Meet Emily Lloyd | Relationship-Focused College Athlete, Coach, and Business Student

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

Hi Emily, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
A few years ago, someone once asked me, “What do you want to see changed in the world, and how can you contribute to that change?” Ever since then, I have been hooked on the idea that I can use my past experience to solve the problem of unintentional coach-athlete emotional abuse. Between my experience as an athlete and my professional experience in relationship education, I knew there was a way to recognize that the vast majority of coaches who were causing harm to athletes were not doing so intentionally, and that there is a way to change their behavior. I am really grateful to the Denver MBA experience, which allowed me to explore how to solve this problem through classes like the Entrepreneurship Challenge on day one of the program, and additional resources like BASE Camp to really take my idea to the next level.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
After spending four years as a college athlete at the University of Virginia, I moved to New Hampshire to participate in an AmeriCorps program where I was trained and worked as a domestic violence advocate. In the two years I worked as an advocate, I was passionate about recognizing the patterns and understanding simple solutions to solving this seemingly huge problem. That passion led me to One Love, a national nonprofit dedicated to educating young people about the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships in order to prevent relationship abuse. I spent six years at One Love, doing everything from leading workshops with middle schoolers to adult professional development training, as well as learning some project management skills that have really helped me in the business world.

Last year, I decided to move to Denver and get my MBA to see what else was out there and through this process, have decided to start my own nonprofit dedicated to improving athlete well-being and performance by enhancing coach-athlete relationships through emotional intelligence.

Some of the biggest challenges along the way were really related to trusting my gut and my own decision-making when challenged by others. Whether it was around choosing to move to Denver or starting my own business, I definitely got a lot of feedback about the risks of these decisions. Knowing when to take that feedback seriously and when to trust my gut and move forward has been really challenging, especially when the feedback is from those people you really respect.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My partner and I recently moved from Denver to Arvada, which has been so fun. Though I’ve only been here for a couple of months, we’ve really enjoyed walking through Olde Town to find places to eat, drink, and shop. I also really enjoy taking longer walks through the parks in the area – something we loved to do in Wash Park back in Denver and still enjoy now in the smaller parks in Arvada. #1 recommendation for sure would be Olde Town Arvada!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Entrepreneurship@DU, and the BASE Camp program specifically, really inspired me to bring this idea to life within the past year. Without the support of Joshua, Neil, John, and the many mentors who helped along the way, there’s no way this business could have been a reality.

Instagram: @emlloyd01

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-lloyd-01/