Podcast Summary: Becoming UnDone – Episode 144

Guest: Nadalie Walsh
Host: Dr. Toby Brooks
Release Date: November 24, 2025
Episode Theme: Embracing Change and Championing Mental Wellness in Gymnastics

Episode Overview

In this powerful episode, Dr. Toby Brooks sits down with Nadalie Walsh—a veteran NCAA Division I gymnastics coach, culture builder, and mental wellness advocate. Together, they explore what it means to lose and rediscover identity after a career-defining transition, the challenges of leading with compassion in a high-pressure sports world, and the brave work of championing mental health in athletics. Walsh’s honest reflections offer listeners both practical insights and inspiration, reminding us that undoing is not the end, but a necessary step toward true transformation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Nadalie’s Journey Into Coaching & Early Influences

• Early Start:
  • Began coaching as a middle school athlete, stepping in when older athletes didn’t show up.
  • “My coaching started super young…I’ve never had another job, to be honest. It's always been about coaching.” (11:32)
• Injury as a Catalyst:
  • Suffered a career-ending Achilles tendon injury in college; immediately shifted to coaching and supporting teammates.
  • Quote: “I maybe cried a little bit for, like, a few seconds. And then I realized that my friend and teammate was struggling with her dance…So I got out of the wheelchair and I crawled and I helped choreograph on my knees.” (16:09)
• Faith & Mindset:
  • Approach to adversity is faith-driven, believing hardships can be turned for good.

2. Building a Legacy: Coaching Philosophy and Team Success

• Servant Leadership:
  • Emphasizes “flipping the triangle” of traditional leadership—being at the base to support others.
  • Quote: “It's my honest, like, role, responsibility and the honor to get to bear the weight and to be able to empower people and encourage them…that culture instantly bred trust.” (23:44)
• Culture Shifts:
  • Led teams at UW Oshkosh (Division III), Ball State (Division I), Utah State, and Illinois, creating record improvements, healthy cultures, and championship results.
• Transparency & Empowerment:
  • Led by example, shared personal struggles, encouraged athlete voice and independence.

3. The End of an Era: Navigating Difficult Transitions

• Departure from Illinois:
  • Non-renewed after 8 years as head coach, despite success and without clear cause.
  • Quote: “They never even said the words, we don't want you. It was just reading between the lines…in answering your question, yeah, there was a lot of confusion, and I honestly, I cried and I processed it.” (38:15)
• Processing Loss Without Bitterness:
  • Refused to take offense or root bitterness, choosing gratitude and forward momentum.
  • “For all the bitterness that's all around you and all the negativity, do not let that take root inside you.” (39:38, also see 41:28)

4. Championing Athlete Mental Wellness

• Reclamation & Healing:
  • Deep commitment to helping athletes rebuild self-worth and heal from trauma in the sport.
  • “My career was just built on putting broken pieces back together and putting hearts back together...helping these athletes develop their self-worth and realize that they're worth more than their score and their routines, and that they do have voices...” (28:32)
• Catalyst Moment:
  • Team focused on mental wellness after an athlete tragically lost her brother to overdose, fostering unity and destigmatizing mental health support.
• Changing the System:
  • Advocate for not just mental ‘health’ but overall ‘wellness’; integrates mental training into camps and clinics.
  • “Community connection and transparency is what actually heals people's hearts.” (28:32)

5. The Current Landscape and the Future of College Gymnastics

• Mental Health Challenges & Athlete Pressures:
  • Discusses how NIL, transfer portal, and increasing pressures demand better athlete support systems.
  • “We have a whole generation of athletes that really need really good mentorship…I’m developing an entire company and business on developing young people to be ready for what the NCAA is bringing.” (32:14)
• Business & Coaching Beyond NCAA:
  • Now CEO of Timber Ridge Ventures, Walsh supports athletes, coaches, and organizations in culture-building and mental-confidence training.
  • “I'm coaching coaches, I'm coaching athletes, helping parents, and doing a lot of mental training and identity building, and the sky is the limit.” (35:10)

6. Authentic Leadership and Radical Acceptance

• Servant Leadership in Practice:
  • Walsh stresses the importance of owning responsibility, not taking credit, cultivating trust, and transparency with staff and athletes.
• On Letting Go:
  • Embraces the philosophy that growth sometimes requires moving on, even from roles she loved or identities she’s held for decades.
  • “I don't want to be somewhere if somebody doesn't want everything that I have to offer…You feel it, you process it. You don't ignore it, and you learn from it.” (41:28)

7. Songs That Represent Her Journey

• How He Loves & Where You Go I Go (Kim Walker Smith)
  • “So much of the world just tries to tell us that we're not loved, we're not enough, we don't belong…That song is just all about, like, God loves us.” (45:11–47:56)
  • Emphasizes surrender and leading from a place of purpose rather than perfection.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On resilience after injury:

  “I still have worth and value and I am gonna crawl on my knees and help her get better.”
  — Nadalie Walsh (16:09)

• On servant leadership:

  “Taking that triangle and flipping it upside down, I'm at the base and it is my honest, like, role, responsibility and the honor to get to bear the weight and…empower people and encourage them.”
  — Nadalie Walsh (23:44)

• On processing loss and transition:

  “For all the bitterness that's all around you and all the negativity, do not let that take root inside you.”
  — Nadalie Walsh (39:38)

• On culture and leaving Illinois:

  “They ended up, you know, hiring my staff that I hired and I trained. So that means that that culture was good because if it wasn't good, they wouldn't have kept them. And so I get to bless that, I get to empower that.”
  — Nadalie Walsh (41:28)

• On the future and what remains undone:

  “What's left undone is like, I want to reach as many people as I can…working with families, parents, kids that need mental training, mindset training, uprooting lies and replacing them with truth…”
  — Nadalie Walsh (49:30)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Nadalie’s injury, faith, and early coaching – 00:03, 11:32–16:09
• Building programs and culture at multiple schools – 13:55–15:29
• Transition after leaving Illinois – 17:56–22:03
• Servant leadership & coaching values – 23:44–26:36
• Championing mental wellness in gymnastics – 28:32–31:33
• On NIL, transfer portal, and the future – 32:14–35:10
• Entrepreneurship & current work with Timber Ridge – 35:10–37:12
• Grieving and letting go after leaving coaching – 38:15–43:21
• Music that defines her journey – 45:11–47:56
• Walsh's “undone” and new visions – 49:30

Final Thoughts

Nadalie Walsh’s journey from the mat to the boardroom, from heartbreak to hope, is a testament to the transformative power of resilience, faith, and authentic leadership. Her steadfast refusal to grow bitter, honest advocacy for mental wellness, and ongoing mission to empower the next generation make this episode a must-listen for athletes, coaches, leaders, and anyone facing life’s big transitions.

To connect with Nadalie:

• Website, Instagram, & email: "NADALIE" (unique spelling—no ‘T’—makes her easy to find, as she notes at 49:30)

Recommended: Listen in full for Nadalie’s infectious optimism, practical advice for leaders and mentors, and deeply rooted perspective on embracing “being undone” as a beautiful beginning.