Launching “The Ready Room Podcast”

Join us in the Ready Room, where “Readiness is a State of Mind” and we journey into what it takes to develop an Elite Mindset.

The "Ready Room" is a term used for the “locker room” in military operations. We invite our listeners to gain access and insights from our community of subject matter experts, innovative companies, community engagement, and compelling conversations with a diverse range of leaders, influencers.

Visit this video by the Premier Lacrosse League that features Erik describing the "ready room" from his time in an elite infantry unit in the Special Operations Forces.

Stay tuned for show links including interviews with:

DR. / MAJOR ALLISON BRAGER

Allison is currently in a NASA astronaut candidate and a neurobiologist with expertise in sleep and circadian rhythms for the United States Army (active duty).

Allison co-authored the first edition of the NCAA student-athlete mental health handbook and the popular science book entitled Meathead: Unraveling the Athletic Brain. Both a researcher and a member of the Army CrossFit Team ("Army Warrior Fitness"), Allison shares her perspective on a wide range of subjects, from managing energy to examples of great leadership under stress. We wish Allison success as she takes command of her next Army unit this summer!

John Walker

JOHN WALKER

Coach for the Chrome Lacrosse Club (PLL), Princeton University, University of Virginia (National Champions), and an All-American lacrosse player for the US Military Academy at West Point.

John shares with us what it is like to cultivate relationships on teams and the importance of demonstrating core values before a crisis hits a person, a team or an organization.

TYLER STEINHARDT

Tyler Steinhardt

Founder of Shootout For Soldiers and former Director of Marketing for the Premier Lacrosse League, Tyler shares stories of how the Shootout was formed, where it's going and what Tyler is interested in for his next phase of life.

This episode took place as Tyler and Veteran Non-Profit "Team RWB" announced the acquisition of Shootout For Soldiers and the return of a Summer 2021 season.

SEAN PERROTTA

Sean Perrotta

Principle at a New York City-area based hedge fund, Sean tells his story of how lacrosse influenced the kind of leader he is today, and what it was like to intern at Cantor Fitzgerald just months before 9/11 happened.

TECH X 2021

TechX 2021 (Nov 16-18, 2021)

Get ready for #TechX2021, Nov. 17-19 at the Guardian Centers in Perry, Georgia, USA, where emergency responders experience immersive training in realistic scenarios. Setting the standard for public safety training, #TechX2021 certifies teams in the latest technologies and protocols to save more lives.

Through this partnership with Global Convergent Technologies, we are thrilled to have an opportunity to prepare teams and develop scenarios similarly to the way our AEP teammates worked as their "bread and butter" focus during their time as trainers with the Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group.

AEP's focus on Readiness, Performance, and Recovery will be especially important during these realistic crisis scenarios so teams think their way through the problems they encounter and thrive under pressure as they progress as team. AEP will be training teams and role players in the weeks leading up to #TechX2021 so they may use their skills to be ready, to perform as an individual, a team, and/or leader, and to recover between moments, between events, between days, and make these skills a part of their own toolkit.

Our three main training pillars will be tested throughout the engagement:

(1) Team Resilience: core values, team creative problem-solving, innovating under pressure, comfort in discomfort

(2) Elite Communication: verbal, non-verbal/body language, digital

(3) Awareness: situational awareness, self awareness, awareness of others

"Public sector emergency responders will use cutting-edge technologies to solve challenges in realistic crisis scenarios during the inaugural TechX."

Alpha Echo Project will bring a collection of our skills to TechX 2021, including:

Guardian Centers

1. SCENARIO DEVELOPMENT "Civil unrest. Wildfire. Industrial explosion. Border alert. Pandemic attack. Train your team to solve these real-world crises with life-saving technologies during TechX 2021."

2. TEAM TRAINING for events in the weeks leading up to the event to develop self-aware leaders, resilient teams with chemistry, and skills around Readiness, Performance, and Recovery.

3. SCENARIO EXECUTION Including possible role playing.

Follow #TechX2021 to stay updated and inspired. This unique event is guaranteed to be a formative experience!

Sports: A Year of Overcoming Adversity

Sports Industry Update: Competitive college sports had the most challenging year in history, and there was no shortage of stressors and “unknowable” situations for businesses, administrators, coaches, players and families to continuously adapt around.

Coaches were given an opportunity to lead through this adversity, and those who reached out to collaborate with us forged bonds within their teams even through restrictions of in-person team interaction, administrative decision-making, civil unrest, completely remote teams, and their academic requirements as student athletes.

AEP Edge: Our digital workshop developed into our 4-part “Signature Series” (which is now 5+ parts), and teams learned critical skills for getting through these stressful times as well as the critical moments in games, and for doing so as a team with on-field chemistry and meaningful bonds off the field.

All of the teams who worked with us advanced to their conference playoffs, including a first-year program establishing itself in the NCAA, which made it to the Conference Championship Game (results TBD), and another team which was re-establishing itself after years of being deactivated as an NCAA program. Our college brands have a particular focus on amplifying their culture across an AEP social media platforms. To bolster recruitment and retention for our clients' programs, we provide a unique inside-look at a team so recruits, parents, donors and administrators can see a team's culture in action, and reinforced by AEP's perspective.

Below, you'll find a recap of our work with two of our client-partners in college sports:

ONU Polar Bears

"12R Culture"

Head Coach Nat St. Laurent Ohio Northern University Polar Bears: Men's Lacrosse

ONU approached the 2021 Season in the hunt for leadership and an outlier mindset willing to "draw first blood" on the field. The tone of our AEP Signature Series, for this particular program, drove that messaging home while creating a culture fully bought-into the the "12R" culture. Breathwork by Ceci Craft, CMPC and "A Warrior's Pause" are techniques this squad tapped into quite often, and their team innovation session allowed a sense of "first blood" as their message included a concept of hitting the road all season to play anyone, anytime, anywhere, and in any division.

Brand-New NCAA Program

Head Coach Jordan Williams

Penn College of Technology Wildcats: Men's Lacrosse Excerpt from the 2021 Championship Game Recap:

PCT Wildcats Men's Lacrosse Team

(Season) One for the History Books:

"In just its first season as an NCAA program, Penn College defied the odds by reaching the title contest. In that journey, they earned six NEAC player of the week honors, landed nine players on the all-conference team, including the Rookie of the Year and the Coach of the Year.

'This season exceeded all of our expectations on and off the field. We transitioned from a club program and found success at Division III level right away, which no one including myself saw coming. I am extremely grateful for the young men who took the leap of faith to be a part of year one,' Williams said. 'We look forward to building off the solid foundation we laid this year with the addition of our incoming class and are excited about the opportunity to compete for a NEAC title again next season.'"