Meet Betsy Butterick

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Betsy Butterick a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Betsy , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

My purpose was born from life experience… I began playing organized sports when I was 3 (soccer) and played competitive sports through college. My athletic experience has shaped the person I’ve become, and it was a natural progression for me to go from playing sports to coaching sports. During my coaching career I learned that “coaching” was something that existed outside of sports, and when I learned that I could coach people that fit perfectly with my desire to be of service and my passion for the field of psychology. My work as a communication specialist evolved out of a demonstrated need in the coaching profession – I now get to help shorten the distance between intention and impact by helping coaches and athletes improve the quality of their communication.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m an executive coach for coaches of all sports and work as a communication specialist with athletic departments, teams, and organizations. I support high-performance by working on the people side of sports, specifically by optimizing communication between coaches and athletes.

I love what I get to do because it’s dynamic, impactful, and always changing. There is no one “best way” to communicate, and since communication is a skill, anyone at any time is able to improve the quality of their communication. Small shifts in language facilitate big shifts in connection, understanding, learning and development – and its SO MUCH FUN to play in this space.

Much of my recent work focuses on helping coaches better understand, communicate, and connect with Gen Z and Gen Alpha athletes. Coaches of older generations experience a variety of challenges in coaching “kids these days” and my research in the field + work as a practitioner puts me in the field and at the forefront of a changing sports landscape.

My upcoming book, “Kids These Days: Effective Strategies for Coaching Gen Z and Beyond” will be available in October 2025, and serves as a resource for coaches of all sports to work collaboratively with today’s athletes.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Seek to be of value before ever being asked to be of service. If you have something valuable to contribute to others, put it out into the world. Consistently providing value to others gives them the confidence to reach out when they are in need because you’ve “proven your worth” over time.

2. Curiosity is the key. Seek to learn from every experience and every conversation. Hold what you “know” lightly and leave space to unlearn, relearn, and be “wrong” often… a genuine curiosity will open doors to new experiences, insights, and opportunities.

3. Actionable is priceless. In everything I do I seek to transfer knowledge to people so that they have what they need to take immediate action on an area they desire. Theory is wonderful, but if you can build the bridge from theory to application in a way that helps folks take action – that’s the sweet spot for contribution!

Best advice: even if you’re not yet doing what you’d ideally like to do, look for opportunities to build skills that will add value to your vision. For years I held various jobs that enabled me to hone certain skills (facilitation, public speaking, written communication, navigating adversity, collaboration under pressure) that I now utilize in my daily work.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

The most impactful thing my parents did for me was to love me and love each other. That may sound silly, but growing up in a home that was filled with love, open conversation, space for feelings, and genuine care and respect laid the foundation for me to take risks and pursue challenge without questioning my worth. I learned how to treat people well and the foundational skills my parents offered support the strong relationships I have in my personal and professional life.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

All photos are mine 🙂

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