S02-E213 Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone with Kacie Allison

 

S02|E213

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone with Kacie Allison | Samson Strength Coach Collective

 

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Connor Agnew:
What’s going on Sampson Strength Coach Collective listeners? On today’s episode, have Casey Allison, Assistant Director of Sports Performance for Bowling Green University. Casey, thank you so much for coming on.

Kacie Allison:
Yeah, thanks for having me.

Connor Agnew:
no, I’m super stoked. I’ve followed your Instagram. You produce really good content. So that’s my first plug for you to go check that out. Right. But we’re talking pretty show. I can’t believe we never got to meet because the, for the listeners who don’t know there’s the sunbelt, ⁓ Mac, big challenge, right. Or what they call it. The I can’t remember what the sunbelt challenge, whatever, right. where we face Mac teams each year. And then unfortunately our cross never pass, our paths never cross. So I lament that, but now we get to meet it’s great.

Kacie Allison:
Thank

Yeah, thank you.

Sunbelt Challenge. Yep.

Yeah, absolutely. I’m super excited. listener of the podcast for a while now, so was super honored that you invited me to be on.

Connor Agnew:
It always stokes me that when people say they listen, right? I’m excited. If we only had one listener, I wouldn’t care. I’d still want to keep doing it. So I’m glad to have the listener on and I’m glad for you to be able to ⁓ help the actual listeners now here too, right? So, well, let’s just get rolling. Can you just give me background of your career and then what’s brought you to Bowling Green?

Kacie Allison:
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Sure. So I was a former college athlete myself, played softball at American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts. And I ended up joining the women’s triathlon team, my junior and senior year. So ⁓ two sport athlete. ⁓ I lost my junior season due to COVID. And that’s kind of around the time where I started being interested in strength and conditioning and wanted to make that my career.

know, everything was shut down. I wasn’t playing softball anymore, stuck at home. So had nothing else to do but train all day every day. And so I ended up making the Instagram page that I have now. It was a, I called it Casey fit. That was my nickname from my teammates for, you know, my, my entire collegiate career. ⁓ but I just posted all my workouts, all my training videos of, me, me working out in the barn in the backyard and tow on a tractor tire sled and

and up and down the driveway. that’s kind of where that spark first ignited for me. And then one day I came across an advertisement on Elon Sports Performance for their virtual internship that summer of 2020, and it was free to sign up. So I signed up for it and took advantage of the opportunity and I learned a ton. And that was just that extra confirmation that I needed to know that this is what I wanted to do for my career.

After that, the spring of 2021, I did my first in-person internship at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut for Bill DeLongis. ⁓ And then I graduated undergrad, exercise science degree, got my CSES, and then I went down to Elon in person to do an internship with them with football that following summer of 2021. And that was probably one of the most pivotal experiences so far in my career. I’m very fortunate to get to work with

you know, arguably some of the best mentors in the field, Nick DiMarco, Jordan Nusma, Cameron Ringstedt, all those OG Elon people. And it was just a very fully immersive experience. There was a group, probably about eight or nine of us interns. We lived together, we trained together 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., like five, six days a week. was honestly probably the best summer of my life. I wouldn’t trade that experience for the world. And then after that, I was originally supposed to go back to do

⁓ my master’s degree at Springfield College. And I was all set up to play my extra year of eligibility for softball there. And I ended up getting a job as an assistant at University of Illinois Springfield. So after a lot of contemplation and a lot of good advice from some mentors, I decided to drop out of grad school and ⁓ ended my playing career. And I took that position out in Illinois and moved out there.

August of 2021. And then I was there for maybe about like four or five weeks. And Nick DiMarco called me back at Elon and was like, Hey, I know you just got out there, but we have an assistant position open here and it’s yours if you want it. And I was honored to even be considered. So I thought it was going to be another great opportunity. I love the area. love the people there. So I ended up taking that job. So I moved back down to North Carolina and I was there for about a year.

While I was there worked with women’s lacrosse for a little while and then I worked with women’s track and field and men’s and women’s cross country and then ⁓ From there is when I got to Bowling Green So I’ve been here for about three years and I’ve worked with men’s basketball women’s soccer softball and men’s and women’s golf so a lot in the past five years a lot of moving but ⁓ It was all things that were out of my comfort zone and it allowed me to grow really really quickly. So

Connor Agnew:
I mean, you’re in high demand, first of all. And then second of all, when you said five years, I mean, I couldn’t believe that, that it all happened within five years. That’s crazy. ⁓ One of the really cool things that you said that I always kind of thought would be a pivotal moment for a lot of people’s careers, but was that COVID timeframe. And what always made me reflect on it was people talking about having to get creative. Cause I remember that was when I had my first ⁓ performance assistant job at Tennessee, right? And so that was my second year there.

