chris lawrence

For most athletes their journey into professional sport was through traditional pathways. For Mitch Duke this was not the case, the unconventional entry into professional Football at the age of 21, was vastly different to most of his teammates, many of which were picked up in junior academies as teenagers. 

It is this determination to stick at it which gave Mitch the skills needed to succeed at the top level

Duke has the Aces

In this podcast Leon and Chris sit down with 2 amazing individuals who have created businesses focusing on building athletes confidence off the field. 

Rebecca Cook from a young age set herself a goal of helping athletes communicate better. Fast forward to now Bec is the co-founder of Elite Athlete Business School (EABS) and for the past 6 years has been dedicated in achieving her goal she set herself.

Niav Owen's has always been drawn towards the media. This all started when she completed a internship at ABC radio at the age of 15 years old. This passion for media saw Niav even defer a law degree  to take up an receptionist role at the ABC. Her internal compass has now seen her forged a successful career in the media and currently Niav works at Fox Sports. Niav has also stared her own business Media Goals and is helping athletes understand the media to  create better narratives for themselves with the media. 

... featuring Kevin Proctor, Brett White, Jai Arrow, Robbie Kearns, Curtis Sironen, Bayley Sironen, Luke Lewis and Chris Lawrence!

As an athlete, you are provided the advantage of being able enter the property market before most people because of the increased earning capacity of professional sport. However given the life span of a professional athlete is quite short, maximising this advantage is crucial.

One of the hardest thing when trying to get into the real estate market is knowing where to start, especially if you are looking at property as an investment. 

In this podcast we hear from Steve Lemos as he talks about the research you should undertake and knowledge you should acquire before entering in the property market.

... a 1 on 1 interview like you have never heard before! #UNFILTERED

... a 1 on 1 interview like you have never heard before! #UNFILTERED

Matthew Smith is a master within the education sector. He successfully built his small RTO into a large international school called the Australian Learning Group. Operated in 4 states at multiple campus locations, over 100+ staff and enrolled over 2,000 students annually. Matt successfully exited and sold his business in 2018 and since then is very passionate about helping build innovative business. With his 15 years of knowledge and experience, he is determined to utilise his skills now as an Angel Investor to help build life changing business and help mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs

Welcome to the athlete a mentor podcast and our introduction episode. In this episode Chris Lawrence and I will share our purpose behind the podcast and while we think Learning through mentors works.

As the saying goes "you we'll never know everything and you're never too old to learn".

Enjoy ✌🏼

Episode #5 of Retire with Rowdy' Chris spoke about 2 new projects he is working on and finalising. He shares why these projects are important to him and unpacks all the stages of development from starting as an idea to the final product.

Episode #4 of 'Retire with Rowdy' has been all about networking. Rowdy has build a successful buisenss all from leveraging off his network and the sporting community. We have all heard it before how important networking is but for some reason or other we just don't do enough of it. 

So instead of trying to explain it, this episode will give you a first sight into a week of Rowdy networking and how this has lead to new business and opportunities.

In week 3 of 'Retire with Rowdy', Chris hits the road to present 5 keynote presentations in a week. In between these presentations, he also filmed a new marketing commercial for a company called My Muscle Chef and some filming for the NRL as a part of the half time entertainment for the upcoming grand final. 

Rowdy also shares some great advice on the power of networking, having clarity and finding the positives with the challenges that you are facing. 

Episode #2 of Retire With Rowdy, Chris reflexes on his last game in the NRL and the wave of emotions he went through as the day and the game came to an end.

Rowdy's hits the ground running with One Wellbeing, after spending the first week of retirement celebrating the year and his career with his teammate. A surprisingly busy week with a number of seminars booked in for him to present his corporate athletes keynotes. He also spent 2 days in strategic meeting with his business partner Leon Keir and their mentor Matt Smith.

A great first insight into Rowdy as a business owner and the steps he is taking to make his transition as seamless as possible.  

