Have you ever heard of a “Master Manifester”? This term usually refers to a person who is exquisitely good at creating the dream life that they want for themselves. I personally didn’t realize that I was one of these people until years after I had already lived my dream life – especially when it came to my career…

It all started back in 2017 – I was in an internship to become a dietitian when I arrived at a monthly meeting for the dietitians in Southern Colorado. The Dietitian for the Denver Broncos was presenting that day. Embarrassingly, I was running late that day. I walked into the room 20 minutes after the presentation started, through a loud squeaky door, only to find that the main entrance door was sitting wide open. But I sat at the back of the room, I asked a good question at the end of the presentation, and I stayed long after the presentation had ended to talk with the speaker. 

I was at the tail-end of my internship at the time, and fortunately I was being faced with the task of finding a final site and mentor to complete the last 120 hours of my training. While I certainly wasn’t a football fan at the time, I was definitely a basketball fan. I explained to the dietitian of the Denver Broncos that I was hoping to work for the strength coach for an NBA team, and asked him if he had any advice for me as far as how to go about working for this coach. 

“I could just introduce you to him.” This epic sports dietitian said to me. 

I was baffled. It was THAT simple?? I didn’t have to do anything to qualify or validate myself?! I was so unbelievably skeptical. 

“Sometimes all you have to do is ask.” He said to me.

I will never forget that day. It changed my perspective forever. I would like to say that it really was “that easy” but I can assure you this story gets *much* juicier…

This coach I wanted to work for – he was known for being a bit eccentric. Someone who was known in one of the most elite industries in the world for their strength, stamina, grind and grit – what exactly was I getting myself into I really had no clue or perspective.

As you can imagine, important successful people are busy. Interns are usually so afraid or intimidated to “bother” potential preceptors, but it became very clear after weeks, then months, of consistent follow-up that my weekly reach outs were only skimming the very surface of the iceberg.

After 2 months of calling, texting, social media messaging and emails – the NBA coach called me. My whole body was shaking for the entire duration of the phone call and I could barely process the words of his thick accent. But what I did comprehend was what he told me about his assistant.

“As you may have figured out, I am very busy and kind of hard to get ahold of. Keep trying. My assistant, he called me every day for 6 months before I gave him the job.”

It was then and there that I realized that my weekly phone calls were, for lack of a better term, puny. There was something in the tone of this strength coach’s voice that felt taunting…It actually felt like he was daring me to “bother” him more. And after we ended the call, I sat there processing and eventually realized that if I really wanted this opportunity, I was going to have to call this NBA coach every day until he gave me the job. Yikes.

It was an early morning in mid-June. I was in the middle of a summer where I was climbing all of the mountains in Colorado that rose over 14,000 feet – the 14ers. And I woke up that day at 4 am on the side of a mountain knowing that as soon as I got down, I would need to call the NBA coach and leave him my first daily message.

I called him every day for 4 months, guys. Leaving him voicemail after voicemail about sports nutrition, about each and every one of the 28 essential vitamins, minerals and healthy fats and how they related to the athlete. I read research article after article to learn why it was so unbelievably important to provide nutrition information to athletes. I even wrote out many of my messages on paper and would read them over and over to myself out loud every day until I felt confident calling him. And then sometimes I would even erase my message and rerecord it!! It was the most self growth I had ever seen in myself in such a short amount of time. I climbed 17 mountains that summer.

Wanna know the kicker? Finally, after months of calling and the eventual interview, his colleagues decided to hire someone else. I was absolutely devastated. But the Coach decided during this time to invite me to a fitness class at his athletic training facility in Denver, and I decided to go.

Pardon my language here: I got my rear end handed to me in that class. I lived an hour south of the gym and had a whole 60 minutes to hype myself out (admittedly on way too much caffeine) on the commute there. And believe it or not, that every day momentum followed me into a scenario where I was soon driving an hour down the road to go to a gym class anywhere from 4-7 am almost every day for yet another 4 months… I was so nervous. It was so scary… Until it wasn’t.

Eventually, he hired me.

I remember the first all-staff meeting on the basketball court. We all went around the room and introduced ourselves. I have never had someone clap louder for me than that coach did on that day. The sense of gratification for one of the most significant accomplishments of my life was one of the best sensations I have ever felt in my life. I had finally become a true athlete.

The opportunities that poured into my lap following that day were unreal. I got to make cookies for a professional hockey team, I got to make a cake for an executive in the NFL! The athletes that I worked with from all walks of life were truly remarkable, and looking back I wouldn’t have changed a single thing that I had done.

Nowadays, I have somewhat settled into my career as a Sports Dietitian. I have an unbelievable team of dietitians, marketing professionals and software development experts. The roots of my career are grounded in grit, determination, courage and a lot of heart – a lot of love for health, performance and the fuel that feeds my fire. Stay tuned to read all about what it’s like to be a Director in a nationwide performance nutrition private practice and how I manifested my (second) dream job!!