And it was just every Zoom call I was on, everybody kept saying the word creative over and over again, right? Because you had to be able to find ways to actually still train when everything was completely shut down. And so I think it’s just so cool to hear about your experience where that actually inspired you to become a strength and conditioning coach. Were you always kind of like, mean, your nickname was Casey Fit? Were you always, you know, very into the working out aspect and then did COVID kind of just fully unleash that to help you understand you want to be a strength coach?

Kacie Allison:
Yeah, it’s it. was always, you know, I loved being in the weight room and obviously softball was a big part of my life, but I almost enjoyed the training aspect of it more so than actually playing softball. And, I was, we didn’t have a strength coach at AIC while I was there, maybe one or two years here and there, we had somebody pop in and write something on a whiteboard, but I was the one that was writing workouts and taking some of my teammates through it. And I was out at the track and doing speed stuff and

reading books and then applying it and then use my Instagram to just kind of post things that I learned and things that I was doing and trying out. it’s a little cringy now to look back on it all, but I’m glad that I still have that as, know, things to look back on.

Connor Agnew:
trust me, if you look back at the like first ever TikToks I posted, I mean, I physically can’t. you said, like, you know, it’s like one of those things where you start to hone your posting skills over time. So I can identify with the cringey aspect. I promise you to nobody else. It’s cringey except for yourself. ⁓ I mean, so being a two sport athlete as well, that’s quite a unique experience, especially with the sports that you were participating in. Obviously softballs, you know, growing as a sport, it’s a very universally, ⁓ you know, recognized sport.

but triathlon is something very different, you know, and it’s rare to even hear of collegiate teams. How did you, you know, stumble upon being a triathlete? Because you said it happened after two years at AIC, right? And then, you know, what did that sport ⁓ provide for you?

Kacie Allison:
Mm-hmm.

So it’s actually kind of funny how that all happened. So women’s triathlon is just ⁓ a very new sport collegiately across the board. But it was brand new program introduced to AIC my junior year. And the coach was having open trials for walk-ons to come to the team. And there were two girls on the roster and they needed three girls on the roster to be able to compete and qualify them for their national race.

And so at the time I was really into training and running, doing anything that was hard basically. And so I was like really intrigued by the opportunity and I was like, I want to be the person to do it. So I volunteered myself and, ⁓ he took me on and I actually only had three or four weeks, ⁓ around that time to train for my first ever sprint triathlon. So luckily I was in pretty good shape already, but like riding a bike is different than.

you know, your standard hybrid bike is different than a road bike. So I had to learn how to clip in and clip out and to learn transitions. And I knew how to swim to the point where I wasn’t going to drown, but like I didn’t have great technique and I wasn’t very efficient in my form and stuff like that. So I had to learn how to swim. And ⁓ overall that experience was, I would go back and do it again in a heartbeat. ⁓ But it really took a major toll on my body having to balance all of that stuff because between

triathlon, is a lot of training in and of itself, and softball. And I was also doing an internship and classes and everything. Typical day in the life was wake up at 6 a.m. I would go to an hour swim practice, get back, have just enough time to grab something to eat for breakfast, and then I would go sit in classes all morning. And then right after class, I’d run over to the softball field, had two hour practice, and then.

After softball practice, I’d run over to the track and do a speed run or a workout with the triathlon team again, because we’d always have two a days for most of the disciplines for triathlon. So it was just a lot. And I really had to learn how to properly fuel, recover ⁓ week to week, day to day. ⁓ But again, like I said, it was a good challenge. It allowed me to get in really good shape, one. then ⁓ obviously I learned a lot.

from a coaching standpoint too, of being able to have good balance in programming and monitoring recovery and all that too.

Connor Agnew:
Yeah, I have to imagine that that really helps you out as a strength coach now, being able to understand two completely different sports and exactly what the demands are. And then not only that, but understanding how to do those things, same things at the exact same time. Like I have to imagine that helped you grow as a coach.

Kacie Allison:
Mm-hmm.

For sure. Yeah. And I mean, yeah, as a, as a strength coach, I mean, and a coach in general, like it’s hard for you to put yourself in your athlete shoes if you’ve never experienced that. So I’m very fortunate and lucky to have been a college athlete at all, just because being an athlete is hard. and I, were division two even so, but you know, working with division one and high level athletes, like it’s, it’s a lot, you know, cumulative stress.

Connor Agnew:
Wow. Go ahead.

Kacie Allison:
on the body, whether it comes from class or practice or training sessions and outside stress, relationships, family things, it’s all a lot to consider.

Connor Agnew:
Yeah, I think you bring up a really good point. Like how did you manage the outside stress of those things? Because obviously you mentioned learning how to have to fuel and recover, but I mean, mentally that must’ve been pretty taxing.

Kacie Allison:
I mean, looking back, I was having the time of my life, honestly. I loved the busyness of it. ⁓ But what really kept me grounded was I had a really good support system. My head softball coach, I was surprised that she even let me do it, to be honest, because most coaches would be like, no, you need to focus on softball. But she was really supportive from the get go. She was like, that sounds like a great opportunity. Sounds right up your alley. Go for it. So she really supported me in that.

