November 6, 2025 • 38 mins
What happens when 20 x world-class athlete and Hollywood stuntwoman discovers that real power isn’t in achievement, but in peace?
In this episode of Becoming Your Warrior, I sit down with Sydney Olson. Professional stunt performer, parkour champion, and mindset coach to unpack the journey from pressure to purpose.
From being literally set on fire on set to learning that her worth was never tied to winning, Sydney reveals how to move beyond fear, perfectionism, and performance into genuine freedom and self-acceptance.
Sydney now uses her experience as a high-performance athlete to help other top performers achieve from a place of power, not force or pressure.
You can find Sydney here:
https://www.instagram.com/sydney_o_coaching/
With love,
Em xx
You can follow Emma at:
https://www.instagram.com/emmaritchiewellness/
https://www.facebook.com/emmaritchiewellness/
https://www.youtube.com/@emmaritchiebecomingyourwarrior
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Welcome to the Becoming Your Warrior podcast.
This is the place where you getto feel inspired and empowered
to step into your very bestlife.
Today on Becoming your Warrior,I am joined by Sydney Olsen, a
professional stunt woman,mindset coach, and former
(00:22):
pro-parko athlete who lives bythe truth that you can do
absolutely anything you decideis possible.
Sydney has competed across theglobe, earning more than 20
first place titles in parkour.
And for the last 11 years, she'sworked in the stunt industry,
doing everything from wire workto being set on fire to playing
characters on TV.
(00:43):
Alongside this incrediblecareer, she's also dedicated
herself to personal development,first to excel in competition
and later to find peace withherself beyond achievement,
which is the big one.
And today, Sydney helps otherspush past fear and step into
freedom through her mindsetcoaching.
And I am so excited to have youhere, Sydney, and to dive into
(01:05):
your stories.
So welcome.
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
Thank you so much, Emma.
I'm so glad that we get to be oneach other's podcasts and get to
be friends because you're justso amazing and such a light.
So I'm really grateful to behere.
SPEAKER_01 (01:17):
Oh, thank you so much.
What a lovely, what a lovelyreflection.
Thank you.
I really appreciate that.
And um yeah, just so excited tohave you here.
I mean, you know, talking aboutachievement, and I know we're
going to be talking about thepeace that's underneath that as
well.
But I mean, you have on anachievement level achieved so
much.
But what do you think for youhas been the biggest lesson that
(01:40):
you've learned about mindsetthrough your experiences?
SPEAKER_00 (01:45):
Well, I think there's a few, but uh, one of
the ones that steps out at mereally is just knowing that you
can actually do anything thatyou want to do.
Um, and a lot of what we believewe can't is just limitations
that we have in our mind.
And then the other thing I wantto add, because it just also is
very prevalent, um, and I wasthinking about it a lot as you
were asking the question, isthat our value never changes
(02:09):
throughout our life, no matterwhat we accomplish.
And I think that's been a reallyhard lesson for me.
I've had to learn it over andover again.
And it's also a really beautifulone.
So it doesn't matter if you're amillionaire or you're homeless
on the street, it the valuenever changes throughout your
entire life.
SPEAKER_01 (02:26):
Yeah, it is a big one.
We will definitely dive intothat a lot more.
So, I mean, for somebody likeyou, that again just coming back
to that achievement andobviously the value that runs
through that, but coming back tothat achievement, you know, you
know, for you, it's like there'sthis there's had to be some sort
of drive in you to go and getthese things, to achieve these
(02:48):
things.
Where do you think that drivefirst began for you?
SPEAKER_00 (02:54):
You know, my mom told me that I was so ambitious
since the day I was born.
She she said to me, and it's oneof the sweetest things that
she's ever said, is out of mykids, I always knew that if
someone was going to dosomething spectacular, it would
be you because everything youdid, you just did with so much
purpose.
And this was true for videogames.
(03:15):
I remember I got a PlayStationwhen I was like seven years old,
and I was obsessed with gettingpast this final boss.
I don't know.
I would just write down how Icould do it the next time.
I'd like very much learn quicklyfrom mistakes.
But I think what really forcedme into this drive was
gymnastics.
My gymnastics background, havinga coach that first was abusive
(03:38):
and then going into sort of adifferent environment after
having dealt with that.
And then I got a different roundof coaches that were very much
of the mindset that you are notyour limitations, you have to
work past every singlelimitation that you have, which
was really beneficial in a lotof ways, but it also came with
this comparisonitis that Iconstantly faced and still do
(04:00):
sometimes in my life.
But um, we were in a rank.
Uh so that was the hardest partis uh we would have a rank at
the gym.
So I would usually sit at liketop three, and I'd always want
to be at number one, and so Iwould do anything possible to do
that.
I think I made a time capsulewhen I was 10 years old asking
(04:21):
myself, are you first in rank?
So it's really funny to lookback at, but it was very serious
for me at the time.
And I think I just everythingthat I wanted to do, I wanted to
be the best at it.
It wasn't even that I wanted tobe the best for myself, I wanted
to be the best.
And so the drive for that wasvery serious for a long time.
(04:42):
And it drove me to to achieve somany things.
But then the issue that thenarises as you accomplish all
these things and you get to saythat maybe, oh, I was a world
champion at something, but itdoesn't actually give you that
peace that you think it'll giveyou.
So, or at least for me, itdoesn't give me the peace that I
think it'll bring me.
(05:03):
So that has been kind of thestart of my journey, really.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:07):
And I mean, it it are there are there times when
you know when you say like, youknow, achieving that title, you
know, being the best.
I mean, w when you are actuallyawarded that, is there a moment
in time when you get toexperience it?
Or because you said it you justit doesn't give you that piece.
SPEAKER_00 (05:25):
Is there a second or is there a minute where you can
I would say I would say that's agreat question.
I remember standing up on firstplace podiums and every time I
would be so elated up there.
And so it's not as if I didn'thave the experience of it.
I definitely did, and it wouldlast like a day or two, and then
it would instantly come up withan anxiety of I have to do this
(05:49):
or better next time becausepeople are gonna come after me
and I need to make sure that Istay on top.
So it came with this constantanxiety of performing and
realizing that I'd have to keepthe title, which is harder than
getting in the first placesometimes.
Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_01 (06:05):
And and I mean, so so what is what was because I
know you've done so much workaround this and you coach other
people around this as well, butyou've mentioned the word
anxiety.
I mean, what's it like to livein that world where it's like,
you know, you're number one,you've smashed it, you've
achieved this goal, um, but thenyou know, there's this pressure
(06:26):
to maintain it.
I mean, what what what was thatlike for you living in that
world?
SPEAKER_00 (06:31):
It was stressful.
It came with a lot of pressure.
I mean, there was a lot of itthat I really enjoyed because it
made me such a good athlete.
And I would go out with all thisintention to train and I would
be able to do everything that Iwanted to do, but it just came
with this underlying fear thatif I didn't accomplish this, I
wasn't going to be loved for whoI am.
I needed to prove my worth.
And so that was kind of thelesson that I hadn't quite
(06:53):
learned is that my worth wasinnate.
So I believed that worthiness istied to achievements, and this
would show up in so many ways,even outside of my athletic
career.
So I think, yeah, it just it towalk around in a world like
that, I could just the one wordI would use is just pressure,
like don't fuck it up.
I hope it's okay that I saidfuck.
(07:18):
You leave it out.
Um but basically just don't messit up, um, always have to be
better, like look out for thatperson, everyone's a threat.
It's just that was kind of theworld that I was living in.
SPEAKER_01 (07:31):
Yeah.
And so I mean, how and obviouslyit's a journey that we're all on
as well, but how did you firstgo about because I think, okay,
here's the question.
I think a lot of people think,well, if I do the mindset work
and clear that that pressure,say, out of the way, then that
(07:51):
means I'm no longer gonnaperform.
I'm not gonna perform at thesame, you know, I'm not gonna
have the same drive.
How how has that journey beenfor you, like removing that and
still performing?
SPEAKER_00 (08:05):
So it's really funny because that was my exact
thought for a long time.
I would be afraid to like workon it just enough to like get
past certain things because Iwanted to still be able to win.
I thought that if I worked on ittoo much, it would go away.
And then uh once I did startworking through it anyway,
because basically I just decidednothing's worth this uh what I'm
(08:28):
feeling.
Like I didn't feel like it wasworth it to feel this terrible
about myself.
If I was winning, it didn't likeI said, it didn't bring me what
I thought it was going to giveme.
So why pursue that if I can't,you know, show up as who I
really want to?
So basically that was whatinspired the work.
But then the interesting thingwas I had a competition that
(08:48):
year later, I thought I wasgonna be done competing, but
decided to do one more and Iwent in completely just to have
fun.
And because I had taken all thatpressure off of myself, the
first day I actually ended up insecond place, and I hadn't felt
what that was like in a longtime.
