Kristina Williams is Leading
Kristina Williams is Leading Interviewed by Lisa Mitzel, ZTM President L-R: Yuka Sugiura, Kristina Williams, Lisa Mitzel She coached at other gyms, she had her own ideas, and then decided to break away and in 2019, she started her own gym. Why? “As a coach, I never wanted to work for a boss. I wanted to work for a leader.” And to Kristina Williams, the owner of Los Gatos Elite in Los Gatos, California, a leader is not someone who focuses on success, but rather someone who truly inspires incredible growth and positive change. So now she is leading her staff and gym families toward personal and professional growth. Is it difficult developing your staff? Monitoring and, at times, correcting is not fun. Kristina said, “I don’t like having uncomfortable conversations.” It’s definitely a weakness. But, she said, “I seek out my weaknesses. I’ve intentionally done a lot of ‘self work’ for my own growth.” Regarding parents: “We also communicate with parents often and organically.I’m always available. Carlo is always available.” Parents watch practice, communication is transparent. Kristina’s open leadership style is a continual effort and yet it leads to a culture of respect and harmony. What about gymnasts feeling fearful? As a young gymnast, Kristina experienced many fears. Now, as an adult, her philosophy as an owner is to teach and model to her staff to help kids through their fears. “Fear travels from event to event and person to person,” Kristina said. “So we go backwards, feel safe first, not second. Give kids the voice to do what feels good to them so they feel successful and in control.” What tools and resources help with leadership? Los Gatos Elite has Zen Tiger Mind’s Mental Power Station with mental exercises, so I asked if it was helping her staff with healthy language and the kids feeling supported and in charge of themselves. Kristina replied: “ZTM is supporting us 100% with positive, supportive language. In giving coaches the space and the language to help the gymnasts, we are seeing kids develop healthy mindsets and the common language to talk and work together.” What is the vision? “Our Xcel program has a core mission to support the athletes through gymnastics and life. It starts with the vision: It’s okay if a kid repeats a level, or doesn’t compete her dismount on bars.” Every challenge is okay! Don’t get her wrong: “I want to be competitive,” said Kristina. “It’s a sport. We are competitive, we’ve had state champions. We have standards, form, technique, presentation. We have a positive healthy approach with the kids, and we also have standards. But we don’t do gymnastics for the medals. We do it for learning, challenges, growth, and we do it for the fun.” I’m honored to know Kristina and Carlo at Los Gatos Elite. They are a breath of fresh air in the gymnastics world. And they’re not the only ones. I will continue to interview coaches and leaders who are speaking up and creating a new wave of positive, healthy gyms, and training coaches to have compassion. #
A Partnership Across the Ocean
A Partnership Across the Ocean by Lisa Mitzel, President, Zen Tiger Mind We are thrilled about our new global partners, Quatro Gymnastics! Who wakes up and finds they have a new partner across the world? Well, I do. When I started my new company, Zen Tiger Mind (ZTM), I knew our mission to integrate mental health into sports would only be as strong as our products and our connection with like-minded people. I wanted to collaborate with other companies yet I didn’t know the steps or how fast the opportunity would come. Well, it arrived quickly! In 2022, in the same month of launching our company, I was in Tampa, FL, and San Jose, CA, which brought me together with reps of many leotard companies. By chance, a coach I know in So California, Tara Treacy, is also a rep for Quatro Gymnastics. She said, “I love your mats and designs. I think our company might be interested in working together.” Soon after, Tara introduced me to Kelly McKeown, President of North America and Global Sales, and Gina Pribil, Director of Marketing in the U.S, and I felt an immediate vibe. These Quatro women are intelligent, kind, and creative go-getters! After several meetings and getting to know each other, I could tell these women got it – that our mission for mental health in gymnastics is simple to practice and really transformational for kids and coaches. They loved ZTM’s fun animal characters, natural scenery, and the mental-health exercises in our Mental Power Station. They said they wanted to see how we could weave our creative ideas together and form a partnership. As the ZTM president, I said a “Yes!”, believing that Quatro was a perfect fit to join us in promoting and advocating for Mental Health and Wellness for young gymnasts everywhere. By the way, I learned that Quatro Gymnastics is not any clothing or leotard business. They are one of the premier performance and training wear companies based in the UK, plus, one of the fastest growing global companies that is family owned and run. For Zen Tiger Mind, it’s like a dream. Like reaching out across the ocean and holding hands with new exciting friends. We collaborated on a super special “mental power” leotard that’s coming out any day now, Quatro is hosting exciting events, “Lights, Camera, Sparkle,” with Zen Tiger Mind products on board, they have the amazing Trinity Thomas and Kara Eaker as superstar ambassadors, and there’s more incredible news to announce for the summer of 2023. So watch the Quatro-Zen Tiger Mind journey! Together we will lift up gymnasts everywhere with incredible training wear and impactful mental tools, and we’ll give kids a better chance to be healthy while reaching their goals. Expand the culture with us! To be Zen, to be free to perform, and feel healthy and beautiful inside and out. #
