Our latest guest is Rory Winters, a man who has faced many setbacks and challenges throughout his life. The odds may have been stacked against him but Rory has taken each challenge head on and carved out a successful career in football. In the first half of the pod, Rory goes into detail on some of the challenges he, and many others around the country, faced as a youth player. We discuss how challenge is connected to wellbeing / psychology and how these had a knock on effect on future events in his life. Perhaps if not for the adversity faced, Rory may not have found himself playing football in America, Canada, been offered to play in Austrailia or creating his own business in Singapore. All of this whilst getting 2 degrees along they way. A key lesson in this episode is that it is not the challenge itself that defines you but how you respond to it. We also discuss how powerful having someone in your corner (mentor, wellbeing coach) can be and what we have all done to help break down stigmas and barriers to this support in the UK. Rory has a passion and fire in his belly to be successful in the field and has taken massive strides in supporting young players in football in both Singapore and the UK. Another great guest and we hope that you enjoy the episode. Rory has recently published a book titled 'The Pro: How to Become A Successful Footballer' which is available on Amazon from £5.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-How-Become-Successful-Footballer-ebook/dp/B0C6QPXB61 If you would like to know more about Rory then follow him Instagram where he is also happy to chat in more detail: https://www.instagram.com/edgeoftheboxmentoring/ Talking Points 1. Intro and welcome to episode (00:00 - 3:04) 2. Rory's experience in sport growing up (3:04 - 7:47) 3. Experiences with wellbeing / psychology as a player (7:47 - 21:25) 4. Morecambe FC and challenges faced there (21:25 - 29:44) 5. University and playing football abroad (29:44 - 36:16) 6. EPPP and working with English football academies (36:16 - 42:35) 7. Success at Northampton School for Boys (42:35 - 47:25) 8. Living and working in Singapore (47:25 - 50:44) 9. Founding Edge of the Box Mentoring and breaking down stigmas (50:44 - 1:01:09) 10. Next steps for Rory (1:01:09 - 1:03:30) 11. Advice for young players (1:03:30 - 1:06:16) 12. Brad and Toni's key takeaways (1:06:16 - 1:13:26)