Life Cycles: Cycling Through Mental and Social Health with Alex Palmer of Blackdog Cast
After a breakthrough in therapy led him to the realization that the commercial bike industry wasn't fulfilling him anymore, Alex Palmer embarked on a career change to work in mental health. He founded an awareness project in the cycling world called Blackdog and now hosts an adjacent podcast called Blackdog Cast.
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He joined me on Choose the Hard Way to share his insights into environmental stress in the pro cycling world, searching for a job that brings you meaning, and how too much of anything - including riding a bike - can become an unhealthy way to hide from your problems.
His career has spanned the world of sports and business: from AKQA, where he oversaw the Nike account, and IMG, supporting clients like Manchester United and the Rugby World Cup.
Alex also spent several years as the marketing director for Slipstream Sports, the organization behind the world tour pro cycling team today known as EF Education First Easy Post.
We recorded this conversation as a shared episode for both Choose the Hard Way and the Blackdog Cast. You’ll find that I’m talking and sharing more than I normally do both about myself and about what I’ve learned from doing Choose the Hard Way for the past four years.
Now, Alex works with Heading Health, an Austin based start-up offering integrated mental health care and psychedelic therapy, with a masters in Psychology & Neuroscience of Mental Health from King's College London.
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This episode is part of Life Cycles, a series of episodes about how bikes change people and the world. Different people find different ways to seek and create change within themselves, their community and the world; for me, it has been cycling. The power of hearing these stories inspires people to reach beyond what is possible in life.
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Choose the Hard Way is the podcast where guests share stories about how doing hard things build stronger, more resilient humans, learn more at www.choosethehardway.com.
If you’re new to the show, I’ve spent more than 25 years telling and shaping the stories of the world’s top performers, brands and businesses. I’ve held executive and senior leadership roles at the social network for athletes Strava and the human performance company TRX and my byline has appeared in outlets like Rolling Stone, Outside magazine, The Los Angeles Times and more.
Today I advise and consult with businesses and nonprofits on high-impact storytelling strategies and I coach leaders to become high-performance communicators. If you’d like to work with me, DM @hardwaypod or reach out to choosethehardway@gmail.com.
In This Episode:
Alex Palmer Instagram | LinkedIn
Blackdog Cast Website | Podcast
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Andrew Vontz LinkedIn
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Choose The Hard Way is a Palm Tree Pod Co. production