made a career in coaching, but has never forgot...
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53:12
Episode #3: Mike Story shares his story from the farm to coaching and back again.
Mike Story was born and raised in Orland, California. After graduating high school he attended Sonoma State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Physical Education. He went on to earn a Teac...
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48:12
Episode #2: Dr. Jared Gardner shares how his childhood experiences and education have shaped him to be the student-centered person that he strives to be every day.
Dr. Gardner is a native of Eastern Idaho. After earning a bachelor's degree from Utah State University, Jared continued his pursuit of higher education. He holds a masters in counseling and a doctorate of education from Idaho State ...
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39:25
Episode #1: Dr. Mike Herbert shares how his past experiences have shaped him and how his path has led him to the #beBETTER podcast at this stage in his life.
Dr. Herbert grew up in Hollister, CA and played multiple sports through high school including cross country, water polo and swimming but basketball was his passion. He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from Sonoma State University in 1998 a...
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25:19