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August 6, 2025 14 mins
Caroline Biesalski introduces the episode with guest Phebe Trotman, delving into Phebe's toughest challenge and her book, "Never Quit on a Bad Day." The conversation explores how lessons from sports can be applied to business and life, emphasizing resilience and perseverance. Phebe highlights the significance of gratitude, coaches, and mentors in personal and professional growth. The discussion also touches on Phebe's online presence and her exciting upcoming projects, offering listeners a glimpse into her future endeavors.
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Episode Transcript

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(00:00):
And it's like, yes.

(00:00):
And we wanna celebrate that for them, realizingthough that everybody's on their own journey,
and we don't know, you know, what that personwent through.
And that's sort of what was part of thecatalyst behind the book is because so many
times I hear people, oh, well, that's great forthem.
But what you know, I'm not having the samething, but you don't realize the work that that
person put in behind the scenes to get to wherethey are.
Or maybe they're just a little further along intheir journey than you are.

(00:24):
And how can we take what other people have gonethrough, learn from it so that we can apply it
to our own life and our own journey as well.
Welcome to Inspired Choice Today.
I'm your host, Caroline Biesalski, here tobring you authentic stories, surprising
lessons, and powerful takeaways to fuel yourjourney in business and life.

(00:44):
In each episode, I'll take you from oneinspiring guest to the next, blending their
experiences with my expertise to uncoverpractical strategies you can use right away.
Whether you're starting out or stepping up,stay tuned for insights and actionable tips
that make a difference.
And stick around until the end for a specialfreebie just for our listeners.

(01:11):
Hello and welcome, inspired podcast community.
This is your new episode.
My name is Caroline, and my today's guest isPhoebe Trotman.
And I'm so happy that she said yes to ourinterview.
How are you doing today?
I'm doing well, Caroline.
Thank you so much for the invitation to be ontoday.
I appreciate it.

(01:32):
Oh, thank you for being here.
I'm inspired already, and I would like tointroduce you to the audience.
Of course, you are a Hall of Fame soccer playerand entrepreneur.
You learned that resilience is built throughchallenges, not just victories.
You have a book series.
It is called "Never Quit on a Bad Day," and youshare real stories and tools to help others

(01:56):
push through tough moments and discover theirown strength.
Welcome to the Inspired Podcast.
Oh my goodness.
What a bio, Phoebe Trotman.
Thank you so much.
So great.
My first question for you is, what was thetoughest challenge in your sports career, and
how did you push through it?

(02:18):
Absolutely.
Well, to be transparent, I've had a lot ofchallenges in my sports career.
I mean, any athlete will tell you that there'sups and downs.
I mean, one of the ones that was such adefining and pivotal moment for me was actually
when I was 13, so very, very young.
And I went out for a provincial team.
So I'm based up in Canada, and we had aprovincial team.

(02:38):
I didn't even know what that meant.
I just knew one of my teammates brought it up.
It was a chance to play more soccer.
And so I went into this, and I was one of thetop players on our community team.
And so I went in very confidently thinking Iwould make it.
And I ended up playing a position that I don'tusually play, and I think just mentally, I
didn't adapt well to it, and I didn't make theteam.
I've given the short version, longer versionsin the second book in the book series.

(03:03):
But I didn't make the team, and I wasdevastated.
I really was, and I cried a lot.
And another player on our team who two of otherplayers on our team made it.
One who was very talented and one who wasn't.
So when I found that out, it, like, hit againanother wave of emotions and really, you know,
my parents kinda give me that tough love momentand had really, it was a very pivotal moment

(03:24):
because they asked me if I wanted to quitsoccer, which I said no.
And then they asked me another question was,like, well, are you gonna let one coach's
decision determine what you do next?
And it was, you know, again, one of those Ididn't wanna hear it at the time, but in
hindsight, it was really a catalyst for me to,you know, and they told me, you focus on what I
can control.
The decision's been made.

(03:44):
What can I control?
Which is my my mental toughness, my attitudegoing in, how hard I train in putting in the
work.
And that's really what I did is I put in a lotof work by myself a lot of times and,
eventually went on to have a really, incrediblesoccer career, which I'm so grateful for.
Wow.
What a great story to begin this this episode,and I absolutely love the book title as well,

(04:09):
never quit on a bad day.
Wow.
I'm inspired already.
And I can I I can imagine this moment?
I also was 13 years old, so I know that it Ithink it's more difficult.
Or and when we look back, then we can connectthe dots.
And it's like, yeah, it's logic.
What happens?

