Show Notes: Episode 29
DIAMONDS with Katie Burkhart-Gooch, NCAA Champion, College World Series MVP, and GIA Applied Jewelry Professional
Competing at the highest levels requires a rare combination of ambition, ability, drive, and opportunity. For highly decorated pitcher Katie Burkhart Gooch, she can recall authoring and signing mission and vision statements for herself before she’d even become a teenager. Ambition: check.
Early successes on the softball field led to a steady stream of newer and greater opportunities as an athlete. Grand visions of Olympic victory might have seemed far-fetched at such a young age, but Katie believed that she had both the resolve and the talent to make them a reality. Ability and drive: check and check.
Eventually, she found herself at Arizona State where, as a senior, she helped lead the Sun Devils to a 66-5 record and a National Championship in 2008. Awarded College World Series MVP honors, Katie was soon drafted first overall in the National Pro Fastpitch league where she remained dominant, posting 13 wins and a sparkling 1.87 ERA in route to NFP Player of the Year honors as a rookie. Opportunity: check.
After wrapping up a successful professional career in the US and abroad, she moved on, dabbling in coaching and other pursuits. It was a fairytale story of athletic success.
Except it wasn’t, exactly.
There had been signs along the way. Behind a steel exterior and a crafted persona as a dominant and hungry competitor, Katie wrestled with doubts and with feelings of being an imposter. Tragically, as a freshman in college, she found herself picking up the pieces following a date rape, wondering if she would even continue to play. Struggles with alcohol had crept in over the years, and by 2019, she found herself at what she would describe as her rock bottom.
From the pain and anguish, a new Katie emerged. Surrounded by those she loves and with new creative pursuits that allow her to express a different side than the dominant former pro athlete, she’s found herself in the unlikely but satisfying space between thrash and Zen; Limp Bizkit and meditation; diamonds drawn in chalk and those set in gold.
And she’s not done yet.
Join me for the inspiring story of Katie Burkhart Gooch in Episode 29: DIAMONDS
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Episode Summary
Former Pro Athlete Katie Burkhart-Gooch Reflections on Accomplishments, Dreams and Our Shared Journey for Improvement.
SUMMARY
Toby Brooks introduces Katie Burkhart-Gooch, a highly decorated pitcher and former softball star, who is examining how high achievers can transform from falling apart to falling into place. Katie recounts her journey from writing mission and vision statements as a young girl to her success in college and eventually the National Pro Fastpitch League. However, despite her impressive accomplishments, Katie wrestled off the field with doubts and feelings of being an imposter, and she eventually found herself at rock bottom due to struggles with alcohol. Through this podcast, Katie hopes to help high achievers overcome their own struggles and find success and fulfillment.
Katie Burkhart Gooch is a former professional athlete who has found success in life after sports. She was born and raised in California and started playing softball at age 10. She eventually moved to San Luis Obispo, where sports and softball were not as popular, but she was able to make her way in. She went on to play travel and high school softball before attending Arizona State University, where she was one of the most successful pitchers in ASU softball history. She has now found a new creative outlet that allows her to express her different side between thrash and zen, limp biscuit and meditation, diamonds drawn in the chalk and those set in gold. She has a story to tell which falls in line with the purpose of this show: to normalize the fact that high achievement in one aspect of life does not guarantee success in the future.
Katie is a former professional softball player who was named to Team USA in 2009. She has always had big dreams of being an Olympic athlete, which were met with skepticism from her teacher in middle school. She credits Lisa Fernandez, a professional softball player, with inspiring her to continue pursuing her dreams. After years of hard work and dedication, she was able to fulfill her goal of competing in the World Series in 2008, and even had the opportunity to meet and speak with Lisa. Despite the fact that softball is no longer an official Olympic sport, she remains a role model for aspiring female athletes.
Katie Burkhart was a 15-year-old softball player from San Luis Obispo, California who was contacted by a man named Joe Grimm about joining an 18-gold travel ball team. Joe Grimm believed that this was the best way for Michael to get seen by the big schools. Michael agreed and joined the Santa Barbara Waves 18-gold team. At a tournament in Orange County, Michael was playing against the American Pastime Gold team and they were knocked into the loser’s bracket. This allowed Michael to be seen by the big schools and he eventually got a scholarship offer to ASU. Joe Grimm was the catalyst in helping Michael pursue his softball goals.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00:00 “Katie Burkhart-Gooch: From Falling Apart to Falling Into Place”
0:02:13 Interview with Katie Burkhart Gooch: A Journey from High Achiever to Creative Pursuits
0:04:58 Interview with Katie Burkhart: From Drawing Olympic Rings to Becoming a Dominant Pitcher
0:06:56 Conversation with Katie Burkhart on Transitioning from Travel Ball to Scholarship Offer at ASU
0:08:31 Conversation Between Katie Burkhart and Host About Her Softball Journey
0:10:46 Reflection on Katie Burkhart’s Early Motivation and Success
0:12:24 Heading: Katie Bukhart’s Journey to the World Series
0:15:51 Heading: Reflections on Accomplishment: Katie Burkhart’s Journey to the College World Series
0:17:27 Heading: Mental Health in Sports: A Conversation with a Former Softball Player
0:19:44 Heading: Reflection on Overcoming Adversity Through Athletics
0:21:18 Conversation with Katie Burkhart: Reflections on Softball, the Olympics, and Mental Strength
0:23:59 Conversation with Professional Softball Player, Katie Burkhart, on Her Olympic Dream and Professional Career
0:25:36 Conversation on Self-Worth and Accomplishments in Athletics
0:27:37 Exploring the Impact of Sports on Mental Health: A Conversation with Former Professional Softball Player Katie Burkhart
0:34:46 Heading: Reflection on Rock Bottom Moment and the Slow Process of Change
0:36:21 Conversation on Addiction, Sobriety, and Softball: Katie’s Journey to Recovery
0:38:00 Heading: Reflections on Mental Health and Pursuing Dreams in Sports
0:40:53 Conversation with Professional Softball Player and Jewelry Apprenticeship Student
0:43:14 Conversation on Music and Emotion Represented in Life
0:44:53 Interview with Katie Gooch: From Professional Athlete to Jewelry Designer and Beyond
0:47:02 Interview with Katie Burkhardt-Gooch: A Story of Resilience and Victory
HIGHLIGHTS
But I love music and the emotion that it frequently can represent in my life. What song would you pick as the frequently can represent in my life. What song would you pick as the soundtrack of your life and why? Oh man, this is gonna get, this is gonna be funny.
Yeah, so I’ve always been very passionate about jewelry and so I started at Shane Company as a sales consultant and but my real main goal was to get into the shop as a bench jeweler and I had to prove it and I think that that’s where I can say that I’m grateful for the experience and my athletic background because I was awarded at work the most ambitious.
It’s like my wheels are falling off and my world is crumbling around me, and I’m undone. But from that, you mentioned, in 2017, you wouldn’t have wished it on your worst enemy.
And so, you know, first of all, congratulations on your sobriety. And I know that that didn’t just happen overnight. Like you said, healing and recovery is a process. Your relationship with softball is complicated.
I spent a week observing at a rehab center, and the thing that stood out to me the most was that a lot of times, the aspects of addiction, there’s a positive side to it and it can make you into a fierce competitor.