Retire With Rowdy is a spin-off series of 'The Be Ready Project' and is the story of 15-year veteran of the Wests Tigers Chris Lawrence (Rowdy) and his transition from the NRL  into his business One Wellbeing.

At the age of 19 Rowdy started One Wellbeing and it is well documented how proactive he has been for the last 15 years preparing for life after sport. Along with his business, Rowdy has also been studying a commerce degree and now walks away from the NRL straight into a full-time role at One Wellbeing.  

To set the scene of Episode #1 it is two days before Rowdy's last game. We speak about how he and his family are feeling, what it is like being at the end, what he is most worried about and what he is most excited about.

An incredible insight and I hope you can come along for the journey. 

Will all the hard work pay off? Only time will tell!

Nu Brown is only 24 years old but what a journey his life has been already. Nu moved to Australian from New Zealand when he was only 16 years old to chase the dream of playing professional rugby league.

Nu was fortunate enough to debut in the NRL at only 19 and live his dream. Being so young and by himself without his family, Nu has struggled with the rollercoaster as a professional athlete ever since.

In this episode Nu speaks about dealing with depression and managing the expectations as a young athlete.  Nu's advice is not to get caught up with it all and look at the bigger picture.

Nu knows now that football is not going to last forever and has found a new passion in videography. This passion Nu has turned into a business away from sport and he can't be happier. 

Liam Fulton was an absolute character when he was playing in the NRL and Lawro describes him as the glue to the Wests Tigers playing group. After a 12 years career Liam retired due to concussion.

While Liam was playing he also started a business with team mate Bryce Gibbs, supplying skill test mechanise to pubs, clubs and shopping centres. Soon after retiring Liam decided he wanted to become a mortgage broker and for the past 5 years he has been helping Australians secure a home loan through his business Fulton Financial.    

An incredible achievement from a person who was known to be 'loose' in his playing days.  

Shannon Hegarty story 'The 3 Year Struggle' is incredible and really demonstrates the hardship some athletes may face once retiring from sport.

In this episode Shannon really opens up and speaks about the back end of his career and he got addicted to pain relief medication. How is he really struggled in the first 3 years after retirement and how this not only effected him but also his family.

Shannon explains how after hitting rock bottoms his inspirational journey back and how finally asking for help was the turning point. Shannon shares how after getting back on track he was able to start a successful fitness business in the US. Now having moved back to AUS to be closer with his daughter, Shannon talks about building a life back in Sydeny and how connecting with old teammates has made a massive difference and has helped him realise how amazing his rugby league career was. 

Part II of Lawro's story 'Double Life' he speaks about why it is so important to align your vision and values with anyone you go into business with and how fortunate he is to be business partners with Leon. He also shares how he almost lost the business in 2016 and how he reacted to save One Wellbeing. 

Lawro opens up to about his horrific facial injury at the start of 2019 and how he again used the business to keep himself in a positive mindset throughout the recovery. He truely believes if it wasn't for the business he wouldn't still be playing today.

In finishing Lawro speaks about how he is preparing for retirement and once footy finishes how the fair tale ends for One Wellbeing.

Chris Lawrence has played professional Rugby League for the Wests Tigers since he was 17 years old. Now at 31, Lawro is just about to start his 15th session in the top grade. What you might not be aware of is that for the past 12 years Lawro has also started and built-up his own business called One Wellbeing.

Lawro credits his success and longevity in the NRL to having One Wellbeing and a passion away from Rugby League. In this episode Lawro will share his incredible story on how he has been able to balance his double life and ultimately set himself up for life after sport.

In it this episode Lawry and I sit down and speak to our cohost Craig Lambert. An AFL legend with 30 years experience within an elite athlete environment as a player, coach and welfare officer.

Lambo talks about completing his plumbing apprenticeship when he was younger, his philosophy on a holistic athlete, utilities your networks and tips on how to do it well. Lambo also shares his advice on managing expectations as a young athlete and why he believes athlete transition well and not so well for sport.

Hope you enjoy.