Connor Agnew:
Thank ⁓

Kacie Allison:
I had great teammates, great friends. My parents have always been really supportive of me and it all, so that helped a lot.

Connor Agnew:
Okay, can you talk me through kind of the difference in the mental aspect of both of those sports? Because I think of softball and you know, you think of a traditional training whatever your methods may be No matter what your philosophy is as a strength coach your training is gonna look a lot different for a softball team than it would for a triathlon team and then obviously with a triathlon your training in the sport are so closely intermixed those things have to be so close to each other like It makes me almost bring up the question of like mental toughness and I feel like there’s two different

areas of mental toughness between being a softball player and between being a triathlete like can you just walk me through the mental aspects of both of those trainings and just how your experience was having to do both of those.

Kacie Allison:
Yeah, I think they’re both very different, but also similar when it comes to mental toughness things because ⁓ both sports, I feel like there’s a lot of failure involved. like softball, you can strike out seven out of 10 times and still have a really good batting average and just being able to handle failures in that regard ⁓ and be able to pick yourself back up after that is good. And then triathlon, it’s a very individualized sport.

If you go out there and you race and you don’t get the time you want, you you can go back and try again and improve certain aspects that will help you in finishing faster, whether it be shortening up your swim time or shortening transitions. that they’re both very, there’s a lot of failure in those and being able to accept that and find areas where you can improve specifically.

in those different skills.

Connor Agnew:
Yeah, you think you bring up a great point with the failure aspect, right? Ultimately, it makes me think of it in basketball, right? If you’re a good three-point shooter, you’re above 35%. And so, one-third of your shots are going in. And then all of sudden, you know, with working with basketball, everybody on your team starts calling you shooter and saying that you’ve got the scoring ability or whatever it may be. But still, that’s only a 33 % success rate. That’s a tough aspect to deal with. then…

for baseball and softball, I mean, it’s even lower numbers that we’re looking at sometimes. And ⁓ it’s just very interesting to me to think about it from that aspect. Do you ever speak with your athletes about that approach?

Kacie Allison:
I do, yeah. I mean, it’s the same, you see the same thing in the weight room sometimes too, where, you know, it’s really frustrating to see an athlete or you yourself get to a plateau in your training. And it’s just something that you have to work through and you can’t see it as, you know, a stumbling block. have to see it as, you know, a sign that, you know, something’s got to change and you got to make some sort of tweak in order to continue to see good adaptation and linear progression. I mean, having that experience with

from the sports side and then being able to blend in into the weight room has helped a lot too.

Connor Agnew:
Yeah, and I gotta imagine completing triathlons helps with the street credit aspect a little bit too for your athletes.

Kacie Allison:
For sure. Yeah. I mean, I haven’t, I haven’t done a triathlon since, but I’ve done three half marathons and I just bought a bike last year. So hopefully going to get back into it. I’ve, I’ve really, you know, I’ve had the triathlon bug they call it for a while now. So I just got to get myself to get back into the pool again, cause swimming is hard.

Connor Agnew:
We, I can only imagine. Well, I will check back in. We’ll do a second episode in five years and see how the triathlon training is coming along. ⁓ You mentioned, and I think it’s a unique experience, first of all, having a virtual ⁓ internship. know, what was that like, especially at a time where you’re starting to discover strength and conditioning may really be for me. This is a career I want to look into. ⁓ How was it with the virtual experience? Because obviously, you know, my first experience was in person.

Kacie Allison:
Yeah. Mm-hmm. For sure.

Connor Agnew:
there was no choice, you had to be there every single day versus ⁓ your first kind of ⁓ full experience within an organized trading conditioning program is virtual. How did that experience paint out for you?

Kacie Allison:
So I didn’t really have much background in strength conditioning prior to that. So everything was like mind blowing and new to me. And the way that they had it structured was it was everything was over zoom and it was Monday through Thursday. And every day they had a different coach or professional in the field come in and speak on a specific topic. And so maybe one day they had somebody speak on speed, acceleration speed. And then the next day they had somebody come in and talk about

plyometrics and then they had people come in and talk about nutrition and the professional development side of things. So, I just took every opportunity to like learn as much as I could and soak in everything. But it was really easy for, especially being at home, sitting in my room to keep my camera off and to get distracted and not really pay attention. But, and there were probably over hundred people in that internship. So there were people that,

They didn’t really interact. They didn’t engage in conversation. They didn’t ask questions. didn’t, I’m sure they didn’t submit some of the extra assignments that they offered. So it was just me being excited about the opportunity and taking full advantage of it as best as I could. And I mean, it worked out, I guess, in my favor because a year later I went down to do an internship with them in person. I mean, it helped to have that connection and to have that ⁓ network under my belt.