And I was okay with it, but Iwas also there was this other
(09:10):
part that was like, yeah, but ifyou want to, you can still win.
And so it was realizing that Ihad done this work, I could
accept the fact that I might notbe in first place and that would
be okay.
But then there was also thisthing, this side of me that was
never gonna go away.
Still, still wanted to becompetitive, still wanted to
win, because the other benefitto it is that I was pushing
everybody else in the sport aswell.
(09:31):
So everyone else was gettingbetter because I was competitive
and vice versa.
Like everyone that was reallycompetitive with me made me a
better athlete too.
So there was this dance betweennot putting too much pressure on
myself, but also knowing that ifI really want to, this is for me
too.
Like I have just as much of anopportunity.
So I ended up winning the wholecompetition, and it was the
(09:52):
first time that I had done itfrom a place of total acceptance
for whatever outcome was goingto happen.
So then any other competition Itook place in after that, and I
did lose a couple of times andit it was fine.
I realized it didn't matter, anduh that the entire time it was
just a facade and it was justthis lie that I had told myself
(10:14):
that I have to win, otherwise Iwouldn't be accepted for who I
am.
But really, what I had a hardtime understanding is whenever I
looked up to anybody, it didn'tmatter to me if they got second
place, third place, last place,whatever.
If I looked up to them, I lookedup to them, but I just couldn't
see that with myself.
SPEAKER_01 (10:29):
Yeah.
And and that that sort ofjourney, I mean, even you know,
we've touched on like valuebeing attached to achievement
and not being accepted asyourself unless you were
winning.
I mean, where where does wherefor you, you know, you know, as
comfortable as you are to gointo it, where do you think that
comes from?
Because you said as a baby yourmum was like poof, you were just
like off, you know.
(10:50):
But where where do you feel thatsh first showed up in your life,
this idea of like not beingaccepted unless you were
achieving something?
SPEAKER_00 (10:59):
Well, I think partially is to do with I'm a
middle child.
So I think when my brother wasborn, and I absolutely adore
family, I know that it's uh Ijust want to preface that
because I know that my parentsare amazing and they absolutely
did the best they could.
But I think that when my brotherwas born, I think I had to
compete a little bit more forattention from my parents.
And they honestly did give me abit more attention when I was
(11:23):
doing really well in gymnastics,and it was cool, it was that one
thing that I had.
And I remember my sister was ingymnastics before I was, and I
looked up to my sister, sothat's what made me want to go
into it in the first place.
So my dad told me, you canbecome a gymnast if you get a
perfect cartwheel.
And so, you know, well-meaning,of course, and I'm five years
(11:43):
old and I'm out in the frontlawn and I'm working on my
cartwheel every day for hours,and I finally get it and it's
beautiful, and then I startadding on, I see what my
sister's doing at the gym, and Iwant to try that too.
And so suddenly I'm doing likeround off back handspring
backflip, and so they have toput me on team right away
because I've already learned allthe moves that she does, and so
(12:03):
then uh because I joinedgymnastics, my sister ended up
quitting because she's like, Oh,my sister's already better than
me and she's three yearsyounger.
So I think there was this yeah,a little bit of competing for
attention from my parents,competing for attention from my
coaches, being put in a rankamongst other girls and
constantly being compared.
And then yeah, just basicallyrealizing that I have this kind
(12:28):
of ability.
Like I don't know, people keptcalling me gifted, that kind of
stuff.
And so I think it was just likethis pressure that I then put on
myself being like, oh, I've gotto keep this up.
SPEAKER_01 (12:39):
Yeah.
And you know, and you know, I Isee it with my clients as well,
and I can I can hear it in that.
It's just like when you'regetting that attention, when
your value is like, oh, you'vewon again, or you're perfect, or
you're doing the perfectcartwheel, and then the rewards
there, and it's allwell-meaning, of course.
It's praise, but it's praise forthe achievement.
So so what what's been your Iguess your journey of
(13:03):
discovering your value outsideof what you do?
SPEAKER_00 (13:08):
Well, it's been a long journey, and occasionally
it still flares back up,thinking that my value is tied
to things that I do, and if I'mnot doing enough, then I'm not
valuable, which is just ahundred percent a lie.
But I think it really just hasbeen this deeper work on myself,
um, realizing, I mean, PeterCrohn was a lot to do with this
too, because I think that wasalways the missing piece that I
(13:29):
had.
I would do all thisself-development work, but it
would come from wanting to bebetter and be the best version
of my limited self.
And so when I when I came acrossPeter, I think the thing that
really helped me was how rootedhe is in understanding and
acceptance.
And that was the missing pieceis I had no acceptance for who I
(13:50):
was, where I was, all the thebad things about me, all the
things that I didn't want tolook at, all the things that um
when I was younger, I was alsomade fun of a lot by other girls
at school, that kind of stuff.
And a lot of those things werekind of put in my shadow, things
that I didn't really want tolook at.
And so when I finally made thespace for all of me, then it was
(14:11):
so much easier to just realizethat my worth is just inherent,
and so as everybody else is,realizing how connected we are
and how everything that hashappened just basically has
happened.
It couldn't be any other way,and it's just it's all very
connected.
And so I think realizing thatthings couldn't be any different
and that I'm happy with whereI'm at is ultimately it's okay.
(14:36):
Yeah, he's a wise man, thatPeter Crone, isn't he?
SPEAKER_01 (14:42):
Yeah, because it's it's really interesting because
uh I'm sort of being connectedto you but in a different way
because I know I actuallywatched a video of you being
coached by Peter at one of hisevents.
Um so that was before we evenmet, and then we got to meet at
the retreat in person.
So um, yeah, I mean just justseeing that transformation just
(15:02):
in you, just in that coachingsession.
And um, but yeah, it's it's soyou're you're so spot on because
I think that's the thing, it'syou know, we want other people
outside of us to love and acceptall of us, but if we don't do
that for ourselves, if we don'tlike that bit about us, that
judgment piece that like if wejudge ourselves or if we're
(15:23):
harsh to ourselves or if we're acruel critic to ourselves, if we
can't even love and accept thatit that that is part of us and
deny it or not like it, then howcan we expect everything on the
outside to um to love and acceptus?
And I think this is where peoplestruggle a little bit as well.
(15:43):
Yeah.
Um and and so you sort ofmentioned like with the kind of
the achievement and the thinkingyour worth was attached to, you
know, your achievements, and yousaid that filtered out into
other areas of your life aswell, outside of what where else
whatever you feel comfortablewith where else did that show up
for you?
SPEAKER_00 (16:03):
I mean it showed up in probably every single thing,
especially relationships too.
I used to be very jealous, andit's mostly because I just
thought everybody else is athreat, and so it wasn't even
just a worthy thing, too.
It was like, is this personbetter than me in any single
way?
And it was just like I said,constant comparison, everyone's
a threat in some way.
(16:24):
And so I think once I stoppedchasing the validation from
other people, first of all, andreally started to get that
better relationship with myselfand uh being more aware of why I
was feeling this way in thefirst place, I think that's
really when the change cameabout.
And you're right, it is it isreally difficult to be in that
(16:46):
space where you're wanting loveand acceptance from other
people, but you're not reallyeven giving it to yourself.
You're basically sayingsomething outside of me has got
to give me what I'm butdesperately craving from myself.
So um, but to answer yourquestion, because I know that
you asked if where else it wouldshow up.
There was other things too.
Um I would get mad if peoplethat didn't work I'm saying this
(17:08):
in quotation marks if peoplearen't viewing this, but um if
people didn't work as hard as Idid, but got rewarded more, I
would think that was reallyunfair.
And so I had another constraintthat was like life is unfair,
um, without and the that onereally played a role for a long
time because that was alsovalue-driven.
(17:29):
It was saying that the more timeyou put in, the more effort you
put in, the more authentic youare, the more in integrity you
are, the better you should berewarded.
And it's like, where did thatcome from?
You know, and so there's alwaysjust these things that come up
that we can look at that are soso helpful.
But I think the life is unfairone, that one, that one drove my
(17:50):
life for a very long time.
SPEAKER_01 (17:52):
Yeah.
How nice is to come out theother side of that.
And and and you know, it's stillstill um it can still show up
from time to time, right?
It's it's kind of theever-evolving I just feel like
we work in cycles and it's kindof these things can come up
again, but it's like now thatyou've broken through it and
you've got that awareness, doyou feel like when it does show
(18:14):
up, it's easier to kind ofbounce back from it?
SPEAKER_00 (18:17):
Oh my god, massively.
I mean, first it was there wasno awareness.
So I think the awareness beingthe first step is really
important because once you'reaware, it's you can't not be in
some way, shape, or form.
Sometimes it can flip by youwithout you really noticing, but
most of the time, um, whetheryou're reflecting on it later in
the day or whatever, you realizethat this is happening.
