Send It with Stef Fleckenstein

My hiatus is finally over and I'm back ready to share my life with everyone! Last year was a rollercoaster and the stress of trying to graduate college, run an independent team, and work a part time job got the best of me. I'm excited to be back and hope you guys are too! This first episode is just a life recap from the last year that I've been away from the mic and gives a little preview into what I'm up to this season.

It can take years to master the art of living out of a suitcase and travelling the world, but I've got some quick tips that will make your life easier. If I had a dollar for every time I told a checkin agent I loved them or that my bags "aren't that heavy" I'd be able to fund my ski racing career. Stay tuned for more tips as this race season gears up!

Sometimes it can feel like the world is working against you, but in those moments it's important to remember what you have to be thankful for. This episode is dedicated to overcoming life's challenges and reminding yourself that your goals are your greatest motivators. Nothing is going to come easy in this life so you might as well embrace the curveballs thrown your way and learn to be your own biggest fan :)   If you're interested in supporting our team this season please donate at the link below :) GoFundMe Link  

School, training, skiing, fundraising and working has pushed me to my limits the past couple of weeks but I'm back and ready to share what I've been doing! Get a look into my last couple of weeks and a preview of what's to come next season.

Community, passion and hard work are some of the key ingredients in building a successful speed group. Growing up I always had idols that I looked up to but never had access to them or their personal stories. The American Downhiller camp gives young racers the opportunity to interact with current and past world cup skiers while getting top tier training. I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of the AD family so give this episode a listen to get the details!

If the game face didn't scare you off, I promise her starts will. Ainsley is consistently the first out of the start gate on race nice and I attribute her speed to her daily bike rides with her mom before school. Her dedication, drive and hard work has catapulted her into a higher category of racing after only one year on the circuit and it's safe to say she can be one of the great BMX racers of the future. Investing in a child's athletic dreams is a family affair and Ainsley's family is always doing their best to give her as many opportunities as possible. From finding local races when they go on family RV trips, to flying across the country for a race, they've proven that anything is possible with the right attitude.

Whenever you're about to do something for the first time you're bound to feel some nerves. This rule still applies to me as a racer even though I've been to hundreds of races in my life. I can't wait to share with you my Pro Tour experience and recount some of the things that helped make the weekend such a success for me. It's easy to get overwhelmed in situations like the Pro Tour so hopefully this podcast will help shed some light on ways to overcome those nerves or even to share a little bit of my experience :)

Transitioning out of the ski racing world is no easy feat and Meg describes her experience in a very relatable way. What she realized shortly after leaving the skiing world was that the mountains held a much bigger place in her heart than ski racing originally made her believe and after a two years of trying to deny this fact she finally gave in to her love for skiing again. An inspiring story that will make you smile and is sure to inspire you to push your boundaries no matter what you're doing!

This weeks episode is short and sweet but very to the point. Over the years I've had to navigate numerous pathways and along with that had to accept multiple versions of what is "good enough". This is a concept that I've struggled with for years but I finally feel like I have come to a point where I am only worried about what is "good enough" for me. We live in a critical world filled with people who are going to try and define success for you but it's important to remember your goals and focus on how you can achieve them on your own terms!

Have you ever wondered what the "best path" for an athlete to take is? Often times we would respond with the path of least resistance that ultimately results in the athlete on the National Team. Trish and I may have come from different backgrounds but our pathways have encountered many of the same twists and turns over the years. From starting out on the National Team at a young age, to attending university and competing in the NCAA, to competing independently on the World Cup circuit, nothing about our pathway has been easy. Get ready for lots of life lessons and engaging thoughts while Trish and I discuss our lives up to this point.

It's hard to find something that Kajsa isn't great at. A World Cup racer from Norway who snagged her first World Cup Podium at the young age of 22, she's also helped a famous Norwegian author publish a book about the how sport is intertwined with the path of life, renovated her Oslo apartment on her own, AND opened her own restaurant in Oslo during the COVID-19 pandemic. I had so much fun listening to Kajsa talk about her ski racing career and hear first hand what it takes to become one of the best alpine racers in the world.

It's not everyday that I sit down in my recording studio (bed) and ramble for 30 minutes about the amazing things ski racing has taught me over the years. I really wanted to emphasize how special ski racing is for teaching kids life lessons and how it shaped me into the person that I am today. I also think it's important to talk about how success at a young age can affect your later career especially when you aren't ready to handle the expectations and pressure that will come your way. Finally, teammates aren't just there to be the shoulder you cry on or competitors to check training times against, they can also be your biggest supporters if you're able to foster a healthy dynamic! I give you my insights into how to be a better support of your teammates as well as some of the benefits that go along with building your support system :) Enjoy!

In this episode I talk about what it's been like transitioning from NCAA to World Cup skiing, climbing out of my depression cave, learning to trust myself and I even read some of my favourite sections from the book "Bravey" by Maya Rudolph. It's hard to imagine that less than 12 months ago I was curled up in my college apartment wishing I was anywhere else in the world and now I'm sitting in my European hotel room in Switzerland counting my blessings for the opportunities I have. Life can be crazy sometimes but it's important to stay true to yourself and have faith that things will turn around if you pu your mind to it.

Ski racing is a sport where athletes compete individually but also travel, train and live as a team. This combination can be challenging because often times your biggest competitors and the other people vying for the same starts as you are also your teammates. Over the years I've seen countless coaches and ski federations pit teammates against each other in an effort to create "healthy" competition but it usually fails, resulting in bitter rivalries and toxic team dynamics. Recently, I've experienced first-hand what it can be like to have teammates who celebrate your successes just as much as their own, view competition as a way for everyone to improve and genuinely care about your well-being. Allie and Zoe are a perfect example of how deeply rooted friendship and camaraderie can result in success on the race hill and within the team.

