Athletes After Hours with Gracie Kramer
Jul 29, 2026 · 1 hr 31 min · 15 segments
This week's episode of *Athletes After Hours* features keynote speaker, former minor league baseball player, and author Chris Cullen for a conversation that goes far beyond the game. After seeing his…
Gracie KramerHost
Well, I think what's so cool about the athletic community is like we are so much more in sync than we realize.
But we also have so many shared experiences that we don't even realize until we actually talk about it, especially when it comes to the vulnerable moments and the raw, you know, kind of taboo conversations that like we're all kind of scared to have.
And these are the conversations I think people need to hear right now, especially in this day and age where everything's a highlight reel.
That person, yeah, they won a gold medal, but like they were dealing with all of this shit behind the scenes.
And it's what sports needs is that empathy level and that investment emotionally in order to really create a community of athletes versus spectators and
I bet you the variance in the teams, obviously there's the game itself, your sport, but the variance is not that wide between women's gymnastics and the men's baseball team.
You've got to eat well, you've got to sleep well, you've got to recover well, you get up early and train, you're part of a team, you're wearing the brand, you're dealing with media pressure, you're dealing with social media, you're dealing with so many things that are very eerily similar.
I don't know what the ratio would be, but probably like 80-20 where... 80% of what you deal with is very similar to what I would deal with on the baseball team.
I think one of the first aha moments for me getting into this world was I went back to Michigan State early in this journey and I spoke to the baseball team and worked with them for about an hour, hour and a half.
And my first question to them was, hey, like, can I just get a show of hands as to how many of you have talked to sports psychologists or, you know, you work on your mind in a certain way.
Well, I think what's so cool about the athletic community is like we are so much more in sync than we realize.
But we also have so many shared experiences that we don't even realize until we actually talk about it, especially when it comes to the vulnerable moments and the raw, you know, kind of taboo conversations that like we're all kind of scared to have.
And these are the conversations I think people need to hear right now, especially in this day and age where everything's a highlight reel.
That person, yeah, they won a gold medal, but like they were dealing with all of this shit behind the scenes.
And it's what sports needs is that empathy level and that investment emotionally in order to really create a community of athletes versus spectators and
I bet you the variance in the teams, obviously there's the game itself, your sport, but the variance is not that wide between women's gymnastics and the men's baseball team.
You've got to eat well, you've got to sleep well, you've got to recover well, you get up early and train, you're part of a team, you're wearing the brand, you're dealing with media pressure, you're dealing with social media, you're dealing with so many things that are very eerily similar.
I don't know what the ratio would be, but probably like 80-20 where... 80% of what you deal with is very similar to what I would deal with on the baseball team.
I think one of the first aha moments for me getting into this world was I went back to Michigan State early in this journey and I spoke to the baseball team and worked with them for about an hour, hour and a half.
And my first question to them was, hey, like, can I just get a show of hands as to how many of you have talked to sports psychologists or, you know, you work on your mind in a certain way.
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