(18:38):
And it's like, oh, it's justthat part of me.
And so once I was able to likegive that part of me love and
attention um for whatever itfeels like it missed out on or
whatever fears are arisingwithin me, then I don't have to
worry so much.
But I think it is exactly whatyou said.
It's just it's night and day.
I mean, it used to just likeplague my existence.
I would be really strugglingmentally, but now I just when it
(19:01):
comes up, it's almost gone asquickly as it arrived.
SPEAKER_01 (19:04):
Yeah, it's so beautiful.
It's so beautiful that work.
Um let's talk a little bit aboutfear.
Uh because you know, you know,um as I mentioned before we
started recording, you know, Ilook at your Instagram, which is
like just insane.
Some of the stuff that you do,like with your body and how you
push yourself and the the thethings that you have achieved
(19:27):
with your body, but also from aplace of like, you know, in
everyday life, people havefears.
They have fears around startinga business, putting themselves
out there, being seen, um, youknow, fears about the future,
all of that um kind of stuff.
Can you using all of yourexperience in both mindset and
(19:48):
with the work that you've donewith your body, can you talk to
me about your own experienceabout fear and coming through
it?
SPEAKER_00 (19:54):
Absolutely.
Um, and thank you for thecompliment that was very nice.
Um, but I think it's it'sinteresting because a lot of
people believe that I'm fearlessand I'm just totally not.
I am probably just as terroristterrified as the next person
trying to do the things that I'mdoing.
Fear isn't something that justgoes away from me, it's
something that I work withrather than against or trying to
(20:15):
get rid of because I don't thinkthat you can really get rid of
fear.
It's a good response to have,actually.
Um I'm just gonna preface thisreal quick because this was
something that recently happenedto me.
The times that I show up withoutany fear to a stunt job is not
good.
It's actually really dangerous.
And I recently had a job where Iwasn't worried at all about
something that I was doing, andlooking back, I mean, probably
(20:38):
should have been, like just alittle bit.
But anyway, sometimes I can getoverly cocky, and I went for
this move and I ended up hittingmy head really hard on a metal
grate, and I got concussed and Iknocked myself out very quickly.
But uh it's always those timeswhere I'm not in fear at all
that I actually have a responselike that because I'm not
(20:59):
totally looking out for myselfin some ways.
So I know that's a differentsort of segue, but basically
what I mean is fear is somethingthat we can change our
relationship with.
It's not something that we'retrying to get rid of.
But if you change yourrelationship and see what it's
trying to protect you from, it'sa lot easier to work with it.
So most of the time, if you lookat the moves that I'm doing,
(21:21):
there could be a fear thatarises of like, oh, I could get
hurt.
But most of the time, everysingle thing that you've seen me
do on Instagram, I have workedon so much before I ever came
outside to concrete.
And so it was always done into afoam pit and then onto some mats
and then onto a floor and thenonto concrete.
So everything was um aprogression.
(21:43):
And so that's what I like tothink of as also progressions.
Like, of course, there are goingto be certain things like
putting yourself out there is areally scary thing for a lot of
people, and it was scary for mewhen I started my coaching
business too.
I mean, I could, you know, beset on fire, I could fall 30
feet, whatever, but put likesaying, hey, I want to offer
mindset coaching was terrifying.
(22:04):
And it took me several months toactually like, no, so years.
I mean, it took me years toactually go for it.
Uh, but it was great too,because it also allowed me to
get more experience and um learna lot more before helping other
people.
But besides all that, I canstill be absolutely terrified
before doing something likethat.
(22:25):
And I think one day I justdecided, you know what, this
imposter syndrome, this fearthat I have, all that is never
really gonna go away.
But maybe I can work with it byjust taking that next step.
What is the next step that I cando?
It's like, okay, I've done allof the things to get ready for
this.
It's time to just finally jumpoff the cliff and tell people
that I'm gonna be offering myservices.
(22:46):
And the worst that happens isthat people don't react to it
and it's not a problem.
So I put it out there and it'sit's been great.
But at the same time, I alsoacknowledge the fact that fear
is really just what we'reprojecting onto the future.
It's uh like Peter always says,past hurt informs future fear.
(23:06):
So the fears that I have ofputting myself out there in that
way is probably just somethingto do with the fact that when I
was a kid, I would get made funof for putting myself out there
in a way.
It's like, okay, so is thatwhat's happening?
No.
Is it going to flop like that?
I mean, it could, but at thesame time, also I could end up
just getting clients and gettingto work this really cool thing
(23:28):
that I really like to do.
So it's realizing that bothscenarios are possible and just
as real as each other.
And it's just like which one areyou going to focus on?
So fear for me is two verydifferent things.
Because obviously, there's thepart of me that really needs the
fear to be in touch with whatI'm doing on some of those
bigger stunt jobs.
(23:49):
And then there's the part of methat has to work through that
fear because, like I said, it'snot really going away most of
the time.
It's just as you're doing it, itit tends to dissipate.
SPEAKER_01 (23:58):
Yeah.
And I I love that example ofkind of, you know, that even
with the stunts that you weredoing, it's kind of been a
process.
There's been like, you know,you've been doing it with
support, you've been doing itinto a phone pit, and then it's
like, and then you go out andactually do it.
And it's the same with like,like you said, like launching
your business.
It's like for months you can belike one step forward, one step
(24:18):
back, and you know, I'm justusing it as an example, but it
is a process, and I I do thinklike with a business or you
know, stepping into a newrelationship or whatever it is,
um, there is a process of liketaking steps forward.
It's it's not just like I'mgonna set up a business and be
amazing.
And I think this is uh what Isee a lot is people who are
(24:39):
extremely successful sellinglike courses on how to do things
and the strategies there, but ifyour mindset isn't there, that's
the struggle.
Right?
Absolutely, yeah, yeah, that'sbeautiful.
I really I really love that.
Um so so talk to me a little bitnow about you know what what are
you up to?
(25:00):
Because, you know, I see allthis stuff and I you know I know
that you're still working withyour body, but tell me a little
bit more about the coaching sideof what you're doing as well now
and who you're working with.
SPEAKER_00 (25:11):
Yeah, I mean, I just recently started my mindset
coaching business back in June.
And as I said before, it'ssomething I'd wanted to do for
many years and finally took thesteps to do that.
I I started it during kind of aslow time at work.
Things had been slow in thestunt world, and I was like,
okay, finally this is this iswhen we're gonna do it.
So I f I I get the courage, I dothat.
(25:33):
And then pretty much right afterI started mindset coaching, I
got a stunt job that washappening for the next seven
weeks.
And so over the summer I workedon this really cool job.
I can't quite say what it wasyet, but it's something really
cool, and that'll be coming outin February, so I'll definitely
let you know when that airs.
But um, as of right now, formindset coaching, I tend to
(25:55):
attract high performers, and Ithink I haven't really niche
down yet.
I haven't done all that, and Iknow there's like that pressure
out there that I could subscribeto of like niching down, but I
haven't done that yet.
But mostly I attract a lot ofhigh performers that want to
accomplish really big things andthey put a lot of pressure on
themselves.
So that's who I'm working withis people that have been through
exactly what I've been through.
SPEAKER_01 (26:20):
I wonder why you attract that kind of person.
Gosh, I wonder why.
Oh, that is awesome.
That's awesome.
And you know, I know you can'ttell us about, but just for a
little bit of juice, you know,because you and it's not to
focus on what you've done, youknow, it's it's who you are.
But um give us a little bit ofjuice.
(26:40):
What what kind of movies, whatkind of sets and things have you
worked on in the past?
Like who have you doubled for,if you can share?
SPEAKER_00 (26:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, there was a show calledStargirl.
I doubled Breck Bassinger, she'sshe was um, I think no, she
wasn't a teen actress at thetime, she was a little bit older
than that.
But anyway, she plays ateenager.
So um it was a superhero show,and I did season two of that.
And then there was I actuallyjust posted about something that
(27:07):
came out today.
I mean, I've done a lot ofdifferent things, but I worked
on the show Monster that's onNetflix, and it was only for one
scene, and it was a chainsawscene where like everybody's
getting murdered by a chainsaw.
And it was like one of the mostgory days of work in my life.
It was so gross.
There was just blood everywhere,but not not real blood, but it
(27:28):
was just like it took me days toget that out of my hair.
Um I worked on the new Twistersmovie.
I got to um t test all the wirestuff for that, which was really
cool.
Um, I love wire work.
I get test or I get hired a lotto do things like wire work and
anything where I just kind ofget slammed against the ground.
I tend to get a lot of like uhhard-hitting jobs.
(27:52):
So um yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (27:53):
Yeah, I definitely I think you posted something on
Instagram recently, and it waslike all the kind of like when
things like kind of didn't go toplan kind of thing.
