We recently connected with Meredith Brick and have shared our conversation below.

Meredith, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

In my “day job”, I am an 8th grade science teacher and high school varsity soccer coach. It is a challenging paradox – as an educator I follow the rules and expectations of the education system, but I passionately disagree with some of the state mandated curriculum and outdated system. Don’t get me wrong, I think there is GREAT value in setting up expectations, routines, and systems for youth in the public school system. However, I feel our current model is very outdated.

I think there are stark similarities to schools and prisons. We demand students to do certain things to maintain order, think in a certain way, and unfortunately I believe this suffocates the passions, creativity, curiosity, and exploration for a young person.

There are options of Montessori or “free” schools that focus on student-led explorations of topics and ideas that fuel their curiosities and passions. These schools are readily available to those who are financially stable living in urban areas, but scarce in rural and underprivileged areas. If I could change something about our education system, it would be to create better access of these schools to the mass population to encourage students to be free thinkers and passionate problem solvers.

Within the education system, I would like to see a model that fosters and encourages students to find their passion, stoke their curiosity and be given the skills to learn entrepreneurship. I would like to see important topics being incorporated into our curriculum that actually gives students the knowledge and confidence to navigate the real world.

In my work as a Certified Mental Performance Coach, I teach young people life skills to help them manage their thoughts, emotions, and establish mental routines to achieve high performance. I think there is a great need for social-emotional learning (SEL) for students in our education system, especially with the residual effects of the pandemic in 2020 still lingering. Another change I would make to our current education model is to have SEL a requirement for every grade level to prepare students to be productive and kind citizens of the world.

Meredith, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am the founder of Brick Wall Training LLC, and have grown this entity from a passion project to a true entrepreneurial opportunity. As a former collegiate soccer goalkeeper, my business started as “Brick Wall Goalkeeping” and serviced youth, high school and college goalkeepers. In 2019, services expanded to serve soccer field players and athletes from all sports and ages.

The name formally changed to “Brick Wall Training” after I became a Certified Positive Performance Mindset Coach™ and Performance Visualization Specialist™ through Positive Performance Training’s Mindset Coach Academy. Services and programs I offer range from individual to small group training on topics such as mental skill development, soccer skill development, and specialized position training for soccer goalkeepers.

I strive to be the coach I wish I had when I was younger. My mission is to share my knowledge I’ve gained through my own experiences to help young athletes build their dreams. I grew up in a rural area with not a lot of opportunities or skilled coaches to help me thrive and grow. Through Brick Wall Training programs, I teach athletes mental tools and techniques to recognize their thoughts, regulate their emotions, redirect their focus, and execute actions with positive intent to perform their best.

I am most proud of the amazing transformations I have seen my clients go through after creating clarity, using mental routines, and establishing systems in their lives. Training your mind is the type of work that transcends the sports arena and it’s relevance in all facet of life is incredibly valuable. All the mental tools I teach my clients I strive to practice in my own life so I can lead by example and continue becoming the best version of myself.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My passion for training the mental game started when I was a collegiate goalkeeper. Without knowing I was training “mental skills” I started using meditation, visualization, and journaling practices during the summer between my junior and senior year in college. In previous years, I had battled for a starting spot on my team and found myself on the bench for majority of my junior year.

I decided this is not how I wanted to contribute to my team, and that summer I was laser focused on my commitment and the work required to become the best version of myself – mentally and physically.

I woke up each morning and started with a nutrient dense breakfast and journaled my thoughts, dreams, and desires. After my breakfast settled, it was time for me to run hill sprints for 20-40 minutes in the small river town where I was residing. As a broke college kid, I would then go work in the kitchen of a fine dining restaurant for 8-14 hours a day – this character building, grueling job taught me so much about being adaptable and deepened my ability to solve problems quickly. On my breaks at the restaurant, I would take a soccer ball and hit it against a cement wall to get further touches with the ball. On days I had available, I would commit to at least 30 minutes to work on my soccer skills and focus on strengthening my weaknesses.

After working all summer on my mental and physical strength, I lost 25 pounds and came back to start EVERY game my senior year. This was a pivotal moment in my life, and a time I will always reference because I built my confidence by relying on my resilience. Through this experience, I created proof that I can achieve anything when I put my mind to something and my commitment matches the caliber of my goals.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I am continuing to unlearn is only certain people get their big breaks. From growing up in a town that barely appreciated the sport of soccer, it seemed only the privileged athletes in big cities on big teams were able to make their dreams come true to play beyond high school. But I unlearned this lesson through by creating proof with my own hard work and support of the people around me to pursue my dream of playing college soccer.

The people who live out their dreams are the ones who have put the time, energy, and effort to make it happen. To become a master in any field, the research shows from studying many experts in various vocations, it requires around 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to reach mastery.

Something I continue to remind myself is I am in control of my destiny. How I shape my future does not depend on my past, how much money I make, the kind of household I grew up in, or the opportunities that come my way. My future depends on how I expend my energy and build my skills day after day after day. Ordinary people with extraordinary commitment and effort are the ones who make their big break.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brickwalltraining.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brickwalltraining
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brickwalltraining
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredith-brick/
• Twitter: https://x.com/CoachBrick_

Image Credits

Mia Walters Photography (on professional headshot picture)