Connor Agnew:
Well, that was exactly my question, right? Like, you you start off virtually and then you actually go in person. How was that transition? I’ve got to imagine it’s like, I saw a post today that these people met on like League of Legends 10 years ago and only ever communicated through virtually, you know, and then all of sudden they meet up in person and they say it’s like picking off like this old friend. So how was that transition to actually going in person?

Kacie Allison:
Mm-hmm.

Honestly, it’s kind of funny. When I first showed up there, I was like, these guys are celebrities. Like, this is awesome. And ⁓ I was just kind of that same thing where it’s like, I’ve heard these guys speak. I’ve seen them post on social media. I know that they’re really credible and they’re really smart. And they’ve then had a high track record for sending people out into the field and having success in that. So I was just super pumped to.

Connor Agnew:
Hehehehehe

Kacie Allison:
to just be in their presence and be able to ask them questions face to face and learn from them and watch them coach on the floor and yeah.

Connor Agnew:
I mean, that’s so cool. And especially like you said, to be able to work with people. I remember my first couple of experiences of meeting people who I followed for a long time, you know, and luckily in strength and conditioning, I’ve never had like the don’t meet your heroes experience, right? Everybody who I’ve kind of idolized beforehand and got to meet in person has been, you know, amazing to work with. But, you know, constantly you just hear about how high quality the Elon program is and people who have experienced with the program, whether it’s a player or former intern or former coach.

Kacie Allison:
Mm-hmm.

Connor Agnew:
have nothing but great things to say. You said it was the best summer of your life. What made that experience so enjoyable for you? What were you able to get out of

Kacie Allison:
I mean, like I said, it was just so fully immersive. Like we live together on campus. you know, we, everybody got up in the morning at 5 a.m. We ate breakfast together and then we drove over, carpooled over to the weight room and we would set up and then we’d have a couple groups in that morning. And then after that we were, it wasn’t really mandatory, but it was highly recommended that we trained and did the.

program that football was running so that way we were able to coach it better. And honestly, that was probably one of the most fun things for me too, just because I had never done a program that extensive before. And so I felt like I got stronger and faster just being there and running that program that summer. And then after that, we would stick around and play spike ball, you know, on the turf field outside. it was just, you know, every single day we get up and we were all, you could all tell.

or everybody could tell that we all loved to be there and we wanted to learn and that staff just really was fully invested in helping us grow and learn and constantly put us out of our comfort zone and give us opportunities to coach.

Connor Agnew:
Well, those experiences are so cool. I think it takes it to the next level by living with each other, right? Because I think of, ⁓ know, sometimes I voluntarily live with other interns, whether it’s signing a lease for a year or something like that. having almost like a summer camp for strength and conditioning experience and then being able to spend all this time with all these other interns and with the coaches as well, like it’s just very fun. When you’re speaking about it, you actually remind me of a situation where one of the coaches who just reached out to me last week.

I remember he was telling me like I was not getting my hips back far enough on an RDA. I was bending my knees too much and I was just like, no, like I, like in my head, was like thinking, no, there’s no way my technique is perfect. And we actually got into a fight about it. I was like, dude, get off my back and everything. Right. And then, you know, at the end he was like, I just want to see you get better. You know? And I was like, all right, like then, you know, I can’t really be that upset. Right. But those relationships are so key because it’s people who all have a common goal, especially at an internship level, everybody wants to be able to become a full-time strength and conditioning coach.

And when it’s people who are productive, it just becomes one of the most influential experiences.

Kacie Allison:
Right. Yeah,

it’s awesome too to still have, I mean, we have a group chat that we still text in and it’s been three, four years now. So, I mean, I still am good friends with, you know, Gabe Mason, he’s ⁓ a head strength coach now and, ⁓ you know, Hank Grenda, he’s got his own private business too. So, you know, it’s just good to have those connections with people that are, you know, lifelong friendships too.

Connor Agnew:
It’s really cool to see them succeed as well, Yeah. Well, you mentioned, you know, one thing in particular, which was getting out of your comfort zone in these five years. Like, I think you ran a crash course and getting out of your comfort zone, going from virtual to online, first job, and then transitioning and just going around doing all these things in such a quick period of time. Like what do you…

Kacie Allison:
Mm-hmm, for sure,

Connor Agnew:
makes you, guess, to be kind of corny, like comfortable with getting out of your comfort zone. What do you feel like you get out of it? Because I feel like everybody gets a little bit of a different ⁓ benefit out of stepping outside of their comfort zone.

Kacie Allison:
So I’ve always been very introverted, a homebody, ⁓ just a quiet person in general. And so things as simple as calling and ordering food, I couldn’t do because I was too scared to do it. And I think the first big step for me was moving out and going to college and being away from my family for those four years. That was that first big step in growing up. And then right out of college, I moved.

down to North Carolina right away and just kind of was living there. And I was even farther away from my family and even farther out of my comfort zone. And each time that I go through an experience like that where I’m moving and I’m taking a new big job or I’m doing something that’s really scary for me, I grow the most. And from here on out, after having those experiences, I look for those things because I know that it’s gonna be scary and it’s going to

be uncomfortable, but I need to do that in order to continue to grow or else I’m just going to stay in that comfort zone and not going to continue to get better.

