Simon Thompson - Australian Olympian - COO Collective Wellness Group Australia
Episode Name: 11. Simon Thompson - Olympian - Transition to Business
In this episode of BE with Champions, Greg Bennett interviews Simon Thompson. Simon was a great Australian Olympic triathlete and made his way to the Global Director of Marketing and Racing at Trek Bicycles, he is now the COO at Collective Wellness Group in Australia. Together they discuss Simon’s career as a triathlete and his transition into the business world.
Through Simon’s flexibility in his profession, he has discovered a new passion for helping his clients and businesses succeed. Many athletes struggle to find purpose after their athletic careers, but Simon describes how he discovered a newfound purpose and drive in the corporate world. Within his continued high-performance lifestyle, his athletic career has prepared him for his new business goals, and his continued need for physical recovery in the corporate world.
● (1:28) Greg introduces Simon Thompson, once an Australian Olympian and now a global businessman. Greg admires him for his high-performance life, even after retirement.
● (5:34) Both Greg and Simon participated at the Athens Olympics together. They talk about how Simon had to push himself to complete the race.
● (9:09) Simon discusses how he got his passion for endurance sports, which started with his love for athletics at a young age.
● (10:35) The moment Simon found his talent for endurance sports was later in his journey. It really began when he picked up triathlon in his 20s and a trainer spotted him. After putting off college, he decided he needed to completely dedicate himself to the sport.
● (18:55) Simon talks about how he elevated his racing career and what changed between the years of 2000 and 2004. Training in Europe, watching the Sydney Olympics, and training with a great coach inspired him to develop his skills enough to compete in the next Olympics.
● (27:50) Simon shares a story about the struggles of training and how it pushed him in nonideal environments. As an athlete, the internal drive and motivation cannot be forced.
● (34:40) Simon describes what led him to retirement and his business career. He worked with a life coach and discovered what goals he had beyond racing. Then, his dream became seeing businesses and clients reach their full potential.
● (39:06) Simon and Greg describe how to end an athletic career well.
● (45:05) While many athletes struggle to find purpose after their career, Simon explains how he discovered a newfound purpose and drive. He did not sit still and wait for new opportunities, even though he had no experience in the corporate world.
● (50:48) Simon and Greg discuss Simon’s newly developed role at Trek Bicycles and his flexibility as his career evolved.
● (58:20) In his role with Collective Wellness Group, Simone is learning more about franchising, which is very exciting and engaging for him.
● (57:08) Unlike his racing career, within his new role, he learned how to work as a team to achieve goals and empower others.
● (1:01:09) While physical training, like sleep and recovery, was important in his racing career, he finds even more value to physical recovery in his corporate career. Through the use of tools, Simon measures his sleep cycles and hormone levels. Greg discusses the use of ice baths to build dopamine levels.
● (1:07:28) Simon and Greg talk about his training for health purposes now, instead of athletic purposes.
● (1:09:20) Simon discusses his personal and corporate goals for 2020.
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Bennett Endurance is a high-performance consulting business for athletes of all age and abilities and non-athletes wanting to optimize their performances, health, wellbeing and longevity.
Consulting
With a combined 50 years of racing as professional athletes, 30 years as coaches and 30 years as athlete managers, Bennett Endurance have the knowledge, experience and professionalism for intimate one-to-one, small group consultations and mastermind groups. Helping you thrive and to live your high-performance life. Find out more >
Speaking
Passion and Purpose. Greg Bennett is driven and cares deeply about optimizing and living a high-performance life. His passion will cause others to be inspired to optimize their own lives. Greg visibly enjoys entertaining his audience with incredible stories of finding his passion, aligning that passion with his strengths and taking control of his own life. Be ready to be inspired and entertained. You will leave with the tools and tactics to go live your own high-performance life. Find out more >
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An interview podcast show hosted by Greg Bennett. Greg interviews the world’s greatest Athletes, Entrepreneur’s and Executives diving deep into each guest’s life. Probing questions into each guests’ passions, strengths, sleep patterns, their teams, nutrition and everything else in between. These interviews are entertaining, inspiring and educational. The lessons learnt will give you the tools and tactics to optimize your life so you can live your High-performance life. Find out more >
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Bennett Endurance collaborated with the best brands and products throughout their professional athletic careers. They continue to search for products that will help optimize their lives and recommend these products to their clients. Find out more >