(04:30):
And yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And I mean, I'm so grateful for my parentsbecause, you know, looking back on it, they
could have had that approach of, you're right.
It's not fair, and that's not okay.
We're gonna talk to the coach and all theselist of things that really not necessarily
would have the same powerful impact versus, youknow, my parents being very big into personal

(04:50):
development and their faith.
They just kinda redirected to I think what'ssuch an important part and what I want your
audience to really take away is that theyredirected into focusing on what I can control.
And I think that's something that in life is sopowerful if we grab on to what can we control
in those situations because there are gonna betimes where life won't be fair.

(05:11):
There's gonna be times where life will bechallenging.
And what can you control in that moment andrefocusing your energy on that and putting your
energy towards that is really what will helpyou move through it and grow through those
challenges as well.
Yes.
Absolutely.
And you mentioned your attitude as well, mentalattitude, controlling your thoughts.
And then, yeah, and you you train more.

(05:33):
You put a lot of work in it then to become abetter version, and and then you you succeeded.
And I love that.
Thank you so much.
Of course, I have another question.
How do you apply the lessons from soccer tobusiness and everyday life?
Yeah.
Great question.
You have some great questions.
So one of the things that in an as an athlete Imean, again, as I said, there's lots of

(05:57):
challenges and bumps in the road and what andfocusing on what you can control.
And I think that's a big part of being anentrepreneur as well is really putting in the
work and realizing that a lot of the successesthat you see, there's a lot that goes in behind
the scenes and being okay with knowing thatyou've put in the work and that the results
will come if you put in that work.

(06:17):
And so as an athlete, a lot of times, yes, youhave your scheduled training that you go to,
but really, you know, I believe it's thenon-scheduled training.
So not your practices, the stuff you do on yourown that really is gonna make that difference.
Because your teammates, everyone's going to thesame training.
It's what you do outside of that trainingthat'll help you, in terms of your if we're

(06:40):
talking sports, your playing time, your mentalyour physical fitness, etc.
On a business tip, then same thing.
It's the stuff that you're doing behind thescenes that is really gonna be what's gonna
help you succeed.
And so being able to set those goals that I didas an athlete, setting goals as an
entrepreneur, focusing what I can control,really the business that I built was all about

(07:00):
teamwork.
And so taking skills and lessons that I learnedas a leader on a team as well as being a
teammate to the business world and applyingthat and realizing that it takes team and
relationships and building those and having acommon goal to to really create success.
Oh, wow.
I see.
So my takeaway is teamwork is the name of thegame.

(07:21):
And also what you mentioned, training is whathappens between two trainings.
What?
I don't know.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
It is.
It's really those you know, when I think in thebeginning, so many times too when I'm coaching
people, it's like, well, this person hadsuccess in here, and this person had success in
here.
And it's like, yes.
And we wanna celebrate that for them, realizingthough that everybody's on their own journey,

(07:44):
and we don't know, you know, what that personwent through.
And that's sort of what was part of thecatalyst behind the book is because so many
times I hear people, oh, well, that's great forthem.
But what you know?
I'm not having the same thing, but you don'trealize the work that that person put in behind
the scenes to get to where they are.
Or maybe they're just a little further along intheir journey than you are.
And how can we take what other people have gonethrough, learn from it so that we can apply it

(08:08):
to our own life and our own journey as well?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Thank you for pointing this out.
Because you also mentioned when you were 13years old, you saw the other players, succeed,
like, being in the team or in the game.
By or they were playing and you you were not.
So there was envy and jealousy maybe.

(08:29):
And you turned this around, this energy intointo your your willingness to learn more and
to, yeah, to become the the best version.
So to say, what's one key mindset shift thathelps people stay resilient on tough days?
So
Gratitude.

(08:49):
Gratitude is so important, especially whenyou're going through a tough time.
And gratitude just allows you to—it doesn'tminimize what you're going through at all.
It just allows you to shift your focus, shiftyour perspective for a brief moment to help you
kind of push through, if you will.
And so I'm a big believer in just gratitudethroughout the days or, you know, grabbing onto

(09:11):
it, especially when you're going through toughtimes.
I did a training not too long ago about, like,leveling up your gratitude in 2025 and simple
things that people can put in practice to helpthem be more intentional with their gratitude.
And so I just encourage people to realize howimportant it is and to be intentional with it
because you will see results.