Connor Agnew:
Wow. mean, imagine this, right? Telling a younger version of yourself that one day you’ll be on a podcast having no problem communicating these ideas. That must be pretty cool.

Kacie Allison:
Exactly. That was my thought going into this too. was like, there’s no way that Casey five, six years ago would be open to doing this.

Connor Agnew:
What were the first steps for you to be able to get out of that, ⁓ you know, kind of introverted mindset or not necessarily that it’s a bad thing, right? I don’t want to frame that question in a negative way, but what allowed you to kind of make that transition towards now? You obviously speak in front of a large groups all the time ⁓ versus when you couldn’t even order food on the phone.

Kacie Allison:
I mean, it just comes with experience, it comes with time. And I always go back to the famous saying, you’re not there yet, fake it till you bake it. And sometimes that’s what I have to convince myself that that’s the way that I gotta go about it. ⁓ I don’t always feel the most confident and comfortable speaking in front of large groups of athletes or large groups of people. ⁓ But I have to remind myself that I have the knowledge and I can provide value in certain ways that… ⁓

I want to give out, want to help people, I want to provide good advice and ⁓ instruction to people. So I just kind of go back to that, I mean, my why at the end of the day of like, I want to inspire people and I want to be a good leader. So I have to do those things and I have to push myself constantly to not be afraid to do that.

Connor Agnew:
Yeah, absolutely. mean, especially like you said, if you can go back to your why and then it helps figure out what the exact steps are to actually achieve that why. ⁓ You know, I just, find it very awesome to hear that that’s your experience. You know, what would you say to younger listeners who may be considering strength and conditioning as a career and maybe in your same shoes at that exact time? Like what would your advice be to them?

obviously step outside of your comfort zone, but why would this career be a good fit? Why was it a good fit for you?

Kacie Allison:
And I think for me, it’s just, I’ve had such a great opportunity to be able to impact so many people’s lives. And I love connecting with people. love helping people. I love watching people grow and get excited about, you know, seeing improvements in themselves and performance and inside the weight room and outside of the weight room. ⁓ So I would say to anybody who’s thinking about going into strength and conditioning, if that’s your why, if that’s something that

inspires you is to help people, then I feel like there’s no better profession to get into, especially if you are a former college athlete or you like sports and you just like lifting. Like you just put two and two together and you build an amazing career that can excite you every single day and it won’t feel like work.

Connor Agnew:
Yeah, I think that’s what’s so cool about this career, right? You also spend, I mean, endless time with these athletes. And so to be able to have a career where you can on a daily basis, you know, help them along with dumb things, you know, like, I mean, just even small things like where do I need to park? And then, okay, like this is part of a larger issue is that you should ask this question two weeks ago, right? But then I remember back when I was 18, I was asking the exact same things. And so helping these people with kind of the smaller, ⁓ dumber things, I might say, but then also with larger life problems.

like athletes who have experienced loss, athletes who have ended a relationship, like all those things are very traumatizing for these athletes. And then to be able to have somebody they can go speak with, ⁓ I think that relates directly back to what you’re saying is you can make an impact and you can be a leader for these athletes.

Yeah, well, I mean, again, I think it’s very, very exciting. You you say stepping outside of your comfort zone, and obviously now you’ve really pushed it to the max with your ability to speak in public forums and all these things. So what are some ways now that you continue to push your comfort zone?

Kacie Allison:
So obviously just taking opportunities that come to me like this, for example, or, you know, last year I was asked to speak at a clinic in Fort Wayne and that was really out of my comfort zone. And at first I was like, I’m, I’m a young strength coach. Like, what do I have to offer? What can I even present about? Cause I kind of just made it up to me and, you know, finding ways and areas that I felt like I was strong in and could provide good value. And.

just going for it. I mean, just constantly networking with people, reaching out to people, getting that experience, talking to mentors, asking them about their experiences and ⁓ asking for their advice for me in particular about, you know, getting out of my comfort zone and, you know, maybe being louder, having a bigger presence in the weight room, setting standards, upholding those standards, holding my athletes accountable, all that stuff.

Connor Agnew:
Yeah, no, no, no, that’s fantastic. I love it. You you mentioned a phrase earlier, kind of the fake it till you make it aspect. And so I think a lot of coaches have experienced that. I know myself, especially early on my first couple of jobs, like I thought I was faking it way more than I was making it. Right. But then eventually I watched that process get better ⁓ for you as a coach. Can you kind of just talk about your own experience kind of having to fake it till you make it and then being able to feel like, OK, I might be at the spot where I finally made it.

