Ep.012 Athlete Story Podcast

Story Selling as Athletes – A way to generate value from your sports career

Storyselling is the main theme for this Athlete Story episode with former bobsled pilot, Tom Johansen. Inspired by the Walt Disney movie, Cool Runnings based on the startup of a Jamaican bobsled team, Tom decided to build a Danish Bobsled Team. He already had a career in sales, but was so inspired by this pioneering adventure that he took action.

It became a true entrepreneurial journey where he had to find and lead a team, build a professional structure from zero and finance the adventure by finding partners who could see tha value in having a bobsled team in Denmark with a slight chance of qualifying for the Olympics and an even smaller chance of a medal. So he had to be innovative about the value they had to offer.

This journey still serves Tom in his work to inspire people via public speaking.

We also talk about
-his stress collapse after sports,
-what is success
-finding where your energy naturally flows – and what can happen if you ignore it

You can also watch a video version of this interview here.

To save YOU the hassle and time, I have taken great notes for you.

Want them ?

“The question is : From whom can the Danish companies learn the most ? The 99 going in one direction or the 1 who dares to go in the other one. I know the answer to that.”

Former Bobsled Pilot and Pioneer

Tom Johansen uses his experiences as a former bobsled pilot to inspire people to find the courage to listen to that inner voice telling you what you are meant to do – even if that means making choices that not everybody can relate to. 

An athlete story of the real great ones (about the Jamaican athletes who managed to qualify the first tropical bobsled to the Winter Olympics in 1988) inspired him to start and lead a national bobsled team in Denmark and go all in to build a professional set-up to be part of the world cup and possibly qualify for the Olympics in 2002 and later in 2006. While Denmark chose not to send the bobsled, the team’s challenges, bruises and fun experiences still serve as inspiration when Tom does public speaking about themes such as courage to stand out and about anxiety caused by mis-alignment.