And there's one shot whereyou're doing like a parkour.
Am I saying it right?
Parkour, yeah, yeah, you'resaying it right.
It's fine.
Um but you're doing this onemove and it's like it's and you
just land in such a way, and Iwas just like, oh, city.
(28:19):
It just looks so brutal.
SPEAKER_00 (28:21):
It looks so brutal, but um, yeah.
I know what video, it's funny.
That video, um, every once in awhile I repost like a lot of my
clips, like bails, things thatwent horribly wrong, and that's
just the parkour related stuff.
Um, not so much stunts, but umyeah, that one specifically is
funny because all those allthose clips, like I'm actually
(28:42):
really proud when I look back onthose, mostly because almost all
of them, like there's only a fewthat I actually got hurt.
There's one where I broke myhand, there's one that I broke
my ankle, and then I think therewas one where I hit my head, but
I think because I don'tremember.
Um but most of them, I Iactually it was the result of me
(29:04):
pushing myself in a way that Iwas like, I was terrified and I
worked through it.
And then most of them were like,they were scary, but I didn't
actually get hurt, so it was itwas just the next step to take.
So I know that it seems likehorrible and things didn't go to
plan, but um really when I lookback on it, I can't help but
just be a little bit proudbecause those are usually the
result of like a girl that'sjust working really hard and
(29:25):
she's just trying her best.
SPEAKER_01 (29:27):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And and so now, like when youwhen you approach things, you
know, from this new perspectivethat you have on your life, you
know, this this version of youlike that is being rather than
like just forcing or or doinglike like how how do you view
yourself now?
Like when you when you sort oftalk to yourself, like how how
(29:49):
do you talk to yourself now?
SPEAKER_00 (29:51):
Yeah, a lot softer, a lot kinder, um just with a lot
more reverence for who I am as aperson, just the things that
I've faced.
Um, I actually did a journal andexercise very recently because
sometimes I have the tendency,and this is also I prescribe
this to one of my clients too.
I have the tendency to only beable to be proud of myself in
(30:13):
hindsight.
Uh some so like a couple yearslater I could look back and be
like really proud and stuff andthen um it was so interesting
because I realized there's likea two-year lag or something like
that.
I'm like, oh like I could beproud of what I did in 2023.
It's so strange.
So then um I did this journalexercise where I pretended it
was 2027 and I was looking atthe things that I'm doing right
(30:36):
now, the things that I'm beingright now, and I just was so
proud.
I realized like the the changefrom that very driven sort of
masculine energy to achieveeverything and feeling like that
is my peace to being able tohave peace regardless of my
circumstances is a massive one,and it doesn't always show up
(30:56):
externally.
Um, and I think that's the hardpart sometimes is that worthy
driven self, like the one thatthinks that my worth is outside
of me, can really get in the wayof seeing that internally and
externally I'm totallydifferent.
And it's it's been an adjustmentand quite an identity crisis at
times where I'm still like, butbut there's a part of that that
(31:18):
I miss, but for the most part,I'm so much kinder to myself and
a lot softer and easier onmyself, and I can yeah, I can do
things because I love to do themrather than feeling like I have
to because it's gonna give mesomething or that I think it's
going to give me something.
SPEAKER_01 (31:37):
Yeah, I love that.
And and for you know, for yoursort of high performing clients,
and maybe that that's part ofit, but like if somebody's
coming to you and they're kindof like super under pressure,
super high performer, like howhow would you even begin?
Like, what would be the firstthing that you would say to
somebody like that or you know,coach them through to help
(32:00):
relieve that pressure?
SPEAKER_00 (32:02):
Well, first I'd just have them explain everything to
me.
I just want to know kind of whattheir story is, how they've
arrived at this, um, why theybelieve this about themselves.
And then I would just meet themwith a lot of compassion because
I really know what it's like tostruggle that way.
And from there we would start tokind of peel apart the layers of
why they believe that aboutthemselves, that they have to
(32:24):
achieve this in order to behappy or to gain acceptance or
love or whatever it may be.
So we start peeling back thelayers and we start realizing
like, oh, actually everything isokay as it is, and everything
that's happened is meant to bethat way.
There's nothing that needs to bedifferent about that.
Everything about where I'm atright now is totally okay.
(32:45):
Nothing needs to be differentabout that.
Everything that's gonna happen,nothing that needs to be
different about that.
So I think it's just reallybeing able to create that space
for that person, uh, whoever itis, and realizing that we all
come from different walks oflife, but a lot of us just have
these same similarities.
SPEAKER_01 (33:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think I think that can besuch a because just listening to
you describe that, there's likea sense of peace that just
washed over me as well.
Um, but I think when you're inthat place, you know, when
you're like stuck in there andyou you have those these blind
spots that that we both knowexist, um, it can be so hard to
(33:23):
understand how could I everpossibly get to that place where
it's just like acceptance andspace and um things like that.
But that's the journey likewe've both been on as well.
And it is very possible, butit's it the work continues,
right?
SPEAKER_00 (33:39):
Absolutely, the work always continues.
And it's funny because you saythat, and one of my clients, um,
I think her issue that sheconstantly has, she just doesn't
believe that whatever she wantsis achievable.
And so one of the things thatshe brought up is that she wants
to travel but isn't in a placeright now that she could do
that.
I said, Okay, um, obviously thisis not financial advice, but I
(34:01):
said, What if that's just nottrue?
What if right now you couldactually go to Tahiti or
Maldives or whatever it is thatyou wanted to do?
I'm sure you could actually finda way if you knew for certain
that you needed to be there nextweek, you could probably find a
way to do it.
And she realized like how truethat is.
She goes, Oh yeah, like if I ifI knew I was gonna meet my
future husband there, I couldprobably just put it on my
(34:22):
credit card.
And so it wasn't this financialadvice, but it was realizing
that most of what we say justisn't true.
Yeah, that if you really wantedto, you could, but it's just not
the priority right now.
And so I think that was justsomething that I wanted to add
for some reason.
But uh yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (34:41):
Yeah, it makes so much sense.
It's it's just a limitation,right?
It's it's kind of like well,when I have we know this, it's
like the outside.
When I have the money, then Ican travel and then I can go to
Easy and meet my dreams.
Like or when I have the partner,then I can feel love, or when I
have the financial situation,then I'll have peace.
(35:02):
And it's just like find itfirst, and this is the
unraveling that you know, I knowmy work um does as well, is like
just the unraveling of that, butget the feeling because it's
inside you first, and thenthings on the outside will will
appear the way that they theydo.
So yeah.
Um one sort of well coming tothe end, but one sort of final
(35:25):
question.
If you could stunt double foranybody, who would it be?
Who would be your dream personto like stunt double for?
SPEAKER_00 (35:38):
That's uh that's a really good question.
Um, I think I would love todouble Reese Witherspoon because
I just was I was just loved hergrowing up, like absolutely
loved her.
And we actually are the sameheight.
So it would be really amazingjust putting it out there in
case anyone knows, anyone.
But I would just love to doubleReese Witherspoon.
(35:59):
Um, not that she does like a tonright now, but it doesn't
matter.
And then yeah, just for mepersonally.
SPEAKER_01 (36:06):
Come on.
SPEAKER_00 (36:09):
Yeah, we should we gotta do an action movie.
Not that she really does this,but um, yeah, just really also
just as a role.
Um, the one that I recently didwas my absolute dream role, so
I'm very excited about it and Ican't wait to share what it is.
SPEAKER_01 (36:25):
Very much looking forward to hearing that.
And Sydney, where can peoplefind you if people are looking
for your work?
SPEAKER_00 (36:31):
Yeah, if people are looking for my work, you can go
to my website.
It's just Sydney Olson.com.
Olson is spelled O-L-S-O-N, notlike the Olson twins, which is
an EN.
And if you want to follow me onInstagram, you can go to at
Sydney Olson One, and then mycoaching page is uh at Sydney
underscore O underscorecoaching.
SPEAKER_01 (36:51):
Amazing.
Yeah, and I highly, highlyrecommend going to your
Instagram page and just seeingyou in action and and seeing all
that you do.
Thank you so much for coming ontoday.
Honestly, it's been so beautifuljust finding out a little bit
more about you and you know,just I know what you've shared
and your experience andeverything that you know,
(37:12):
everything about you is justoffering so much value, and
you're such a gift, and I'm soso happy that our paths have
crossed.
And um, yeah, it's just anabsolute pleasure to speak to
you today and get your messageout there and yeah, you're just
wonderful.
So keep doing what you're doing.
SPEAKER_00 (37:29):
Oh, you're so sweet, and I feel the exact same about
you.
You're just so amazing, you havean incredible energy.
And when I met you in person,from the moment I met you, I was
like, oh, who is this lovelyperson?
I just wanted to be around you,so I'm really glad that we get
to connect and get to know eachother more.