(09:32):
And when you're having a bad day, just thatlittle shift is sometimes all you need to keep
moving forward a little bit and put one foot infront of the other.
Wow.
That sounds so great, and it's all related tosoccer.
When you talk, you know, this vocabulary withthe food and the food and the goals as well.
We will talk about that later.

(09:52):
Let me ask about your coaches and mentors.
You certainly had coaches and mentors foryourself, and who was the best coach you ever
had?
Wow.
I've been really fortunate.
I've had a lot of great coaches who have helpedme develop in different ways.
And so I think I'm grateful to all my coachesbecause I've learned something from all of

(10:16):
them, whether it might be something that taughtme, you know, how to communicate better with
players, how to believe in players and pull thebest out of them, creating a team environment.
So it's really hard to single one out, if youwill, because I've had so many really
incredible coaches.
And even some of the coaches that I would buttheads with, if you will, that maybe we didn't

(10:37):
see eye to eye the entire time.
I have so much respect for them because ithelped me learn how to navigate challenges when
you have, whether it's a personality clash oryou don't get along with someone for whatever
reason, how do you still work with that personto achieve a common goal?
And so I've learned a lot throughout my longcareer as an athlete in terms of what I can

(11:00):
take from it.
So the biggest thing I would just say is I'mjust grateful for my coaches.
And, again, one of the things I'd encourage theaudience to learn from is even if, again, you
may not see eye to eye with someone forwhatever the reason is or, you know, there are
going to be people who just don't get along.
If you're in an environment that you have towork with that person, in my case, some of my
coaches, how do you work together to accomplishthe common goal?

(11:23):
Whatever that is.
And even in a work environment, it's soimportant to look for that.
And that's where the gratitude piece comes in.
Because even if I didn't always get along withmy coaches, I was grateful that I had a coach.
I was grateful I had a spot on the team.
I was grateful for my teammates.
There was always something that I could reallyhold on to.
Wow.
This is great advice.
I think no one mentioned this before, and I dida lot of interviews, you know, about the tough

(11:48):
times and about when you don't get along withsomeone.
And I think this is also where the quittingpart comes into play.
Most of the people would quit, and I would say,I was one of them, like, a couple of years ago
or so.
Like, it is easier to quit than to, you know,focus on what works and what can I learn?

(12:14):
Yes.
Thank you so much.
And please tell us where can we find you whenpeople want to reach out to you after listening
to this episode?
Absolutely.
So my website is never quit on a bad day dotcom.
So simple, never quit on a bad day.com, as wellas I'm available on Facebook, Instagram, and
it's the same.
Never quit on a bad day.

(12:35):
Oh, that's so great.
I think I follow you already.
So you have one follower more at least, andplease reach out to Phoebe.
She's amazing.
She shares her knowledge and wisdom.
And I have one last question for you.
Of course, it is about your goals.
You talked about goals, so I assume you setgoals for yourself or intentions.

(12:57):
And what is one of your next projects?
Well, my next project is I've actuallydeveloped a course, and so we rolled it out for
one private community.
And so I'm in the process of looking to makethat more accessible to others.
So very excited to bring that to themarketplace to just help people with their goal
setting and developing resilience throughouttheir lives as well.

(13:18):
Wow.
Thank you so much for sharing, and please checkout her website.
It's amazing.
It's worth it.
Thank you.
I put the link in the show notes, by the way.
And now it's time for your final thoughts tothe audience, please.
Yeah.
I just thank you so much, Caroline, again forhaving me.
My final thoughts would be figure out thegratitude piece.

(13:40):
Level up your gratitude this year.
Be intentional with it.
One of the tips that I share in one of thebooks is I talk about something I did in for
me, when I wasn't having as much businesssuccess as I would have liked, and I set a
calendar reminder in my phone every single dayat 9:10 p.m.
Pacific, which still goes off to this day.
And it just says, I'm so happy and gratefulthat.

(14:02):
And I encourage people to do that, set itwhatever time of day is best for you.
But something that'll help you just pause,refocus on what you have to be grateful for
because there are so many things when we trulystop and look around.
That's so true.
And I am forever grateful for our interview.
Thank
you.
Oh my goodness.
And I see you in the next episode.

(14:24):
Thank you for listening to Inspired ChoiceToday.
I'm thrilled to have you on this journey ofgrowth and transformation.
Don't forget to hit follow or subscribe to stayconnected and never miss an episode.
And here's something special.
Grab your free 20-minute breakthrough sessionwith me.
It's designed to help you kick start or levelup your business.

(14:48):
Just check out the show notes for more.
Until next time, keep making those inspiredchoices.
See you in the next episode.
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