Danielle Brown MBE – 2x Paralympic Gold Medallist, 1st Para athlete to represent England in able-bodied, Speaker, Children’s Author

May 17, 2021

Danielle has had an incredible journey in sport and through sport and shares strategies she has developed to help her be incredibly successful in sport, business and life, whilst managing her disability.

I loved the idea that she has ‘copied and pasted what she uses in sport’ to all other aspects of her life.

 She truly brings to life her mantra’ there is no such thing as cant’ and shares many tips and soundbites that would be useful for any individual facing challenges or adversity or simply looking to maximise their impact in whatever they do.

It is well worth an hour of your time to hear what she has and continues to ‘copy and paste’, and how this continues to develop her self-confidence.

 

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Success quotes or sayings:

A message from parents –

“Give maximum effort at all times”

“There is no such thing as can’t”

Loved sport but was rubbish at them

I got friendship, trying something new from sport

Age 11  – feet started to hurt whilst running

Age 13  – pain effected mobility

Aged 16 – received diagnosis : Complex Regional Pain syndrome

Really tough in teenage years – didn’t know who I was but did have big dreams.

Disability – under represented and mis represented.

I feared that people would not see past the disability and see the value that lay within me.

My family did not let me take it easy – this really helped me in understanding and appreciating where my limits were.

In adversity we always have a choice – give up or get up!

The ‘mental side’ runs pretty much through everything.

Sport provides and distraction from the pain and with the adrenalin rush it becomes more removed.

The mind is so important and if you get that right  – everything else will follow

Your physical limits are so further on than you often think

Not very good to GB team in 3 years

Really listening to coaches helped. Bounce ideas off them really helped me mature as a person

My real strength was the mental side – dealing with pressure

‘I would really recommend that people invest in themselves – their personal development”

I have literally ‘copied and pasted [the skills, attributes and behaviours] what I use in sport ”

“Sport has been one of my greatest teachers – it has taught me about myself. I have learnt what I am good at and where my strengths are, as well as the areas for challenge and areas to improve on”

Cut and paste – confidence, self-belief, resilience, goal setting

Ask/consider these questions: Who you are? Why doing what you are doing? Where do you want to go and what you do you want to achieve? How are you going to get there and by when?

I built my confidence by people believing in me and re defining my measure of success and focussing on the tiny wins/successes not the big gold medal winning acheivements

I got to where I got in sport because people helped me.

Keen on working with girls and women – specific challenges with great ‘potential’.

I see that the barriers and limitations we often face stem from childhood.

My mum said – “we will support you all the way but you have to put in 100% commitment” You make your choice – you can’t just drop out a couple of months down the line.

Taking a hard performance angle and softening it round the edges to engage with people.

 

Quick fire questions:

The books that you would recommend are?

. . . and Death Came Third!: The Definitive Guide to Networking and Speaking in Public by Andy Lopata and Peter Roper

Be Your Best Self: Life Skills For Unstoppable Kids by Danielle Brown and Nathan Kai

Run Like A Girl: 50 Extraordinary and Inspiring Sportswomen by Danielle Brown

Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian, My Story of Rescue, Hope and Triumph by Yusra Mardini

 

In one sentence – What advice would you give to your teenage version of yourself?

Investing and innovating in yourself.  Really working on those ‘soft skills’ as they are critical for success.

Find yourself and understand who you are.

Become as confident as you can be.

Who has made a big impact on you?

Parents have always been there and believed in me

2 coaches I had at the club in my early career

Kim Lucas (coach who worked well with ME! As a person)

Hardeep Rai (CEO of Kaleidoscope Investments)

 

Whos’ Sport Story would you be really interested in hearing?

Yusra Mardini – Syrian Swimmer

 

 

Coaching questions I would like to pose:

1

Ask/consider these questions: Who you are? Why doing what you are doing? Where do you want to go and what you do you want to achieve? How are you going to get there and by when?

2

How are you going to build your confidence and resilience?

 

Contact info:

www.daniellebrown.co.uk

Active on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn

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