Chris Everett is the Partnerships Outreach Director for Elevation Church. A former football student-athlete at Western Carolina University, Chris spent several years working in college athletics before transitioning to his new role at Elevation Church in January of 2021. Chris's desire to to serve others is ultimately what led him to work in student-athlete development and at Elevation Church. Following the murder of George Floyd, Chris felt called to serve a higher power. After a lot of thinking, he decided to leave college athletics and join the staff at Elevation. In his new role, he works to develop partnerships with those in and out of the Elevation Church community to create service opportunities.

Jennifer Cross is a Co-Founder of Athlete Viewpoint, which is an innovative company providing quality survey and data analysis tools for athletics professionals and student-athletes. In that role, she works to assess and improve athletic culture for the students who participate and the professionals who work tirelessly to provide a positive experience. Additionally, Jennifer is the Owner of Perceptive Leadership Services (formerly Princeton Leadership Services), a consulting firm that specializes in leadership development programs and executive coaching, her mission is to positively transform your corporate culture one employee at a time. She joined us to talk about entrepreneurship, higher education, and leadership.

Marissa and Jeff Allen are the husband-wife duo behind The Cookie Society. The two met at the University of Illinois, where they were soccer (Marissa) and football (Jeff) student-athletes. After college, Jeff pursued an NFL career and Marissa began to publicly explore her love for cooking via her blog/Instagram (@firstandfull). They joined us on The Bloom Pod to share their experiences opening their store during the pandemic, being first-time business owners, and how their student-athlete backgrounds have helped them along the way.

Sivonnia DeBarros, the Protector of Athletes, is a first-generation lawyer and law business owner, woman in business and a former track and field Division-I College athlete. She joined us on The Bloom Pod to share how her experiences led her to a career in law and why her background in athletics is so important to the work she does today. Tayler asks about Sivonnia’s recent book on NIL, and the two discuss the potential impact of the legislation on athletes.

Daniel Fitzpatrick is a student-athlete services expert who has worked extensively within collegiate athletics. He joined us to talk about how his experiences attending a predominantly white high school and an HBCU led him to the work he is doing today.

We've said it before and we'll say it again - it's been a minute! Tayler and Melissa take some time to catch everyone up on what caused the 8 month hiatus between recordings. Melissa shares a semi-alarming story about how she spent her 30th birthday last January.

Ashlynn Fields is a higher education professional, sports enthusiast, and a part of #TeamAwesome, otherwise known as Women Leaders in College Sports. She joined us to talk about her background, interests in higher education, love for craft beer, and much more.

Ashlynn Fields is a higher education professional, sports enthusiast, and a part of #TeamAwesome, otherwise known as Women Leaders in College Sports. She joined us to talk about her background, interests in higher education, love for craft beer, and much more.

Edward Jones II is currently the Assistant Athletic Director for Player Development at Baylor University. He recently founded the Beyond the Field Program, LLC, which creates programming that inspires generational impact. Edward joined us to share how his grandfathers set the tone for generational impact in his own family.

Ashlynn Fields is a higher education professional, sports enthusiast, and a part of #TeamAwesome, otherwise known as Women Leaders in College Sports. She joined us to talk about her background, interests in higher education, love for craft beer, and much more.

John Shertzer is the Executive Director at the Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ). He discussed the idea of perpetuating a free press and the importance of fact finding and truth seeking in journalism.

Resa Lovelace is the founder and president of RBL Theory, LLC, and currently serves as the Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Enhancement at the University of Maryland, College Park. She joined us to talk about what she’s been up to since our N4A Panel episode aired, and she shared the importance of being your authentic self in every space you occupy.

Alexander Martin is a student-athlete development professional and doctoral student. He discusses his background and shares how a mentor during his undergraduate experience helped to shape his vision for his career path.

Blake Konrardy is the Millennial Millionaire. He joined us to talk about his book, Millennial Millionaire, and the experiences that led him to that point.

Mike Avery is the current head coach of Fort Wayne FC, which is a men’s outdoor soccer team competing in the United States Soccer League 2 (USL2). “Coach” Avery joined us to share his journey from college coaching and how his transition to the professional level came to be.

Karyn Nishimura Sneath is the Director of Education for the Society of Professional Journalists, and the owner of Npower, which is a leadership and organizational development consulting practice. She shared how her experiences in Panhellenic ultimately led her to a career in helping teams function at their best.

Tayler’s mom, Cathy Onion, makes a triumphant (and surprise) return to the Bloom Pod to share some of her infamous episode notes! During this bonus episode, Tayler and Cathy revisit major points from the guests of season one, and share some of their favorite moments.

JP Abercrumbie serves as the Associate Athletic Director at Rice University and the Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. She shared with the Bloom Pod how her background and experiences - across all the time zones - propelled her to the position she’s in today.

Jonathan Jones is a former student-athlete turned professional turned speaker. He shared how he moved from an elementary after school to retail to speaking engagements.

Dr. Jeff O’Brien is the Vice President for the Institute of Sport and Social Justice (ISSJ), and serves as a facilitator and leader in a variety of other capacities, including NCAA Leadership Development, Huddle Up, and more. Jeff shared how his background and experiences led him to the work he does today.