Kacie Allison:
⁓ So I struggled a lot with confidence when I first got in the field just because I was that more introverted type of person and I didn’t really fit that typical strength coach stereotype of like big loud snapping clipboard slapping people’s backs and you know blowing a whistle cursing all that stuff. So I felt like I had to work ten times harder than everybody else to be able to prove to people that you know I deserve to be here and

I was passionate enough about the field because sometimes being an introvert and being quieter comes across that maybe you’re not as passionate. And I feel like for me, that couldn’t be farther from the truth because I love what I do. I love this field. I love the science behind everything. I love connecting with people, but it just doesn’t look like the way that normal people would see a strength coach and expect out of them.

just being able to realize that you don’t have to fit that mold. You don’t have to be ⁓ that specific stereotype or look like you are this big, strength coach to be effective and to be worthy enough to be in the position that you’re in.

Connor Agnew:
Yeah, I love that experience too, because I remember I talked about this all the time on the podcast, right? But like my first ever exposure to strength and conditioning was Scott Cochran and watching the video of him going around the Alabama weight room. And he’s obviously like, he’d be the prototypical strength coach that people typically think of. And I mean, it’s fun and you can see he obviously had amazing results with it. But I do feel like a lot of people first getting into the field feel like that’s kind of the way they have to be. Like there’s no other really solution to that.

And so I love that you had the experience to be able to say, okay, well, that’s not necessarily who I am. And instead of changing who I am as a person, I’m going to change what the perception of this profession can be.

Kacie Allison:
Yeah. And I also, you can also fall into the trap of like, you know, falling too far into that and being like, well, this is the way that I am and I’m never going to change because, you know, it does get to a point where you do have to be a little bit more confident. You do have to be loud and clear and be able to command the room in order to gain the respect from your athletes. So I did have to learn how to do that. And I’m still learning how to do that. ⁓ And, you know, just being able to play to

my specific strengths and be confident in that goes a way.

Connor Agnew:
Yeah, I almost had the exact opposite experience to start, right? I tried to be too loud and I tried to be, you know, ⁓ fit the mold a little bit better and then I had to learn how to chill out a little bit. But it made a big difference. And then I think just like every other skill with constraining conditioning, you know, ultimately you go too far one way and then you go back to the opposite side. It’s all the homeostatic curve. It all starts to balance out eventually at some point.

Well, I know you mentioned too before, obviously with your own internship experiences, you love to learn and to be able to, you know, actually develop your skills as a strength coach. But I know previously prior to the show, you mentioned that you love working with interns as well too. And that’s a big part of your passion. You know, what are the key points that you look for when ⁓ working with an intern? What are the main things that you look to, to kind of dispel information to them and help them grow as young coaches?

Kacie Allison:
Yeah, I am very passionate about that. Almost just as much as I am working with my athletes, just because I wouldn’t be where I am today or the person I am today if it wasn’t for the mentors that I’ve had so far in my career and the people who have taken their time and energy to invest in me and help me grow. So that’s just an area that I’m very passionate about. And I think a couple of the key areas for me is, you we always preach about developing relationships with our athletes. I feel like we need to be able to develop.

personal relationships with our interns and young coaches as well. you know, that includes getting to know them on a personal level and asking them what their goals are and helping to align them better in to wherever they want to go. So, you know, we have had a lot of interns come through our program and Bowling Green the past three years that, you know, some of them have really wanted to be in strength and conditioning and we’re sure about that. And then we’ve had others that have come in and they didn’t really know what to expect.

⁓ they’ve decided that, you know, that wasn’t the path they wanted to take, but maybe they wanted to go into athletic training or we had somebody who wants to go into via sports physical therapists and work with college athletes. So just being able to communicate that stuff with them and, ⁓ you know, point them to other people in your network that could help set them up for success or another opportunity in whatever field they desire. And, and as a strength coach, not being so.

prideful and being like, well, if you don’t want to be a strength coach, then why are you here or why are you doing this opportunity? I feel like any internship opportunity that you do is an opportunity for you to learn something and to take something from it and apply it to whatever it is you want to do. So again, going back to really investing in them as people and helping direct them on the right path.

Connor Agnew:
Where do you think that gets lost? Because I agree with you wholeheartedly. And honestly, we speak about what I love about the profession the most. Like I always joke, I love winning the most, but then I love the development of young strength coaches more, right? And so obviously the athletic piece is very fun. The relationships with your athletes is very fun, but I do feel like a lot of times it does end up getting lost between the strength coaches and interns where.

Kacie Allison:
Mm-hmm.

Connor Agnew:
maybe even not 100 % intentionally. It’s happened to me before where I’ve been so caught up in the season that, you know, it’s just like with the intern for the day, like, okay, maybe we’re not going to focus on development as much. I just need you to help me write down these ways. I need you to help me coach these exact movements. And then we’re not even really going to debrief it or spend our time on the development aspect. You know, where do you think when it comes to the relationships with interns that may get lost in other strength and conditioning programs?