So thank you for that, and thankyou for giving me the space to
just speak.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (37:50):
And yeah, thanks to Mr.
Peter Crown for bringing thistogether.
Love again.
We do, we really do.
All right, we will talk verysoon and lots of love, and thank
you so much for coming on.
Thank you.
Thanks for listening today, andif this episode helped or
(38:12):
inspired you, just remember toshare it to friends or family
who could also use someinspiration today.
We are all about sharing thelove.
Welcome to the Becoming Your Warrior podcast.
This is the place where you getto feel inspired and empowered
to step into your very bestlife.
Today on Becoming your Warrior,I am joined by Sydney Olsen, a
professional stunt woman,mindset coach, and former
(00:22):
pro-parko athlete who lives bythe truth that you can do
absolutely anything you decideis possible.
Sydney has competed across theglobe, earning more than 20
first place titles in parkour.
And for the last 11 years, she'sworked in the stunt industry,
doing everything from wire workto being set on fire to playing
characters on TV.
(00:43):
Alongside this incrediblecareer, she's also dedicated
herself to personal development,first to excel in competition
and later to find peace withherself beyond achievement,
which is the big one.
And today, Sydney helps otherspush past fear and step into
freedom through her mindsetcoaching.
And I am so excited to have youhere, Sydney, and to dive into
(01:05):
your stories.
So welcome.
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
Thank you so much, Emma.
I'm so glad that we get to be oneach other's podcasts and get to
be friends because you're justso amazing and such a light.
So I'm really grateful to behere.
SPEAKER_01 (01:17):
Oh, thank you so much.
What a lovely, what a lovelyreflection.
Thank you.
I really appreciate that.
And um yeah, just so excited tohave you here.
I mean, you know, talking aboutachievement, and I know we're
going to be talking about thepeace that's underneath that as
well.
But I mean, you have on anachievement level achieved so
much.
But what do you think for youhas been the biggest lesson that
(01:40):
you've learned about mindsetthrough your experiences?
SPEAKER_00 (01:45):
Well, I think there's a few, but uh, one of
the ones that steps out at mereally is just knowing that you
can actually do anything thatyou want to do.
Um, and a lot of what we believewe can't is just limitations
that we have in our mind.
And then the other thing I wantto add, because it just also is
very prevalent, um, and I wasthinking about it a lot as you
were asking the question, isthat our value never changes
(02:09):
throughout our life, no matterwhat we accomplish.
And I think that's been a reallyhard lesson for me.
I've had to learn it over andover again.
And it's also a really beautifulone.
So it doesn't matter if you're amillionaire or you're homeless
on the street, it the valuenever changes throughout your
entire life.
SPEAKER_01 (02:26):
Yeah, it is a big one.
We will definitely dive intothat a lot more.
So, I mean, for somebody likeyou, that again just coming back
to that achievement andobviously the value that runs
through that, but coming back tothat achievement, you know, you
know, for you, it's like there'sthis there's had to be some sort
of drive in you to go and getthese things, to achieve these
(02:48):
things.
Where do you think that drivefirst began for you?
SPEAKER_00 (02:54):
You know, my mom told me that I was so ambitious
since the day I was born.
She she said to me, and it's oneof the sweetest things that
she's ever said, is out of mykids, I always knew that if
someone was going to dosomething spectacular, it would
be you because everything youdid, you just did with so much
purpose.
And this was true for videogames.
(03:15):
I remember I got a PlayStationwhen I was like seven years old,
and I was obsessed with gettingpast this final boss.
I don't know.
I would just write down how Icould do it the next time.
I'd like very much learn quicklyfrom mistakes.
But I think what really forcedme into this drive was
gymnastics.
My gymnastics background, havinga coach that first was abusive
(03:38):
and then going into sort of adifferent environment after
having dealt with that.
And then I got a different roundof coaches that were very much
of the mindset that you are notyour limitations, you have to
work past every singlelimitation that you have, which
was really beneficial in a lotof ways, but it also came with
this comparisonitis that Iconstantly faced and still do
(04:00):
sometimes in my life.
But um, we were in a rank.
Uh so that was the hardest partis uh we would have a rank at
the gym.
So I would usually sit at liketop three, and I'd always want
to be at number one, and so Iwould do anything possible to do
that.
I think I made a time capsulewhen I was 10 years old asking
(04:21):
myself, are you first in rank?
So it's really funny to lookback at, but it was very serious
for me at the time.
And I think I just everythingthat I wanted to do, I wanted to
be the best at it.
It wasn't even that I wanted tobe the best for myself, I wanted
to be the best.
And so the drive for that wasvery serious for a long time.
(04:42):
And it drove me to to achieve somany things.
But then the issue that thenarises as you accomplish all
these things and you get to saythat maybe, oh, I was a world
champion at something, but itdoesn't actually give you that
peace that you think it'll giveyou.
So, or at least for me, itdoesn't give me the peace that I
think it'll bring me.
(05:03):
So that has been kind of thestart of my journey, really.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:07):
And I mean, it it are there are there times when
you know when you say like, youknow, achieving that title, you
know, being the best.
I mean, w when you are actuallyawarded that, is there a moment
in time when you get toexperience it?
Or because you said it you justit doesn't give you that piece.
SPEAKER_00 (05:25):
Is there a second or is there a minute where you can
I would say I would say that's agreat question.
I remember standing up on firstplace podiums and every time I
would be so elated up there.
And so it's not as if I didn'thave the experience of it.
I definitely did, and it wouldlast like a day or two, and then
it would instantly come up withan anxiety of I have to do this
(05:49):
or better next time becausepeople are gonna come after me
and I need to make sure that Istay on top.
So it came with this constantanxiety of performing and
realizing that I'd have to keepthe title, which is harder than
getting in the first placesometimes.
Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_01 (06:05):
And and I mean, so so what is what was because I
know you've done so much workaround this and you coach other
people around this as well, butyou've mentioned the word
anxiety.
I mean, what's it like to livein that world where it's like,
you know, you're number one,you've smashed it, you've
achieved this goal, um, but thenyou know, there's this pressure
(06:26):
to maintain it.
I mean, what what what was thatlike for you living in that
world?
SPEAKER_00 (06:31):
It was stressful.
It came with a lot of pressure.
I mean, there was a lot of itthat I really enjoyed because it
made me such a good athlete.
And I would go out with all thisintention to train and I would
be able to do everything that Iwanted to do, but it just came
with this underlying fear thatif I didn't accomplish this, I
wasn't going to be loved for whoI am.
I needed to prove my worth.
And so that was kind of thelesson that I hadn't quite
(06:53):
learned is that my worth wasinnate.
So I believed that worthiness istied to achievements, and this
would show up in so many ways,even outside of my athletic
career.
So I think, yeah, it just it towalk around in a world like
that, I could just the one wordI would use is just pressure,
like don't fuck it up.
I hope it's okay that I saidfuck.
(07:18):
You leave it out.
Um but basically just don't messit up, um, always have to be
better, like look out for thatperson, everyone's a threat.
It's just that was kind of theworld that I was living in.
SPEAKER_01 (07:31):
Yeah.
And so I mean, how and obviouslyit's a journey that we're all on
as well, but how did you firstgo about because I think, okay,
here's the question.
I think a lot of people think,well, if I do the mindset work
and clear that that pressure,say, out of the way, then that
(07:51):
means I'm no longer gonnaperform.
I'm not gonna perform at thesame, you know, I'm not gonna
have the same drive.
How how has that journey beenfor you, like removing that and
still performing?
SPEAKER_00 (08:05):
So it's really funny because that was my exact
thought for a long time.
I would be afraid to like workon it just enough to like get
past certain things because Iwanted to still be able to win.
I thought that if I worked on ittoo much, it would go away.
And then uh once I did startworking through it anyway,
because basically I just decidednothing's worth this uh what I'm
(08:28):
feeling.
Like I didn't feel like it wasworth it to feel this terrible
about myself.
If I was winning, it didn't likeI said, it didn't bring me what
I thought it was going to giveme.
So why pursue that if I can't,you know, show up as who I
really want to?
So basically that was whatinspired the work.
But then the interesting thingwas I had a competition that
(08:48):
year later, I thought I wasgonna be done competing, but
decided to do one more and Iwent in completely just to have
fun.
And because I had taken all thatpressure off of myself, the
first day I actually ended up insecond place, and I hadn't felt
what that was like in a longtime.
And I was okay with it, but Iwas also there was this other
(09:10):
part that was like, yeah, but ifyou want to, you can still win.
And so it was realizing that Ihad done this work, I could
accept the fact that I might notbe in first place and that would
be okay.
But then there was also thisthing, this side of me that was
never gonna go away.
Still, still wanted to becompetitive, still wanted to
win, because the other benefitto it is that I was pushing
everybody else in the sport aswell.
