Pre-Zero Sports Talk
Pre-Zero Sports Talk is a sports leadership podcast exploring high performance, coaching, athlete development, sports business, faith, purpose, innovation, sustainability, clean progress, and life beyond the game. Hosted by Sid Bensalah, with over 30 years of global sports industry experience, the podcast brings honest, long-form conversations with athletes, coaches, leaders, founders, innovators, and changemakers. This is not only a podcast about sport. It is about what sport reveals about people, how we lead, how we handle pressure, how we pursue meaning, and how we build lives, teams, and communities with purpose. Through real conversations beyond the game, Pre-Zero Sports Talk explores leadership, performance, faith and purpose, identity, resilience, human potential, athlete well-being, coaching culture, community impact, sports governance, clean progress, sustainability, technology, innovation, and the future of sport. No filter. No bias. Straight talk. Subscribe and join real conversations on sport, leadership, faith, performance, purpose, community, impact, and life beyond the game.
Episodes
What happens when pain, shame, and a broken identity become part of a greater story?
In Episode #110 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, host Sid Bensalah welcomes Cecily Lachapelle, Bible teacher, host of The Higher Pursuit Podcast, and author of Repurpose Your Pain, for an honest, deeply personal conversation about faith, suffering, healing, identity, marriage, and purpose.
Cecily shares her journey through childhood wounds, r...
In Episode #109, Sid Bensalah sits down with Darren Swanson, founder of Novel Futures Corporation, a sustainability and resilience practitioner, strategic foresight expert, author, and former national and international volleyball athlete.
This long-form conversation connects sport, group flow, inner development, sustainability, and human maturity. Darren explains the flow state, often called “the zone,” u...
What does it really take to return from an injury, and why doesn’t being pain-free mean an athlete is ready to compete?
In Episode #108 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah speaks with Peter Dionisopoulos, a Doctor of Physical Therapy, performance rehabilitation specialist, and founder of Dynamic Performance and Rehab.
Peter explains how performance-based rehabilitation aligns injury recovery with the physical ...
In Episode #107 of the Pre-Zero Sports Talk Podcast, Sid Bensalah sits down with Phil Cohen, Co-Founder and COO of Simplifyber, U.S. Air Force veteran, MIT Sloan MBA, serial entrepreneur, and former semi-professional hockey player.
This long-form conversation goes far beyond advanced materials. Phil shares how life is shaped by the questions we answer “yes&rdquo...
Leadership transformation, deliberate practice, human potential, coaching, trust, resilience, and high-performance culture are central to this conversation with Chris Majer.
What does it really take to transform your life, your leadership, or your team?
In Episode #106 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Chris Majer, founder of the Human Potential Project, CEO of The Majer Factor, transformational spe...
Leadership under pressure, faith, purpose, burnout, identity, communication, marriage, and the cost of success are central to this conversation with David Petrash.
In Episode #105, Sid Bensalah sits down with David Petrash, a U.S. Navy veteran, former nuclear submarine reactor operator, entrepreneur, pastor, leadership speaker, and founder of Ripple of Faith Leadership.
From life aboard nuclear submarines to leadershi...
What happens when you achieve everything you thought you wanted, but still feel exhausted, disconnected, and empty inside?
In Episode #104 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Nicole Anderson, leadership coach, burnout expert, and founder of The Kaler Group.
Nicole shares her personal journey through burnout, health struggles, motherhood, achievement addiction, and the process of redefi...
Will AI replace people, or will poor leadership create the real damage?
In Episode #103 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Stephanie Sylvestre, CEO and Co-Founder of Avatar Buddy AI, for a human-centered conversation about AI, leadership, layoffs, entrepreneurship, community, and the future of work.
Stephanie explains why AI should amplify people rather than replace them, how digital ...
What happens when a team, company, or culture depends too much on one leader?
In Episode #102 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Björn Vikard, leadership advisor and former COO, for a deep conversation on succession, trust, systems thinking, founder dependency, and high-performance culture.
Drawing on more than 20 years of experience a...
What do sports teach us about leadership, pressure, character, and life beyond the game?
In Episode #101 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Jonathan K. Osborne, former Division I basketball player and federal prosecutor, now a leader in white-collar defense and internal investigations.
Jonathan shares how grace, grit, and humility shaped his journey from athlete to attorney, and how s...
What happens when success, achievement, and external validation are still not enough?
In Episode #100 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Dr. Jack Groppel, sports science pioneer, author of Mountains Within, and former leader at the Human Performance Institute.
Jack shares his deeply personal journey from a childhood shaped by pressure and a lifelong drive to prove himself, to confront...
Why does U.S. soccer produce so many players, yet still struggle to build a true performance-driven development system?
In Episode #99 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Alex Lubyansky, founder of Detroit Metro FC and former European Sporting Director, for a direct conversation on U.S. soccer, pay-to-play, youth development, governance, money...
How do you rebuild your life after losing both hands and parts of your feet?
In Episode #98 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Scott Martin, award-winning soccer coach, educator, disability advocate, and author of Play From Your Heart.
After a life-threatening infection led to septic shock, a month-long coma, and the loss of both hands and parts of his feet, Scott was forced to rebuil...
What if dyslexia is not a disability, but a different way of processing information that many schools still do not understand?
In Episode #97 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Russell Van Brocklen, dyslexia researcher, educator, and founder of DyslexiaClasses.com.
After being assessed at roughly a first-grade reading and writing level in college, Russell turned his personal struggle ...
How can an outsider perspective help sport become more strategic, responsible, and impactful?
In Episode #96 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Josephina Oji, Global Director of Impact, Sustainability, and Transformation, for a conversation on sport, sustainability, leadership, governance, equity, and long-term impact.
Josephina shares her squiggly career journey from law, human right...
Why do so many men feel stuck, disconnected, or unsure of who they are meant to become?
In Episode #95 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Maxim Shapiro, men’s purpose coach and founder of Forward Motion Coaching, for a raw conversation on men’s purpose, depression, identity, effort, self-leadership, and rebuilding real community.<...
What if your body is the real business plan behind your leadership, clarity, and long-term performance?
In Episode #94 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with performance coach Tom Waite to discuss executive health, athletic training for leaders, burnout prevention, strength training, recovery, and sustainable performance.
Tom works with executives and founders using athletic training prin...
What does the future of women’s sports require from coaches, leaders, media, and communities?
In Episode #93 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Angela R. Lewis, former Division I basketball player, championship-winning coach, author, and leadership consultant.
Angela discusses the growth of women’s sports, visibility, role models, media coverage, pay equity, athlete develo...
What happens when an overlooked event problem becomes a national business opportunity?
In Episode #92 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with David Sauers, co-founder of Royal Restrooms, entrepreneur, and event innovation leader.
David shares how one frustrating experience at a Shakespeare festival in Savannah, Georgia, led to the creation of a luxury restroom franchise now operating in mo...
Want to stop three-putting and build more confidence on the green?
In Episode #91 of Pre-Zero Sports Talk, Sid Bensalah sits down with Bob Labbe, retired engineer and author of Putting by the Numbers, to discuss golf putting, lag putting, consistency, confidence, and a simple method for improving your game.
Bob shares how frustration on the green became a 25-year journey combining engineering logic, ba...
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