The Launch
The Launch by Lisa Mitzel Ladies and Gentlemen, the Mental Power Station™ has become real. In the last three years, a raw idea of positive messages on a wall evolved into a clear vision of mental training equipment. And now my new business, Zen Tiger Mind, is officially launching this month! We are now selling our brand new feature product, the Mental Power (MP) Station. A banner, guidebook, and 4 originally designed mats with meaningful animal characters, mental exercises, and to add to that, Mental Power Journals for athletes and kids. Using the MP Station is a daily practice, a mental practice to get through struggles, feel calm and in control, and confident. It’s a “thinking and calming” station that is nothing short of master-level training for kids and teens because they do both – mental training to focus and perform great, and easy practices for mental health and wellness. Plus, the mats are incredible tools for adults. Coaches now have available language to guide children in sports. Mental exercises to repeat during practice and get through challenges. And the ability to power the mind together. It’s important to me that as I launch the business with my team, that our equipment, products, and people exude warmth, professionalism, and compassion for every human being. We are here for you. I welcome each of you with children, or working for the benefit of young people, to notice. Notice that in the “rush of life”, task after task, achieving this and that, if your kids know how to take a breath and release stress, do they know how to feel calm, centered and focused? When they learn to talk to themselves with positive encouraging words, it’s true, they will create new thought patterns and habits. They will even practice words of self-love. Daily, mental practice produces a feeling of control and even inner power. Do you want to model it for them? Maybe you’ll do it together. In one week, we will be at USA Gymnastics National Congress and Tradeshow in Tampa, FL. And at the end of August, we’ll be at USAG Region 1 Congress in San Jose, CA. I’ll be giving demonstrations and I plan to get a lot of orders. It is a thrill and a pleasure to introduce to you Zen Tiger Mind! Innovative equipment and products for mental training and mental health. Playing sports is tough, and life can be overwhelming. But say to your kids each day, “Just breathe… All the power is inside you.” Soon, they will feel that power and they will be telling themselves. #
Thirty Thousand Dollars
Thirty Thousand Dollars by Lisa Mitzel I didn’t know if I’d be able to start my new business, Zen Tiger Mind, in 2022. It was a dream. I hoped. But it was on January 9th of this year, that it suddenly became a real possibility. I was sitting at the large wooden table at my parent’s home in Southern California with my mom and dad and five of my six siblings. One of my brothers, Patrick, attended by Zoom—he recently got COVID. But it was the first time we’d all been together in many years. My parents had asked us to come for an important family meeting, which was quite unusual. We sat around the table in birth order: Sheila, Jimmy, Lisa, Patrick (on the screen), Julie, Mike and Brian. None of us kids knew what to expect, except my parents had said they wanted to share something with us. I had no idea. I always felt blessed, while growing up in my big family with values and a work ethic. We had just enough to get by, and we shared a lot of love and laughter. But this day, something different was happening. At 80 and 84, my mom and dad explained that they’d done really well the past few years in retirement. It was surprising to them and they wanted to give each of us a gift. My mom stood up, slowly walked around the table with a grin, and gave each of us an envelope with our name on it. She said to Patrick on Zoom, “Do you have your envelope?” (They mailed it to him in advance.) He said, “Yes.” My mom sat down and at the same time, we opened up our envelopes… I took out a check, unfolded it and couldn’t believe it. They gave each of us $30,000. I began to cry. A big gift would’ve been $500 or maybe $1000. But $30,000 was just unreal. What a selfless gift, what huge hearts my parents have. What an incredible day! I didn’t know then how much it would cost to start Zen Tiger Mind—from my graphic designer to IP attorney, from my photographer to videographer, to making prototypes, printed materials and buying products, to hiring a marketing team—the list goes on. But guess what. The cost is very, very close to $30,000. What’s more incredible is that the timing to start Zen Tiger Mind seems just right. Through COVID, mental health issues exploded. After Athlete A, Safe Sport, and Simone getting the “twisties,” we now read more about “Humans over Medals.” People are not only more open to mental training and mental health, but coaches and gyms are seeking tools and education to improve coaching and training methods. It seems to be exactly the right time. What I think is the $30K was a once-in-a-lifetime gift. And it’s also a chance to help kids and coaches who need support and guidance. Though I feel nervous some days, doing something new and risky, I keep meditating and repeating a line from my book of Mudras: My courage and self-assurance is unwavering. It helps me release tension and see clearly that this money came to me and it’s now flowing out to you. In the journey of life, money is important, it helps us live. But I wonder if this special money might help change the world. #