Forged Youth | Legacy Within
Forged Youth: Legacy Within
What if the conversations you needed most as a teen athlete were finally being had, openly, honestly, and with purpose?
Forged Youth: Legacy Within is the podcast that equips youth athletes (ages 12–24), their parents, and coaches with the mental tools, emotional resilience, and life insight to rise above the noise and grow into strong, intentional human beings.
Each episode features real, raw conversations with professional athletes, CEOs, and cultural leaders sharing what they wish they knew when they were younger. We unpack topics like mental grit, overcoming adversity, identity beyond sport, and building a life of purpose, even when things fall apart.
Hosted by former elite athlete and mental health advocate Mariel Nichole Anderson, this podcast is your companion through the messy middle of chasing big dreams, and becoming someone even bigger in the process.
Because you weren’t born to just survive sport. You were made to be forged by it.
Forged Youth | Legacy Within
Ep. 4 - Mental Training, Recovery Mindsets & Grit: A Candid Q&A with Editor Kyle
In this special Q&A episode of Forged: Youth Legacy Within, Mariel invites editor Kyle Donen out from behind the mic and into the conversation. Both former competitive volleyball players, they reflect on how the landscape of mental health and performance training in sport has evolved over the past two decades, and what’s still missing.
Through candid questions and stories from their playing and coaching days, Mariel and Kyle explore the emotional weight of injury, the tools they wish they’d had as young athletes, and the power of preparation through visualization. They speak honestly about what it means to show up for athletes not just as competitors, but as people, and how great coaching can shape the rest of a person’s life.
This episode is filled with warmth, insight, laughter, and a powerful reminder that while you can’t change the past, you can still use your experience to build something better for the next generation.
