Welcome Letter from Dr. Jen Gellock

Hi!

I am Dr. Jen Gellock, and I am excited you are here to learn more about how to embark on your own inner journey or to learn more about how you can support an athlete(s) on their path developing as holistic leaders.

I am the creator and main contributor of Inward Athlete and I started this mission because I believe every athlete has the answer within themselves to successfully navigate life after sport through a proactive process of what I call: going inward. It is my and Inward Athlete's mission to help facilitate athletes in self-exploration of what lies underneath the label of being an athlete so that they can thrive in all areas of their lives once their competitive sports career comes to an end. I use my own lived experiences, spiritual guidance system, educational background, and research in the field to facilitate athletes in this process of going inward.

As a former athlete myself, I experienced first-hand negative impacts on my life emotionally, mentally, and physically because of the lack of preparation in navigating this life transition. It took me my whole twenties to unpack my athletic identity and then reconstruct it from a firm foundation of unconditional love and self-worth. I truly understand how crucial this period of life can be for athletes like yourself (or the ones you support), so I have made it my mission to help athletes explore life after sport intentionally and believe that navigating a successful life after sport transition takes a holistic and integrative process.

I can't wait to share with you how the process of going inward will transform your life or the athletes you serve.

I hope to connect with you soon -

Are you ready to go inward?!

-Jen (aka Dr. G.)

Bio:

Dr. Jennifer Gellock is a poet, transformational guide for heart-led leaders, and the founder of Inward Athlete. She left her job as a full-time professor in May of 2023 to step fully into her role as an entrepreneur and continue on her mission to shift others back home to their hearts. At the age of thirty-one, she burned out her nervous system after living most of her life with unmanaged chronic stress and anxiety. For too many years, she fought against herself, and became emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausted from trudging through the resistance of modern life. Then in 2020, she awakened to a higher knowing and surrendered to a path of doing years of inner work that transformed her from the inside-out.

Her own story has led her down a path to help others connect back to their own inner truth. Her work empowers people and athletes to become the fullest expression of themselves in this lifetime. In her work today, with personal clients and at her workshops, she uses a range of conscious awareness and mindfulness tools that include: subconscious reprogramming/mindset work, breathwork, journaling/poetry exercises, visualization techniques, energetic hygiene and clearing practices, prayers of surrender and self-love, and her intuitive leadership guidance to shift others back home to their own inner knowing and take action from that place. She has completed coursework and certifications to become a trauma informed practitioner, Mental Health First Aid responder, and experiential teaching and inclusive educator.

Before embarking on the path of entrepreneurship, she spent four years as an Assistant Professor of Sport Management at the University of Tampa and University and the University of North Alabama after receiving her PhD in Sport Leadership in 2019 from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has taught courses of Sport Leadership, Management, Sociology of Sport, and Psychology of Coaching. Before becoming a professor, she worked in college athletics supporting the holistic development of Division I college athletes and coached Division II women’s basketball and completed her MBA in Sport Business in 2014. She graduated from the University of Tampa with her bachelor's in physical education in 2012 and is a native of Westfield Massachusetts. She is a lover of pizza, cats, and 80’s movies.

To find out more about how to work with Dr. Gellock you can visit her website at jennifergellock.com and connect with her on instagram @jennifer_gellock