Kacie Allison:
Yeah, I feel like you kind of hit the nail on the head there of like, you can get really caught up in and busy with the things that you have to do and your responsibilities, which at the end of the day, is a lot and it is extra time and effort that you have to take out to invest in these kids. But I feel like it goes a long way in the long term and developing that relationship with them and that mentorship that you never know down the line if they’ll be able to help you out with.

an opportunity or job down the road. But I feel like, you know, like what you said, you can get lost with, you know, the things that you have to do and you forget kind of forget about them. And you never want to get to a point where they don’t feel like they’re learning or they don’t feel like they’re getting the right experiences or that you’re wasting their time. And also like you don’t want them to get lazy or to lose interest because you need them to be able to do what you want them to do or need them to do.

⁓ So trying to find that balance between ⁓ getting what you need to get done for you and then also giving them the time and energy that they deserve and they need.

Connor Agnew:
Yeah, I had an intern this past semester who actually he traveled here just for this internship, right? He was from a completely different school, specifically asked to come here. And so I remember there was many times where I had to remind myself, especially with, know, once we get to February and March of basketball season, that this person specifically came here to learn. So it would be a disservice to them to not give them my full energy to that aspect. It can be tough. You can get lost in it, certainly.

Kacie Allison:
Mm-hmm, for sure.

Connor Agnew:
Well, you know, I asked you for advice for younger inter or younger coaches who, you know, may be a little bit worried about being an introvert within this field. But now just maybe some more general advice, especially since you’re somebody who likes to work with interns. You know, what would be the first couple of pieces of advice that you give to your interns now or somebody who’s just starting out an internship or a GA opportunity?

Kacie Allison:
I feel like one of the best pieces of advice I had gotten when I first got into the field was to be willing to do the little things and be willing to do them really well and find ways to provide as much value as you can. So if you’re just getting into the field and or you’re an intern and you don’t really know what’s expected of you, but you know, and you see that, you know, other interns or the coaches are cleaning up the weight room, you should.

be the first person to be picking up stuff in the weight room and wiping down the benches and things like that and do it really well. And so, yeah, I feel like finding areas that you can provide the most value and not being or not feeling like you’re too good or too big to do the little things like cleaning a weight room or stocking nutrition station, things like that. And then I think another big piece of advice that I always give to interns is to learn as much as you can.

take in as much information, whether it come from books, podcasts, YouTube videos, talking to other strength coaches, going out for site visits, calling them on the phone, reaching out to them via Instagram. I did that a lot. I still do that a lot where I see somebody who’s posting content that I admire and I feel like I have some questions that I want to ask them. I’m not afraid to reach out on Instagram and I don’t think I’ve ever had a strength coach or professional.

not respond or deny me in my offer of wanting to talk or talk shop. So just pushing them to do that. because I mean, the value that I’ve gotten from all those resources and all the people that I’ve talked to has been ⁓ pivotal in my career.

Connor Agnew:
Well, I love that piece of advice too, right? For you as a self-proclaimed introvert to say, reach out to as many people as possible. I mean, I think that shows your growth within the profession too. Who was the first ever person you reached out to? Do remember?

Kacie Allison:
Mm-hmm.

⁓ yes, actually Sean Connerty. ⁓ he’s at Mizzou right now. So funny. Yeah. Funny story actually. So he’s from one of the areas or one of the towns is like right next to where I grew up. And when I was first like introduced to strength conditioning, I was, I don’t know, I don’t know how the connection ended up happening, but his

Connor Agnew:
there you go. Yeah. Great one to reach out to.

Kacie Allison:
mother is a professor at Sullivan County Community College, which is like right down the road from my house. And someone was like, you need to go talk to Mrs. Connity and ⁓ just, just ask her some questions. I think her son is, is a strength coach. So I ended up driving to the college and I met with her and she gave me his contact information and I reached out to him and you know, he talked to me, told me everything about the field. had no idea anything that he was saying. It was all like,

foreign information to me, but at the end of the day, like it’s still connection that I have. And it’s really, it’s pretty cool to say, cause you know, I mean, we both worked with men’s basketball and you know, was, it’s, it’s just pretty cool. So yeah, he was the first person that I actually talked about strength and conditioning.

Connor Agnew:
That’s awesome. That’s a great pick for

your first one. And then I’ve got to imagine it’s always funny, you know, when you get connected through somebody’s mom or something, right? That always cracks me up a little bit. ⁓ Yeah, no, absolutely. Seriously. I remember specifically I’ve actually had my mom volunteer me for a couple phone calls that all panned out very well as well too. So shout out to the moms of straightening conditioning coaches out there driving the field forward.

Kacie Allison:
Yeah. Yup. Yeah. Very small world.

Mm-hmm.

Exactly.

