Winning on the Court and as a CEO with Kathryn Walker

"Depression and anxiety are not signs of being weak. They are actually signs of a person being too strong for too long." Depression can be a paralyzing feeling in which a person loses interest in things he once enjoyed. It can impede someone's capacity to work, create relationships, or enjoy the quality of life. Sometimes, it can lead to a worse situation, such as paranoia or death. Unfortunately, depression and anxiety can be experienced even by someone who seems to have a perfect life. For instance, military, first responders, and even athletes can be prone to depression.

Research has proven that veterans and first responders are more likely to develop depression due to repeated exposure to traumatic experiences in their jobs. Despite widespread awareness of the issue, only a few people are getting it fixed. We must know how depression can affect a person's well-being and learn to validate the internal feelings that cause the wars inside them. 

Kathryn Walker is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) and Revitalist Lifestyle and Wellness CEO. She is a Tennessee native that has always been involved in advanced studies and skills. Kathryn is passionate about helping others with evidence-based science and practices. Her nursing background and training have exposed her to many different types of patients and given her an excellent opportunity to work as an active team member of the client's medical and mental health team. She hopes to help others by bringing top-rated therapies and interventions to patients, allowing them to live a higher quality of life.

In this special episode with Kathryn Walker, we'll learn about the vision that propelled her toward manifesting her passion for helping the underserved community. She will show us that depression is real and that people like veterans, first responders, and even athletes are prone to experience it. In addition, we will learn that being cognizant of its effects will lead us to recognize and respond to someone who may be fighting an internal battle with their past experiences.

"I think athletes are not natural-born leaders, they're trained leaders, and they're trained in their specialty. But when they leave their sports, they think they're going out to nothing. They need to look at sports and all the skills that they acquired in that and transfer that over to their resume because they can have a huge positive significance to any company."-Kathryn Walker

Topics Covered:

(00:00:00) Introduction + Episode Snippet

(00:00:13) Introducing our special guest, Kathryn Walker

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(00:02:28) The background of becoming a CRNA: Who is Kathryn Walker

(00:05:30) The change of mindset and purpose: Who am I pleasing? 

(00:07:05) The Lack of advocacy and communication in the outpatient community.

(00:08:20) Keep taking doors that are open for you

(00:09:18) The use of Ketamine: Doing treatments for mental health that are not well understood.

(00:10:20) Focusing on the underserved community: What sort of clientele does Kathryn serve?

(00:11:56) Ketamine is a safe drug: How to support people with significant mental illness?

(00:12:44) How are you getting these patients?: Being uneducated hinders care for patients.

(00:15:21) Revitalist protocol: The person comes first, and the system comes second

(00:15:56) The growth of Revitalist: "We have something special with the company."

(00:17:29) The global wellness curriculum: A curriculum to help support people

(00:19:22) Advertisement: Sabre Bats, the training bat that will take you to your next swing. Go to https://www.sabrebats.net to know more.  

(00:20:05) The Two-day athletic certification: What is your work in the athletic space with your certification as a mental health advocate?

(00:22:42) Athletes are not natural-born leaders; they're trained leaders.

(00:23:36) Sports is a very fluid art: It may look chaotic if you don't understand it.

(00:24:28) The big red flag: Athletes are trained to work through injuries.

(00:27:00) A fundraiser for veterans and first responders: What is your unit initiative? 

(00:30:39) Final TimeOut with Kathryn Walker: What advice would you give athletes in using their uniqueness of being competitive athletes to become a leader in other fields?

(00:31:26) The need for an athlete's self-reflection: What training did you receive that can be a gain in any environment?

(00:34:13) You've got to read your environment.

 (00:35:04) Connect with Kathryn Walker

Key Takeaways:

"The skill sets that we learned during school were horrible. It's a horrible school because it was so hard. But it was skills that made me a powerful provider." -Kathryn Walker

"Why do you need to have as advanced skills as I have right before you die? Why not take the skill set that I have, and we put it up here at the front, and we intervene earlier, and we can break the cycle to where we do give these people 20,30,40 years more of their lifespan?" -Kathryn Walker

"One thing I've learned with mental health and addiction-type qualities is that we keep separating the brain when we should be bringing the brain back in the middle and to look at the brain as a whole."-Kathryn Walker

"I think ketamine is a very safe drug with a wide safety or therapeutic index. I think you have to understand the physiology of how it works in the brain. But then you also have to understand how to support that person as they do evolve because they're so used to living with such significant mental illness."-Kathryn Walker

"We have protocols that people sign off on and ensure they meet all these criteria we want people to meet. We've learned that many providers won't refer because they're uneducated on it. So if they're uneducated, that's hindering care."-Kathryn Walker

"We created the athletic certification so athletes would know how to speak to other athletes. Because I think athletes, first responders, and the military are trained in a very similar capacity. They're taught to speak to people in a straightforward way and bullet point."-Kathryn Walker

"I think athletes are not natural-born leaders, they're trained leaders, and they're trained in their specialty. But when they leave their sports, they think they're going out to nothing. They need to look at sports and all the skills that they acquired in that and transfer that over to their curriculum vitae because they can have a huge positive significance to any company."-Kathryn Walker

"We created it to help athletes and leaders in the athletic sector to understand how to speak to other athletes. And when is it the time to call in greater experts?"-Kathryn Walker

 "I remember tearing my bicep, but I didn't want to get out of the game. Because somebody's always waiting to take your position or so you can't give up until you're cracked."-Kathryn Walker

"So if athletes are well trained on how to pick up these key signs of mental health, or when somebody is struggling or depressed, or addicted to something, we can save lives."-Dr. Derrick Burgess

"When people transition out, whether they retire from being a first responder, or if they've been deployed, they return to the states and lose their unit. And when they lose their unit, that's isolation. There are only certain people they can talk about with the exposures that they've had to where you don't want to hurt their mental health."-Kathryn Walker

"There are a lot of people doing awareness and advocacy, but there are not a lot of people that are treating."-Kathryn Walker

"Revitalist helps to create that sense of a unit within the mental health space, within the United States where people feel part of something, even though their other unit has transitioned them out."-Kathryn Walker

"Athletes are used to their environment changing and having to make decisions and have critical thinking skills. So, I think anyone who's been in a team sport needs to see their strength."-Kathryn Walker

"How can we work in a team environment to become a leader and not walk in saying I'm a leader? We have to understand our team before we can lead them. And I think that's probably the best advice I'd give to an athlete if you've got to read your environment."-Kathryn Walker

Connect with Kathryn Walker:

Website: https://revitalist.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-walker-33a868115/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/revitalistcorp

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYJI620qgEclHUJgvGRSTHA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revitalistcorp/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RevitalistLifestyleandWellnessLtd

Connect with Dr. Derrick Burgess:

Website: https://www.drderrickthesportsdr.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drderrickthesportsdr/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimeOut.SportsDr 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrick-burgess-72047b246/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHGDu1zT4K_X6PnYELu8weg 

Email: thesportsdoctr@gmail.com 

This episode of TimeOut with the SportsDr. is produced by Podcast VAs Philippines - the team that helps podcasters effectively launch and manage their podcasts, so we don't have to. Record, share, and repeat! Podcast VAs PH gives me back my time, so I can focus on the core functions of my business. Need expert help with your podcast? Go to www.podcastvasph.com.