We had the good fortune of connecting with BJ Armstead and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi BJ, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We wanted to provide an outlet for high school student athletes to express their emotions about situations they may have happened on the field and off the field. We are rooted in Mental Health and aim to educate student-athletes on the importance of stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma as it relates to their sport. We also bridge the gap between Mental Health and Life Coaching and use this to build rapport and maximize relationships that may have happened between Athlete and Mental Coach.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
What sets us apart from other businesses are a couple of things. One, there are not a lot of business who strictly aim to educate athletes on Mental Health and can tie it back to how it can affect their performance on the Field. There is a direct correlation between the amount of stress & anxiety that an athlete has and how he/she will perform during competition. We aim to educate high school athletes on this because we understand that teenage years are a VERY pivotal time in life and we want to make sure that athlete have that person in their ear to help guide them in the right direction.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There are lots a cool places to visit in the City of Atlanta. I would probably start with the Historical context of the city and take them to the King Museum and then we’d go to the AUC and see all of the history at Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University, and Spelman College. We’d spend time down there and them drive over to Cascade area and the SWATS to look at all of the roads that are named after prominent people in history who had a huge impact on the city. We would then see the entertainment scene in the city. I would take them to each side of Atlanta and talk about rappers and singers who are from these sides. We would also talk about movies that have been made in Atlanta and visit the sites that these movies took place in. We would then visit landmarks and recreational parts of Atlanta such as the aquarium, the coco cola center, The Beltline, and more. We would then get food at one Atlanta popular restaurants such as Who’s Got Soul, Hattie B’s, Houston’s and More. We would then ride Marta around the city and combine that with going sight seeing at night.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would like to shoutout Bryan and Corliss Armstead for their unwavering commitment and dedication to the Apollo Sports Counseling, Inc organization. We’d like to thank Avery Rosser, PhD (c) for his support and commitment in helping us attract more athletes in this incredibly new, but needed field. Lastly, we would like to Thank Tara Williams and Fee Drummond, PhD (c). for helping the vision of Apollo Sports Counseling, Inc come true and pushing the conversation of Mental Health and Athletes forward.

Website: apollosports.org

Instagram: apollosportscounseling

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/bjarmstead

Youtube: apollosportscounseling

Image Credits
Dorothy Kozlowski Alonte Lee

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