Athlete Career Transition prepare Winter Olympians for their new careers at EY

Champions in their own right, strong-willed, dedicated, talented and the highest of all performers; Elite Athletes. With careers at the top of their sport which can be relatively short-lived, elite athletes look to retire from their sporting careers after achieving their sporting goals. After which, Athlete Career Transition (ACT) exist to support and guide them from one high performing environment to another.

Keaton McCargo - Freestyle Ski Olympian

Transitioning from elite athlete to corporate employee can be very challenging. Having been surrounded by teammates and people supporting them throughout their sporting career, athletes then face the very different world of workplace employment. Having worked with EY for a number of years, Athlete Career Transition have successfully placed their latest run which include five Winter Olympians and one Winter Paralympian into the EY team.

The coming months will see seven strong female athletes take the limelight as they transition from each of their esteemed careers into a role in an EY global office. Each athlete from a different sporting background will complete their own individually tailored transition program, with Athlete Career Transition working alongside them as they learn how to develop their current skillset in preparation for their new careers at EY.

The selected women athletes include:

France – Anne-Sophie Barthet – Alpine Ski Olympian

Switzerland – Florence Schelling – Ice Hockey Olympian

Switzerland –Florence Schelling –Ice Hockey Olympian

Switzerland – Phoebe Staenz – Ice Hockey Olympian

The Netherlands – Anna Jochemsen – Alpine Ski Paralympian

United States – Annie O’Shea – Skeleton National Champion

United States – Keaton McCargo – Freestyle Ski Olympian

Athlete Career Transition will be helping each of these women with their journeyfrom sport to business, giving them support, guidance and working with them psychologically as well as physically to be able to take on their role at EY and continue to perform at the highest level.

Annie O'Shea - Skeleton National Champion

Annie O’Shea, from New York is a three times national champion in bobsleigh skeleton and in 2016 won both gold and silver in the world championships. Whilededicating the last 14 years to her sport Annie has worked hard to complete her education including an MBA alongside her training commitments. After her first contact with the team at Athlete Career Transition and speaking with Andy Moore, co-founder of Athlete Career Transition, Annie said: “I am excited to learn new skills and take in the experiences that EY has to offer because I am new to this world, but I am so excited for it. I can’t wait to see what I can learn and where I can go with it.”

Annie isn’t the only athlete excited about the transition process. Phoebe Staenz, an Olympic medallist in Ice Hockey from Geneva and Yale University Maths and Economics Graduate is looking to see the bigger picture within her career at EY: “Every day I feel motivated to get better at what I do. I’m really excited to go to the office and at the end of the day I’m not thinking of going home, I’m thinking of what I can do next, I feel that’s important to me.”

Athlete Career Transition (ACT) ensure each athlete receives the correct support required during their transition process. Andy Moore, who was once an international rugby player and now the co-founder of ACT founded the business to support athletes transition from the sporting world into business, bringing elite skills and characteristics into the workforce.

“High performance is something all athletes have in common, by working with the athletes from the beginning of their journey through to the workplace we are able to bring out the best in an athlete and provide them with both the mindset and skillset they’ll need to succeed within their careers at EY,”states Andy.

High performance is instilled within all athletes who transition into the business world, Florence Shelling an Ice Hockey Olympic medallist from Geneva, understands the importance of high performance and how she can use this within her future career at EY: “High performance to me is about being disciplined and goal orientated in such a way that you have a high focus on the task at hand and always out-perform expectation at every single point in time.”

Florence Schelling - Ice Hockey Olympian

An Athlete’s knowledge of the business environment is limited as they begin their sporting careers at a young age; retiring from professional sport can be hard as they look to find something else they are highly passionate about. ACT understand this and provide assurance to athletes throughout the transitioning period as nerves and anxiety (a common feeling throughout an athlete’s transition process) set in about taking the step into the commercial environment. Olympic snowboarder Mirabelle Thovex is grateful for the support ACT have provided throughout her journey: “Transition support is important; it makes us feel confident about the future.”

EY will also be taking on a Paralympic athlete who competed in PyeongChang 2018, Anna Jochemsen, from the Netherlands a Paralympic Alpine skier who is looking forward to finding out how she will fit into a business like EY, “this is a unique opportunity to gain work experience and see what aspects of the business excite me. As a nutritionist I would like to work with my expertise and use my knowledge, I can see a future in analytics. I like EY’s mission to invest in female leadership and I really believe that women in leadership roles can make a better working world.”

Anna Jochemsen - Alpine Ski Paralympian

Athlete Career Transition has worked closely with each athlete as an enabler to get the very best out of them using their current skillset and applying it to the business world. Anne-Sophie Barthet, a French Olympic Alpine Skier has come from an individual sport but says team work is something that doesn’t phase her, “I like a new challenge, I like the team spirit and empowering people to do well, that is what makes me happy being able to set goals and reach them as you continue to grow, solving problems and overcoming obstacles.”

Being able to combine athletic skills with skills required in the workplace is something all of the athletes will have to overcome as they take on new roles within EY. Keaton McCargo from the USA is no different and is looking forward to this unique opportunity, “I am looking forward to learning more about EY and absorbing all the information I can and become a beneficial part of the business.”

Athlete Career Transition will continue to guide Annie, Mirabelle, Phoebe and Florence, Anne-Sophie, Anna and Keaton throughout their journey, providing them with any support and guidance they may need as they fulfil their roles at EY with confidence over the coming months.

These athletes are amongst the tried and tested individuals who have proved to be some of the highest performing in the world. Steve Moore, Director and co-founder of ACT, understands the importance of bringing such a high performer into the workplace, “an elite athlete is great for internal engagement. Their dedication, commitment, determination and work ethic are unparalleled and easily transferable to the workplace. As well as hiring a top performer, associating your brand with high-performing athletes as well supporting the transition of an athlete will open doors to like-minded businesses,”commented Steve.

Dan Black, EY Global Recruiting Leader said:

“To truly innovate and future-proof our business in this transformative era, we’re seeking not only those qualified candidates with emerging technical expertise, but also those with increasingly diverse backgrounds of experience and mindsets. This impressive class of interns is just one example of the many different types of highly qualified candidate populations we’re tapping into to build our diverse, highest-performing teams.”