Connor Agnew:
⁓ This is, I guess it’s turning into an advice episode, but I’ll ask you for one more piece of advice, ⁓ especially as somebody who likes to, like we said, develop interns and really focus on the relationship aspect with them. For internship coordinators out there or for anybody listening to this episode who may be thinking, okay, maybe I could be doing a better job with my interns or anybody who has interns specifically, what would be some advice that you would give to them?

Kacie Allison:
⁓ I think first thing is to have clear expectations for your interns. And, I listened to Dr. Mary Kate Fite’s presentation at the CSCCA this past May, and she gave a lot of great advice on that. But that was one of the biggest things that she hit on was that a lot of interns come into these roles having no idea what’s expected of them. And, you know, we can often get caught up in, you know, the fast paced environment and

you know, we expect our interns to know how to set things up or that they should be setting things up and when they should be setting things up or that they should be on the floor coaching right away. If those are things that you expect of your interns, you need to be able to clearly communicate that to them or lay it out to them in writing, whether it’s through a manual or, in a binder somewhere, just so that they know exactly what is expected of them. And then

Another thing that was, you she really hit on that was really important that I’ve implemented that I think has gone a long way is giving consistent feedback. And that comes in terms of like post-session debriefs, one-on-one weekly meetings, or just having some sort of formal evaluation, whether it’s ⁓ once every couple of weeks, or it’s at midterm and final, just so that you can give them that ⁓ constructive feedback so that they know specific areas that they need to improve on.

⁓ over time, over the semester. Because if you never give them that feedback, or you only meet with them once a semester, then there’s no time for them to really take that advice and improve and work on that. having clear expectations and giving them consistent feedback are two of my top pieces of advice.

Connor Agnew:
No, I think those are great points. And I mean, to both of those, mean, the one that I really like is obviously giving consistent feedback and giving it early on. ⁓ I think.

I’ve in my own experience again, too, right? I think back to my failures I’ve had as an internship coordinator, whatever it may be, is like waiting to the end of the year to give them feedback, right? Unlike the big feedback pieces. And then all of a sudden it’s like, OK, well, you we just had three months together, four months, whatever it may be. And you didn’t give me any time to actually practice those things, you know, on the major, major feedback points. So I love that early on. then I think with the detailing expectations is is fantastic. And it allows the interns to really grow more.

The only thing I didn’t even add to that too is reminding them of those expectations because I’ve been bad myself personally of not writing it down, right? And so I remember anytime an intern first comes in, I always say first week, I just want you to sit back, observe, introduce yourself to the players, but learn how we give specific cues or the language you use and then you can roll from there. And then I’ve noticed that when I don’t remind them of the feedback of, after two weeks now, I want you to really start to start coaching these athletes. Then all of we hit three weeks and

They’re not coaching as much as I’d like them to see. think that’s a little bit more failure on my part for not reminding them, okay, at three weeks, I actually want you to start talking to people, even though I initially told you don’t talk to anybody really besides introducing yourself. Yeah, go ahead.

Kacie Allison:
Mm-hmm.

But yeah, was just going to say too, like, it’s also important to remind ourselves that we got to give ourselves some grace too sometimes because, ⁓ I mean, I’m not going to sit here and say that, you know, I did it right every single time. I definitely look back and there were a couple of interns I wish I would have gave more time to. And I wish I would have known some of the things I know now back then, because I feel like I could have given them better advice or I could have led them on a better path. But also, you know, looking back, there’s.

Connor Agnew:
Fair point.

Kacie Allison:
you they still reach out and thank me or thank our other coaches in our department for the experience that they had ⁓ because they still are going to be learning whether it’s just, you know, they’re just standing and watching ⁓ or you’re actually giving them a full on educational curriculum and all the time in the world. So you just have to give yourself grace and know that, you know, if you’re, if you are showing that you’re passionate for what you do and you

are giving them a little bit of your time and giving them good advice, then you are helping them in some ways too.

Connor Agnew:
Yeah, that’s another fantastic point. I appreciate you bringing that up because I was beating myself up there a little bit thinking about some former interns. So I appreciate that greatly. My main grace is hopefully I at least made it fun for them. They had fun over the past three months, whatever it may be. Well, Casey, thank you so much for coming on. Seriously, it’s been great to get to know you better. And I really appreciate it hearing your story. If anybody does want to follow you on Instagram or reach out, what would be the best way to do that?

Kacie Allison:
Yeah.

Yeah, Instagram is probably the best one. I don’t have too many social media platforms anymore. Instagram handle is coach Casey with an underscore. ⁓ but yeah, I’m very open to DMS, phone calls, emails. You have it. So.

Connor Agnew:
Awesome, and that’s K-A-C-I-E, correct? Okay, perfect, perfect. Trust you wouldn’t believe how many people misspell Connor, and gets out of hand. ⁓ yeah, yeah, that’s terrible. Well, thank you so much, Casey, I really appreciate it.

Kacie Allison:
Yes, yep.

Yes, thank you for the opportunity. It was awesome.

Connor Agnew:
Absolutely.