In this episode of The Normal World, host Annaleid Bakker interviews Kathryn Morgan about her professional ballet career.

Kathryn shares how she fell in love with ballet through her passion for classical music. When she was 9 years old, she saw the Nutcracker danced by New York City Ballet, and she knew, this is what I want to do.

She talks about how she joined New York City Ballet at the age of 17 and progressed to being promoted to soloist. After an illness forced her to step away from dancing, she made a return to the stage at age 31, performing as a soloist with Miami City Ballet. She also reflects on her transition to life beyond ballet and how she is currently rediscovering herself.

If you're interested in Dream Life Designers (Annaleid's life coaching program), send her a DM on Instagram: @actuallyannaxo

KM and friends: https://www.kmandfriends.com/

Kathryn's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@kathryn_morgan

By sharing her story in this podcast, Annaleid hopes to support other (former) elite athletes or those approaching retirement. She also sees this podcast as a personal healing journey — a way to create something she wishes had existed when she left her elite career behind. Enjoy listening!

Want to tell your story in this podcast? Send an email to podcast@actuallyanna.com with "Podcast" in the subject.

------------------------

Music used in the intro and outro of this podcast is We Are Free by Ikson

https://www.iksonmusic.com

The Normal World - Podcast © 2021 by Annaleid Bakker is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Normal World, host Annaleid Bakker interviews Anicka van Emden about her elite judo career.

Anicka shares how she discovered the sport through her brother, who was taking judo classes. She shares it felt like having extra PE classes, but then in the dojo.

She spoke about how her athletic journey evolved from training just once a week to ultimately winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. We also discussed her life after retiring from the sport and how she was able to transition so smoothly, thanks to the interests and passions she maintained outside of judo.

If you're interested in Dream Life Designers (Annaleid's life coaching program), send her a DM on Instagram: @actuallyannaxo

By sharing her story in this podcast, Annaleid hopes to support other (former) elite athletes or those approaching retirement. She also sees this podcast as a personal healing journey — a way to create something she wishes had existed when she left her elite career behind.

Enjoy listening!

Want to tell your story in this podcast? Send an email to podcast@actuallyanna.com with "Podcast" in the subject.

------------------------

Music used in the intro and outro of this podcast is We Are Free by Ikson https://www.iksonmusic.com

The Normal World - Podcast © 2021 by Annaleid Bakker is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Dutch episode of The Normal World, host Annaleid Bakker interviews Dias Gnanapragasam about his elite judo career.

Dias shares how he discovered his passion for the sport and found out very quickly that he had a talent for judo. He talks about the challenges he faced during his judo career, eventually leading to a loss of joy in the sport. He spoke about choosing for himself when quitting his elite career and how he, after many years, finally feels like he can put it all behind him.

This episode explores his journey towards the normal world and redefining his identity beyond life as an elite athlete.

If you're interested in Dream Life Designers (Annaleid's life coaching program), send her a DM on Instagram: @actuallyannaxo

By sharing her story in this podcast, Annaleid hopes to support other (former) elite athletes or those approaching retirement. She also sees this podcast as a personal healing journey — a way to create something she wishes had existed when she left her elite career behind. Enjoy listening!

Want to tell your story in this podcast? Send an email to podcast@actuallyanna.com with "Podcast" in the subject.

------------------------

Music used in the intro and outro of this podcast is We Are Free by Ikson

https://www.iksonmusic.com

The Normal World - Podcast © 2021 by Annaleid Bakker is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.