(09:31):
So everyone else was gettingbetter because I was competitive
and vice versa.
Like everyone that was reallycompetitive with me made me a
better athlete too.
So there was this dance betweennot putting too much pressure on
myself, but also knowing that ifI really want to, this is for me
too.
Like I have just as much of anopportunity.
So I ended up winning the wholecompetition, and it was the
(09:52):
first time that I had done itfrom a place of total acceptance
for whatever outcome was goingto happen.
So then any other competition Itook place in after that, and I
did lose a couple of times andit it was fine.
I realized it didn't matter, anduh that the entire time it was
just a facade and it was justthis lie that I had told myself
(10:14):
that I have to win, otherwise Iwouldn't be accepted for who I
am.
But really, what I had a hardtime understanding is whenever I
looked up to anybody, it didn'tmatter to me if they got second
place, third place, last place,whatever.
If I looked up to them, I lookedup to them, but I just couldn't
see that with myself.
SPEAKER_01 (10:29):
Yeah.
And and that that sort ofjourney, I mean, even you know,
we've touched on like valuebeing attached to achievement
and not being accepted asyourself unless you were
winning.
I mean, where where does wherefor you, you know, you know, as
comfortable as you are to gointo it, where do you think that
comes from?
Because you said as a baby yourmum was like poof, you were just
like off, you know.
(10:50):
But where where do you feel thatsh first showed up in your life,
this idea of like not beingaccepted unless you were
achieving something?
SPEAKER_00 (10:59):
Well, I think partially is to do with I'm a
middle child.
So I think when my brother wasborn, and I absolutely adore
family, I know that it's uh Ijust want to preface that
because I know that my parentsare amazing and they absolutely
did the best they could.
But I think that when my brotherwas born, I think I had to
compete a little bit more forattention from my parents.
And they honestly did give me abit more attention when I was
(11:23):
doing really well in gymnastics,and it was cool, it was that one
thing that I had.
And I remember my sister was ingymnastics before I was, and I
looked up to my sister, sothat's what made me want to go
into it in the first place.
So my dad told me, you canbecome a gymnast if you get a
perfect cartwheel.
And so, you know, well-meaning,of course, and I'm five years
(11:43):
old and I'm out in the frontlawn and I'm working on my
cartwheel every day for hours,and I finally get it and it's
beautiful, and then I startadding on, I see what my
sister's doing at the gym, and Iwant to try that too.
And so suddenly I'm doing likeround off back handspring
backflip, and so they have toput me on team right away
because I've already learned allthe moves that she does, and so
(12:03):
then uh because I joinedgymnastics, my sister ended up
quitting because she's like, Oh,my sister's already better than
me and she's three yearsyounger.
So I think there was this yeah,a little bit of competing for
attention from my parents,competing for attention from my
coaches, being put in a rankamongst other girls and
constantly being compared.
And then yeah, just basicallyrealizing that I have this kind
(12:28):
of ability.
Like I don't know, people keptcalling me gifted, that kind of
stuff.
And so I think it was just likethis pressure that I then put on
myself being like, oh, I've gotto keep this up.
SPEAKER_01 (12:39):
Yeah.
And you know, and you know, I Isee it with my clients as well,
and I can I can hear it in that.
It's just like when you'regetting that attention, when
your value is like, oh, you'vewon again, or you're perfect, or
you're doing the perfectcartwheel, and then the rewards
there, and it's allwell-meaning, of course.
It's praise, but it's praise forthe achievement.
So so what what's been your Iguess your journey of
(13:03):
discovering your value outsideof what you do?
SPEAKER_00 (13:08):
Well, it's been a long journey, and occasionally
it still flares back up,thinking that my value is tied
to things that I do, and if I'mnot doing enough, then I'm not
valuable, which is just ahundred percent a lie.
But I think it really just hasbeen this deeper work on myself,
um, realizing, I mean, PeterCrohn was a lot to do with this
too, because I think that wasalways the missing piece that I
(13:29):
had.
I would do all thisself-development work, but it
would come from wanting to bebetter and be the best version
of my limited self.
And so when I when I came acrossPeter, I think the thing that
really helped me was how rootedhe is in understanding and
acceptance.
And that was the missing pieceis I had no acceptance for who I
(13:50):
was, where I was, all the thebad things about me, all the
things that I didn't want tolook at, all the things that um
when I was younger, I was alsomade fun of a lot by other girls
at school, that kind of stuff.
And a lot of those things werekind of put in my shadow, things
that I didn't really want tolook at.
And so when I finally made thespace for all of me, then it was
(14:11):
so much easier to just realizethat my worth is just inherent,
and so as everybody else is,realizing how connected we are
and how everything that hashappened just basically has
happened.
It couldn't be any other way,and it's just it's all very
connected.
And so I think realizing thatthings couldn't be any different
and that I'm happy with whereI'm at is ultimately it's okay.
(14:36):
Yeah, he's a wise man, thatPeter Crone, isn't he?
SPEAKER_01 (14:42):
Yeah, because it's it's really interesting because
uh I'm sort of being connectedto you but in a different way
because I know I actuallywatched a video of you being
coached by Peter at one of hisevents.
Um so that was before we evenmet, and then we got to meet at
the retreat in person.
So um, yeah, I mean just justseeing that transformation just
(15:02):
in you, just in that coachingsession.
And um, but yeah, it's it's soyou're you're so spot on because
I think that's the thing, it'syou know, we want other people
outside of us to love and acceptall of us, but if we don't do
that for ourselves, if we don'tlike that bit about us, that
judgment piece that like if wejudge ourselves or if we're
(15:23):
harsh to ourselves or if we're acruel critic to ourselves, if we
can't even love and accept thatit that that is part of us and
deny it or not like it, then howcan we expect everything on the
outside to um to love and acceptus?
And I think this is where peoplestruggle a little bit as well.
(15:43):
Yeah.
Um and and so you sort ofmentioned like with the kind of
the achievement and the thinkingyour worth was attached to, you
know, your achievements, and yousaid that filtered out into
other areas of your life aswell, outside of what where else
whatever you feel comfortablewith where else did that show up
for you?
SPEAKER_00 (16:03):
I mean it showed up in probably every single thing,
especially relationships too.
I used to be very jealous, andit's mostly because I just
thought everybody else is athreat, and so it wasn't even
just a worthy thing, too.
It was like, is this personbetter than me in any single
way?
And it was just like I said,constant comparison, everyone's
a threat in some way.
(16:24):
And so I think once I stoppedchasing the validation from
other people, first of all, andreally started to get that
better relationship with myselfand uh being more aware of why I
was feeling this way in thefirst place, I think that's
really when the change cameabout.
And you're right, it is it isreally difficult to be in that
(16:46):
space where you're wanting loveand acceptance from other
people, but you're not reallyeven giving it to yourself.
You're basically sayingsomething outside of me has got
to give me what I'm butdesperately craving from myself.
So um, but to answer yourquestion, because I know that
you asked if where else it wouldshow up.
There was other things too.
Um I would get mad if peoplethat didn't work I'm saying this
(17:08):
in quotation marks if peoplearen't viewing this, but um if
people didn't work as hard as Idid, but got rewarded more, I
would think that was reallyunfair.
And so I had another constraintthat was like life is unfair,
um, without and the that onereally played a role for a long
time because that was alsovalue-driven.
(17:29):
It was saying that the more timeyou put in, the more effort you
put in, the more authentic youare, the more in integrity you
are, the better you should berewarded.
And it's like, where did thatcome from?
You know, and so there's alwaysjust these things that come up
that we can look at that are soso helpful.
But I think the life is unfairone, that one, that one drove my
(17:50):
life for a very long time.
SPEAKER_01 (17:52):
Yeah.
How nice is to come out theother side of that.
And and and you know, it's stillstill um it can still show up
from time to time, right?
It's it's kind of theever-evolving I just feel like
we work in cycles and it's kindof these things can come up
again, but it's like now thatyou've broken through it and
you've got that awareness, doyou feel like when it does show
(18:14):
up, it's easier to kind ofbounce back from it?
SPEAKER_00 (18:17):
Oh my god, massively.
I mean, first it was there wasno awareness.
So I think the awareness beingthe first step is really
important because once you'reaware, it's you can't not be in
some way, shape, or form.
Sometimes it can flip by youwithout you really noticing, but
most of the time, um, whetheryou're reflecting on it later in
the day or whatever, you realizethat this is happening.
(18:38):
And it's like, oh, it's justthat part of me.
And so once I was able to likegive that part of me love and
attention um for whatever itfeels like it missed out on or
whatever fears are arisingwithin me, then I don't have to
worry so much.
But I think it is exactly whatyou said.
It's just it's night and day.
I mean, it used to just likeplague my existence.
I would be really strugglingmentally, but now I just when it
(19:01):
comes up, it's almost gone asquickly as it arrived.