After consistently getting my a** handed to me by Britt in GS, I decided to sit down with Britt and have a talk about how she got so good, so fast. Despite growing up with two parents who understood what it took to be a ski racer, Britt took her career into her own hands and pushed herself to be the best, no matter the circumstance. It was an absolute pleasure hearing what Britt had to say about her life in skiing and the way she spoke about her teammates and competitors is truly admirable. Britt Richardson is a name you're going to want to remember.

Throughout my years as a young athlete my coaches continually engrained in me that confidence and results should be synonymous. While this way of thinking helped pushed me to perform at a higher level, it also fostered a negative view of "poor performances". Recently I've worked incredibly hard to break my old habits and change my perspectives to view these "poor performances" as learning experiences rather than disappointments. In this episode I also reflect on some of the key moments in my athletic career that helped develop my work ethic and give some insight on how I stay motivated even when I'm not performing my best.

Brodie Seger, another Vancouver/ Whistler native who grew up skiing in Whistler has made some major jumps in ski racing over the past couple of years. His work ethic is something to be admired and his perseverance has made him a well-known name on the World Cup circuit. With the Olympics just around the corner I wanted to pick Brodies mind on how he managed to achieve one of his childhood dreams. You won't want to miss this episode as Brodie divulges some amazing insight and explains what helped him get to this point in his skiing career.

Growing up in Whistler I always knew that I wanted to be a professional athlete, it was simply a matter of picking the sport I loved the most and dedicating myself to it. I was a late bloomer when it comes to ski racers deciding they wanted to be olympians, but that hasn't held me back from chasing my dream and working my way onto the World Cup circuit. I have my fair share of haters but I'm very happy to say that the good friends and memories far outweigh the negatives in my career and I hope to keep that trend going for the next several years.

Madi Hoffman is an Australian racer who has taken her passion for ski racing to the next level. Her family has been residing in Utah for the past several years and have helped her navigate the ski racing world without the help of a National Team. The Hoffmans created Team X as a way help independent female skiers who were racing in the US while also providing teammates for Madi to train and compete with. After three years of the Team X legacy proving that independent teams may be the future for developing top tier skiers, Madi decided to adjust her path and start school for the University of Utah where she can also compete for their D1 NCAA Ski Team. By combining her NCAA team with her independent team Madi feels like she's found her happy medium and is ready to take on both the college circuit and World Cup circuit simultaneously.

Mac and Tristan are two athletes that understand what it takes to be the best in the world, but they also know that they couldn't do it alone. Join me in my conversation with these two wild guys as they bring me inside the dynamic of the Canadian Paralpine team and explain what it means to work together as a team while competing in an individual sport. They are looking to push the boundaries of what it means to be a Paralympic athlete and want to help change the conversation to help people understand that Para-athletes are so much more than their disability. Each athlete has overcome adversity in their own way and has fought hard to compete at the highest level so they should be properly acknowledged. While these topics may seem deep and hard hitting, Mac and Tristan approach them with sincerity and are always able to put a light hearted spin on it.

While my personal opinion about Katie may be biased because she's my sister, it's safe to say that almost every person that meets her feels the same way. She's a ray of sunshine who has defied the odds numerous times and refuses to let a bad situation get the best of her. From rehabbing 3 ACL reconstructions, surviving a traumatic brain injury and having multiple bones broken, to attending one of the top D1 NCAA ski schools in the US, she has proven that she knows how to work hard. One of the most unique characteristics about Katie though is that while she maintains a competitive mindset for sports, she is also able to free her mind to explore the beauty of nature and loves to produce unbelievable artwork in her free time. She's a jack of all trades who has used her setbacks in skiing to grow as a person and has embraced everything that life has to offer.

This is my first year fully moving to Europe for the race season and it has been a crazy experience. Despite spending three years living in the US for school, I felt totally unprepared and nervous to spend half of the year living alone in Europe. While some of the things that I worried about might seem silly or childish, until you've moved across the globe during a pandemic, you don't know the struggles. Here are some of my experiences, tips & tricks and a selection of silly questions for you to listen to.

This is such an exciting podcast for me to be putting out because although I've had the pleasure of knowing Alice for years I want to world to be graced by her contagious energy. From day one she's been one of my biggest competitors, inspirations and cheerleader. Don't let her modest demeanor fool you, Alice has proven that she's a force to be reckoned with at the World Junior, World Cup, World Championship and Olympic level. Aside from her numerous athletic achievements she has fought a courageous battle with an eating disorder for over a year now and she's been an inspiration to countless people. Her story has spread around the world and she's even been feature in the Washington Post and NBC Sports. She's helping break the stigma around athletes with eating disorders and showing the world that sometimes the hardest battle athletes face is outside of competition.

When people think of athletes they think of physically fit, motivated people who defy the odds of whats humanly possible. Unfortunately, this way of thinking has developed a very negative stigma around athletes with mental health struggles and I want to help change the way we view athletes mental health. There is no right or wrong way of dealing with these kinds of issues but I'm putting my personal experience to work to try and help people dealing with similar things that I've gone through. PSA I'm not a licensed therapist, just an athlete who wants to help spread some love and remind people that it's ok to struggle!

Hi everyone and welcome to Send It With Stef! I can't wait to share my experiences and stories with you all.