SPEAKER_01 (19:04):
Yeah, it's so beautiful.
It's so beautiful that work.
Um let's talk a little bit aboutfear.
Uh because you know, you know,um as I mentioned before we
started recording, you know, Ilook at your Instagram, which is
like just insane.
Some of the stuff that you do,like with your body and how you
push yourself and the the thethings that you have achieved
(19:27):
with your body, but also from aplace of like, you know, in
everyday life, people havefears.
They have fears around startinga business, putting themselves
out there, being seen, um, youknow, fears about the future,
all of that um kind of stuff.
Can you using all of yourexperience in both mindset and
(19:48):
with the work that you've donewith your body, can you talk to
me about your own experienceabout fear and coming through
it?
SPEAKER_00 (19:54):
Absolutely.
Um, and thank you for thecompliment that was very nice.
Um, but I think it's it'sinteresting because a lot of
people believe that I'm fearlessand I'm just totally not.
I am probably just as terroristterrified as the next person
trying to do the things that I'mdoing.
Fear isn't something that justgoes away from me, it's
something that I work withrather than against or trying to
(20:15):
get rid of because I don't thinkthat you can really get rid of
fear.
It's a good response to have,actually.
Um I'm just gonna preface thisreal quick because this was
something that recently happenedto me.
The times that I show up withoutany fear to a stunt job is not
good.
It's actually really dangerous.
And I recently had a job where Iwasn't worried at all about
something that I was doing, andlooking back, I mean, probably
(20:38):
should have been, like just alittle bit.
But anyway, sometimes I can getoverly cocky, and I went for
this move and I ended up hittingmy head really hard on a metal
grate, and I got concussed and Iknocked myself out very quickly.
But uh it's always those timeswhere I'm not in fear at all
that I actually have a responselike that because I'm not
(20:59):
totally looking out for myselfin some ways.
So I know that's a differentsort of segue, but basically
what I mean is fear is somethingthat we can change our
relationship with.
It's not something that we'retrying to get rid of.
But if you change yourrelationship and see what it's
trying to protect you from, it'sa lot easier to work with it.
So most of the time, if you lookat the moves that I'm doing,
(21:21):
there could be a fear thatarises of like, oh, I could get
hurt.
But most of the time, everysingle thing that you've seen me
do on Instagram, I have workedon so much before I ever came
outside to concrete.
And so it was always done into afoam pit and then onto some mats
and then onto a floor and thenonto concrete.
So everything was um aprogression.
(21:43):
And so that's what I like tothink of as also progressions.
Like, of course, there are goingto be certain things like
putting yourself out there is areally scary thing for a lot of
people, and it was scary for mewhen I started my coaching
business too.
I mean, I could, you know, beset on fire, I could fall 30
feet, whatever, but put likesaying, hey, I want to offer
mindset coaching was terrifying.
(22:04):
And it took me several months toactually like, no, so years.
I mean, it took me years toactually go for it.
Uh, but it was great too,because it also allowed me to
get more experience and um learna lot more before helping other
people.
But besides all that, I canstill be absolutely terrified
before doing something likethat.
(22:25):
And I think one day I justdecided, you know what, this
imposter syndrome, this fearthat I have, all that is never
really gonna go away.
But maybe I can work with it byjust taking that next step.
What is the next step that I cando?
It's like, okay, I've done allof the things to get ready for
this.
It's time to just finally jumpoff the cliff and tell people
that I'm gonna be offering myservices.
(22:46):
And the worst that happens isthat people don't react to it
and it's not a problem.
So I put it out there and it'sit's been great.
But at the same time, I alsoacknowledge the fact that fear
is really just what we'reprojecting onto the future.
It's uh like Peter always says,past hurt informs future fear.
(23:06):
So the fears that I have ofputting myself out there in that
way is probably just somethingto do with the fact that when I
was a kid, I would get made funof for putting myself out there
in a way.
It's like, okay, so is thatwhat's happening?
No.
Is it going to flop like that?
I mean, it could, but at thesame time, also I could end up
just getting clients and gettingto work this really cool thing
(23:28):
that I really like to do.
So it's realizing that bothscenarios are possible and just
as real as each other.
And it's just like which one areyou going to focus on?
So fear for me is two verydifferent things.
Because obviously, there's thepart of me that really needs the
fear to be in touch with whatI'm doing on some of those
bigger stunt jobs.
(23:49):
And then there's the part of methat has to work through that
fear because, like I said, it'snot really going away most of
the time.
It's just as you're doing it, itit tends to dissipate.
SPEAKER_01 (23:58):
Yeah.
And I I love that example ofkind of, you know, that even
with the stunts that you weredoing, it's kind of been a
process.
There's been like, you know,you've been doing it with
support, you've been doing itinto a phone pit, and then it's
like, and then you go out andactually do it.
And it's the same with like,like you said, like launching
your business.
It's like for months you can belike one step forward, one step
(24:18):
back, and you know, I'm justusing it as an example, but it
is a process, and I I do thinklike with a business or you
know, stepping into a newrelationship or whatever it is,
um, there is a process of liketaking steps forward.
It's it's not just like I'mgonna set up a business and be
amazing.
And I think this is uh what Isee a lot is people who are
(24:39):
extremely successful sellinglike courses on how to do things
and the strategies there, but ifyour mindset isn't there, that's
the struggle.
Right?
Absolutely, yeah, yeah, that'sbeautiful.
I really I really love that.
Um so so talk to me a little bitnow about you know what what are
you up to?
(25:00):
Because, you know, I see allthis stuff and I you know I know
that you're still working withyour body, but tell me a little
bit more about the coaching sideof what you're doing as well now
and who you're working with.
SPEAKER_00 (25:11):
Yeah, I mean, I just recently started my mindset
coaching business back in June.
And as I said before, it'ssomething I'd wanted to do for
many years and finally took thesteps to do that.
I I started it during kind of aslow time at work.
Things had been slow in thestunt world, and I was like,
okay, finally this is this iswhen we're gonna do it.
So I f I I get the courage, I dothat.
(25:33):
And then pretty much right afterI started mindset coaching, I
got a stunt job that washappening for the next seven
weeks.
And so over the summer I workedon this really cool job.
I can't quite say what it wasyet, but it's something really
cool, and that'll be coming outin February, so I'll definitely
let you know when that airs.
But um, as of right now, formindset coaching, I tend to
(25:55):
attract high performers, and Ithink I haven't really niche
down yet.
I haven't done all that, and Iknow there's like that pressure
out there that I could subscribeto of like niching down, but I
haven't done that yet.
But mostly I attract a lot ofhigh performers that want to
accomplish really big things andthey put a lot of pressure on
themselves.
So that's who I'm working withis people that have been through
exactly what I've been through.
SPEAKER_01 (26:20):
I wonder why you attract that kind of person.
Gosh, I wonder why.
Oh, that is awesome.
That's awesome.
And you know, I know you can'ttell us about, but just for a
little bit of juice, you know,because you and it's not to
focus on what you've done, youknow, it's it's who you are.
But um give us a little bit ofjuice.
(26:40):
What what kind of movies, whatkind of sets and things have you
worked on in the past?
Like who have you doubled for,if you can share?
SPEAKER_00 (26:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, there was a show calledStargirl.
I doubled Breck Bassinger, she'sshe was um, I think no, she
wasn't a teen actress at thetime, she was a little bit older
than that.
But anyway, she plays ateenager.
So um it was a superhero show,and I did season two of that.
And then there was I actuallyjust posted about something that
(27:07):
came out today.
I mean, I've done a lot ofdifferent things, but I worked
on the show Monster that's onNetflix, and it was only for one
scene, and it was a chainsawscene where like everybody's
getting murdered by a chainsaw.
And it was like one of the mostgory days of work in my life.
It was so gross.
There was just blood everywhere,but not not real blood, but it
(27:28):
was just like it took me days toget that out of my hair.
Um I worked on the new Twistersmovie.
I got to um t test all the wirestuff for that, which was really
cool.
Um, I love wire work.
I get test or I get hired a lotto do things like wire work and
anything where I just kind ofget slammed against the ground.
I tend to get a lot of like uhhard-hitting jobs.
(27:52):
So um yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (27:53):
Yeah, I definitely I think you posted something on
Instagram recently, and it waslike all the kind of like when
things like kind of didn't go toplan kind of thing.
And there's one shot whereyou're doing like a parkour.
Am I saying it right?
Parkour, yeah, yeah, you'resaying it right.
It's fine.
Um but you're doing this onemove and it's like it's and you
just land in such a way, and Iwas just like, oh, city.
(28:19):
It just looks so brutal.
SPEAKER_00 (28:21):
It looks so brutal, but um, yeah.
I know what video, it's funny.
That video, um, every once in awhile I repost like a lot of my
clips, like bails, things thatwent horribly wrong, and that's
just the parkour related stuff.
Um, not so much stunts, but umyeah, that one specifically is
funny because all those allthose clips, like I'm actually
(28:42):
really proud when I look back onthose, mostly because almost all
of them, like there's only a fewthat I actually got hurt.
There's one where I broke myhand, there's one that I broke
my ankle, and then I think therewas one where I hit my head, but
I think because I don'tremember.
Um but most of them, I Iactually it was the result of me
(29:04):
pushing myself in a way that Iwas like, I was terrified and I
worked through it.
And then most of them were like,they were scary, but I didn't
actually get hurt, so it was itwas just the next step to take.
So I know that it seems likehorrible and things didn't go to
plan, but um really when I lookback on it, I can't help but
just be a little bit proudbecause those are usually the
result of like a girl that'sjust working really hard and
(29:25):
she's just trying her best.
SPEAKER_01 (29:27):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And and so now, like when youwhen you approach things, you
know, from this new perspectivethat you have on your life, you
know, this this version of youlike that is being rather than
like just forcing or or doinglike like how how do you view
yourself now?
Like when you when you sort oftalk to yourself, like how how
(29:49):
do you talk to yourself now?
SPEAKER_00 (29:51):
Yeah, a lot softer, a lot kinder, um just with a lot
more reverence for who I am as aperson, just the things that
I've faced.
Um, I actually did a journal andexercise very recently because
sometimes I have the tendency,and this is also I prescribe
this to one of my clients too.
I have the tendency to only beable to be proud of myself in
(30:13):
hindsight.
Uh some so like a couple yearslater I could look back and be
like really proud and stuff andthen um it was so interesting
because I realized there's likea two-year lag or something like
that.
I'm like, oh like I could beproud of what I did in 2023.
It's so strange.
So then um I did this journalexercise where I pretended it
was 2027 and I was looking atthe things that I'm doing right
(30:36):
now, the things that I'm beingright now, and I just was so
proud.
I realized like the the changefrom that very driven sort of
masculine energy to achieveeverything and feeling like that
is my peace to being able tohave peace regardless of my
circumstances is a massive one,and it doesn't always show up
(30:56):
externally.
Um, and I think that's the hardpart sometimes is that worthy
driven self, like the one thatthinks that my worth is outside
of me, can really get in the wayof seeing that internally and
externally I'm totallydifferent.
And it's it's been an adjustmentand quite an identity crisis at
times where I'm still like, butbut there's a part of that that
(31:18):
I miss, but for the most part,I'm so much kinder to myself and
a lot softer and easier onmyself, and I can yeah, I can do
things because I love to do themrather than feeling like I have
to because it's gonna give mesomething or that I think it's
going to give me something.
SPEAKER_01 (31:37):
Yeah, I love that.
And and for you know, for yoursort of high performing clients,
and maybe that that's part ofit, but like if somebody's
coming to you and they're kindof like super under pressure,
super high performer, like howhow would you even begin?
Like, what would be the firstthing that you would say to
somebody like that or you know,coach them through to help
(32:00):
relieve that pressure?
SPEAKER_00 (32:02):
Well, first I'd just have them explain everything to
me.
I just want to know kind of whattheir story is, how they've
arrived at this, um, why theybelieve this about themselves.
And then I would just meet themwith a lot of compassion because
I really know what it's like tostruggle that way.
And from there we would start tokind of peel apart the layers of
why they believe that aboutthemselves, that they have to
(32:24):
achieve this in order to behappy or to gain acceptance or
love or whatever it may be.
So we start peeling back thelayers and we start realizing
like, oh, actually everything isokay as it is, and everything
that's happened is meant to bethat way.
There's nothing that needs to bedifferent about that.
Everything about where I'm atright now is totally okay.
(32:45):
Nothing needs to be differentabout that.
Everything that's gonna happen,nothing that needs to be
different about that.
So I think it's just reallybeing able to create that space
for that person, uh, whoever itis, and realizing that we all
come from different walks oflife, but a lot of us just have
these same similarities.
SPEAKER_01 (33:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think I think that can besuch a because just listening to
you describe that, there's likea sense of peace that just
washed over me as well.
Um, but I think when you're inthat place, you know, when
you're like stuck in there andyou you have those these blind
spots that that we both knowexist, um, it can be so hard to
(33:23):
understand how could I everpossibly get to that place where
it's just like acceptance andspace and um things like that.
But that's the journey likewe've both been on as well.
And it is very possible, butit's it the work continues,
right?
SPEAKER_00 (33:39):
Absolutely, the work always continues.
And it's funny because you saythat, and one of my clients, um,
I think her issue that sheconstantly has, she just doesn't
believe that whatever she wantsis achievable.
And so one of the things thatshe brought up is that she wants
to travel but isn't in a placeright now that she could do
that.
I said, Okay, um, obviously thisis not financial advice, but I
(34:01):
said, What if that's just nottrue?
What if right now you couldactually go to Tahiti or
Maldives or whatever it is thatyou wanted to do?
I'm sure you could actually finda way if you knew for certain
that you needed to be there nextweek, you could probably find a
way to do it.
And she realized like how truethat is.
She goes, Oh yeah, like if I ifI knew I was gonna meet my
future husband there, I couldprobably just put it on my
(34:22):
credit card.
And so it wasn't this financialadvice, but it was realizing
that most of what we say justisn't true.
Yeah, that if you really wantedto, you could, but it's just not
the priority right now.
And so I think that was justsomething that I wanted to add
for some reason.
But uh yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (34:41):
Yeah, it makes so much sense.
It's it's just a limitation,right?
It's it's kind of like well,when I have we know this, it's
like the outside.
When I have the money, then Ican travel and then I can go to
Easy and meet my dreams.
Like or when I have the partner,then I can feel love, or when I
have the financial situation,then I'll have peace.
(35:02):
And it's just like find itfirst, and this is the
unraveling that you know, I knowmy work um does as well, is like
just the unraveling of that, butget the feeling because it's
inside you first, and thenthings on the outside will will
appear the way that they theydo.
So yeah.
Um one sort of well coming tothe end, but one sort of final
(35:25):
question.
If you could stunt double foranybody, who would it be?
Who would be your dream personto like stunt double for?
SPEAKER_00 (35:38):
That's uh that's a really good question.
Um, I think I would love todouble Reese Witherspoon because
I just was I was just loved hergrowing up, like absolutely
loved her.
And we actually are the sameheight.
So it would be really amazingjust putting it out there in
case anyone knows, anyone.
But I would just love to doubleReese Witherspoon.
(35:59):
Um, not that she does like a tonright now, but it doesn't
matter.
And then yeah, just for mepersonally.
SPEAKER_01 (36:06):
Come on.
SPEAKER_00 (36:09):
Yeah, we should we gotta do an action movie.
Not that she really does this,but um, yeah, just really also
just as a role.
Um, the one that I recently didwas my absolute dream role, so
I'm very excited about it and Ican't wait to share what it is.
SPEAKER_01 (36:25):
Very much looking forward to hearing that.
And Sydney, where can peoplefind you if people are looking
for your work?
SPEAKER_00 (36:31):
Yeah, if people are looking for my work, you can go
to my website.
It's just Sydney Olson.com.
Olson is spelled O-L-S-O-N, notlike the Olson twins, which is
an EN.
And if you want to follow me onInstagram, you can go to at
Sydney Olson One, and then mycoaching page is uh at Sydney
underscore O underscorecoaching.
SPEAKER_01 (36:51):
Amazing.
Yeah, and I highly, highlyrecommend going to your
Instagram page and just seeingyou in action and and seeing all
that you do.
Thank you so much for coming ontoday.
Honestly, it's been so beautifuljust finding out a little bit
more about you and you know,just I know what you've shared
and your experience andeverything that you know,
(37:12):
everything about you is justoffering so much value, and
you're such a gift, and I'm soso happy that our paths have
crossed.
And um, yeah, it's just anabsolute pleasure to speak to
you today and get your messageout there and yeah, you're just
wonderful.
So keep doing what you're doing.
SPEAKER_00 (37:29):
Oh, you're so sweet, and I feel the exact same about
you.
You're just so amazing, you havean incredible energy.
And when I met you in person,from the moment I met you, I was
like, oh, who is this lovelyperson?
I just wanted to be around you,so I'm really glad that we get
to connect and get to know eachother more.
So thank you for that, and thankyou for giving me the space to
just speak.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (37:50):
And yeah, thanks to Mr.
Peter Crown for bringing thistogether.
Love again.
We do, we really do.
All right, we will talk verysoon and lots of love, and thank
you so much for coming on.
Thank you.
Thanks for listening today, andif this episode helped or
(38:12):
inspired you, just remember toshare it to friends or family
who could also use someinspiration today.
We are all about sharing thelove.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.